windscreen wipers

cobalt911 · Oct 17, 2008

Hi all,

Need new wiper blades and thought I would ask if anyone has tried using other manufacturers? Thinking that internet order or halfords saves me the long drive to my local OPC!

Cheers,

Mark

MarkG · Oct 17, 2008

I might be wrong but I think only the OPC blades have the little rubber bump stop on the side.

Pete B · Oct 17, 2008

The bumpstop is a separate part!

clyde · Oct 18, 2008

I've tried several (all top quality) makes over the years but none seem to work quite as well as Porsche spec ones, especially at the bottom edge of the screen where the curve is most severe. Last time I got them was mail order from, I think, Design 911. They were around twice the price of the Bosch ones but well worth it in my opinion. As an aside I never had the rubber stop replaced once after an OPC replaced the blades and didn't notice until a couple of weeks later. That was about five years ago and I've never bothered trying to get a new one as the wipers have always worked perfectly, even non Porsche ones. Has anyone heard of or experienced the wipers getting tangled up on each other?

harry · Oct 18, 2008

What about Bosch? I've used them on various cars and I think they're excellent - you can buy them in Halford's but DO NOT BUY HALFORD'S BRAND. Does anyone know if the OE is made by Bosch, I wouldn't be surprised if they are made by Bosch. Harry

RichardLW · Oct 18, 2008

I gave up with everything EXCEPT Halfords own as they did just as well as Bosch, lasted the same time - about a month before they started to deteriorate - and were half the price.

Guest · Oct 22, 2008

Try silicone blades - as used in motorsport. I find them great - just make sure you tell your bodyshop if your car ever needs any painting (they have to add a drop of silicone to the paint). Roddy[

]

matthewb · Nov 9, 2008

I decided to try the new flat-blade Bosch Aerotwin as fitted to the Cayenne. Actually, Bosch don't make them for retro fitting so I ordered the ABD Universal Retro-Fit Aero Blades on www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk/abd-universal-retro-fit-aero-blades-c-706.html - two 16" and one 18" - Â£22. The rear blade should really be 15" but they aren't made that size - the 16" blade seems fine. One thing, though - the rear wiper-arm fitting is shorter than those at the front and so the blade wouldn't click into place properly. I used carefully cut strips of black insulation tape on the inside of the arm fitting and then jammed the wiper solidly into position. While doing this, the rear wiper-arm snapped at a join - I guess 10 years of tension caused metal fatigue. WrighTune ordered a new part and fitted it for free, bless them (I had just had a service done). How do they work? Pretty well, actually, although with hindsight I would have ordered a 17" rather than an 18" blade - the 18" blade overhangs the screen curvature a bit too much when at the 'rest' position.

orangecurry · Nov 13, 2008

I highly recommend PIAA silicone wipers. Not only do they coat the screen with every wipe (improving visibillity whilst driving in rain ) they also last a very long time, making them cost effective. [link=http://www.piaa.co.uk/wipers/wipers.asp]http://www.piaa.co.uk/wipers/wipers.asp[/link] Trust me - these really are a product that will exceed your expectations.

sailor · Nov 13, 2008

Right. Now all you have to do is park the things on the left side of the screen, so you have a perfect view forward. It aint difficult. JohnC 993turbo

cobalt911 · Dec 1, 2008

Just looking at the PIAA website, it has the size as '12' and listed as 22" this all sounds a bit weird as I put 18" and 15" on mine?!? Which size silicon blades has anyone put on their 993 and how to they fit the curvature of the screen? Cheers, Mark

Johnny C · Dec 2, 2008

How well do they cope with the winter crud (salt, ice) etc that gets sprayed all over the windscreen on the motorway? My windscreen tank - when it's been cold like yesterday - can take 20 miles on the motorway to defrost (even with 25% meths in), and wipers tend not to last long. I'm inclined to wait until March when the worst of teh winter is over, I don't mind paying more for a decent wiper but if it's only going to last 3 months like most then I will wait.

orangecurry · Dec 9, 2008

ORIGINAL: cobalt911 Just looking at the PIAA website, it has the size as '12' and listed as 22" this all sounds a bit weird as I put 18" and 15" on mine?!? Which size silicon blades has anyone put on their 993 and how to they fit the curvature of the screen? Cheers, Mark

I've put the 18" and 15" on mine. Bought one set from priracing.com (fast postage IIRC) and some more from speeding.co.uk (free postage IIRC). I bought flat blades. (Don't get the ones with a spoiler, as the blades on a 993 are too close together.) Regarding curvature, the 18" blade, when at rest, has the very end approx. 1.5cm 'away' from the screen, therefore a small triangle is 'unswept'. It's not in my field of vision, and I prefer the screen to be swept flat in my field of vision.

orangecurry · Dec 9, 2008

ORIGINAL: Johnny C How well do they cope with the winter crud (salt, ice) etc that gets sprayed all over the windscreen on the motorway? My windscreen tank - when it's been cold like yesterday - can take 20 miles on the motorway to defrost (even with 25% meths in), and wipers tend not to last long. I'm inclined to wait until March when the worst of teh winter is over, I don't mind paying more for a decent wiper but if it's only going to last 3 months like most then I will wait.

We live 'semi-rural', therefore we get a great deal of mud sprayed onto the cars all year round - on one of my cars the PIAAs have lasted nearly 3 years, (and so two MOTs) and one blade is just now starting to clear poorly.

captainmark · Dec 10, 2008

Does the curved PIAA 18" blade prevent it hanging away from the screen? Ie to replace all the wipers I would need 2 x flat 15" and 1 x curved 18"

orangecurry · Dec 10, 2008

I didn't choose the 18" curved because the 18" flat cleans the screen properly in the field of vision. I was driving in the poor conditions yesterday and the triangle that is not cleared is a) very small b) nowhere near any angle that you can usefully look through Your rear can only be replaced by the OE wiper, because it is designed differently. I cheated by putting new silicone blades into the old OE 15" housing.

dr fletch · Dec 16, 2008

On the subject of wipers, when mine are on the fastest speed (3) they bash alarmingly against the bottom of the window. So much so I don't actually use that speed. It's OK on no.2 but sometimes in torrential downpours you need no.3! Is this something anyone else has issues with.

Porker993 · Dec 16, 2008

Yes. Not sure what you can do about it though.

sidned · Dec 16, 2008

ORIGINAL: dr fletch On the subject of wipers, when mine are on the fastest speed (3) they bash alarmingly against the bottom of the window. So much so I don't actually use that speed. It's OK on no.2 but sometimes in torrential downpours you need no.3! Is this something anyone else has issues with.

Sounds like you need to remove each windscreen wiper and move them round a notch on each spindle. This should allow them to park a fraction higher. I drove down the M1 on Saturday through some terrible rain and couldn't have done it at times without the fastest wiper speed. Darren

Black80XSA · Dec 16, 2008

you coud try www.wiperblades.co.uk as a good source of Bosch and other blades. Non 993 owners report good results on the retro fit falt aero blades too. I noticed these are available in larger Tesco stores too at present, at Â£4 per blade, right up to 22" size!