Night Performance Wiper Blades

[84B23F]

FWIW - January 31, 2023 Bosch FOCUS and ENVISION wiper blades are designed to make nighttime driving safer in inclement weather, the company says

Bosch's Website

 

[HiSPL]

Dayman is the fighter of Night Performance. And a master of karate.

 

[Radtap]

The reality is most people's blades should've been replaced 2-3 years ago. Unfortunately in this world the average person isn't expected to maintain their own vehicle anymore. I see so many vehicles with rear window wipers that smear dirt cause that's the blade that came from the factory 8 years ago.

 

[2 old for this]

Wiper blades are part of what gets inspected in Texas for our safety inspection. Years back tags and the inspection were both due on the same month.

 

[HiSPL]

Wiper blades are part of what gets inspected in Texas for our safety inspection. Years back tags and the inspection were both due on the same month.

Truth. I can get by with an aftermarket cat and a single 12" cherry bomb, but crusty wiper blades will fail inspection! lol

 

[Radtap]

As long as you have a cat and no check engine light you're good to go here, whenever it rains stores are nearly selling out of wiper blades, huh what if you replaced those before the downpour?

 

[dl242gt]

Trico Winter teflon blades are serving me well this winter. They are expensive at the local stores but cheap at Rock Auto. I don't buy Bosch
blades anymore. Don't care for their service life and quality isn't what it may have been in the past for me.

 

[HiSPL]

I have taken to buying blades at the dollar store. They don't last as long, but I can buy 20 a year and still be cheaper than crap blades from autozone.

We just got an Ollie's in town and last time I was there they had Simons blades for 5 bucks each.

 

[HiSPL]

The dollar store I go to carries generic brake cleaner too. Dollar a can.

Bonus points. Its next door to our Harbor Freight!

 

[Khrrck]

I got the OEM Bosch beam blades for my XC70. $23 for the pair. The brand new Michelin "hybrid" blades on it when I bought it (traditional spidery ones with a rubber cover over them) filled with ice in December and wiped like crap.

The Bosch work great so far but no word on wear yet. There's a little chatter on the left side one depending on how recently the windshield's been washed. Look good though - nice and snug against the windshield.

 

[James M]

I'm not gonna lie I have cars I've never put wiper blades on after years of ownership. If the windshield is clean enough you can look past the rain.

Last car I bought I towed from Portland to Davis, the wipers on my tow vehicle (a 245) stop working 2 minutes into the first hint of rain around Eugene, it didn't really let up until getting past Redding on the way back.

First day of the rainy season the local Napa sold ~$3000 of wiper blades

 

[Khrrck]

I'm not gonna lie I have cars I've never put wiper blades on after years of ownership. If the windshield is clean enough you can look past the rain.

I like having working blades, I think the visibility when wiped is definitely better. But when my wiper motor died on the 245, a clean windshield and Rainx to make sure it beaded up definitely handled everything pretty well. Especially once you hit highway speeds and it starts blowing off.

 

[84B23F]

Wiper blades are part of what gets inspected in Texas for our safety inspection.

Bosch is not giving specifics as to why - “People only do 25% of their driving at night, yet 50% of traffic deaths happen during this time, proving just how dangerous nighttime driving can be. When you add in inclement weather, these risks and the stress of nighttime driving continue to climb.”

NHTSA does not narrow it down to specifics here - "The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) states that wet pavement causes 70% of weather-related car accidents, and rain causes 46% of weather-related car accidents."

In L.A., a different story - A crash course on driving in the rain in L.A. The only hour when rainy weather is safer than clear weather is in the thick of the evening commute, from 6 p.m.–7 p.m., when traffic is already bumper to bumper..... “Anecdotally, it seems people pay more attention during rush hour when it rains,” he said. “When there isn’t much traffic, they let their guard down.”

 

[Khrrck]

I think the biggest benefit I could imagine from a high-tech wiper blade would be if it could clean off more of that foggy micro-layer of water that gets left behind the blade in very light rain and cold weather. That can definitely catch the light at night and give you a decent bit of glare.

That said, haven't seen a blade which doesn't do that yet.

 

[84B23F]

Rainx.......foggy micro-layer of water that gets left behind the blade in very light rain and cold .weather.

How do you prevent rainX/sealant from fogging the windshield while wipers are on?

 

[Khrrck]

How do you prevent rainX/sealant from fogging the windshield while wipers are on?

I don't think it's the same thing. It's a faint fog which maybe lasts a couple seconds, and only shows up when the windshield is on the dry side. It looks like the streaks you get from a worn wiper, but a lot more uniform.

Mostly I only see it if I get a light dust of rain or some highway spray and hit the wipers once to clear it off, or if I use the washer fluid on a dry windshield/day. Sounds like the OP on Reddit gets it 24/7 in heavy rain, I don't. I suspect it's just related to having not enough water for the wiper.

I haven't had a warm day to try and properly polish the windshield, maybe that'll help as well.

 

[84B23F]

Mostly I only see it if I get a light dust of rain...

A Peterbilt truck driver I knew would replace the front windows every several years. With a "sand blasted" windshield with the sun at the right angle, it can be a blinding experience.

Fine water droplets could reflect/refract light in those 'pits' When I replaced the windshield, this issue was history.

 

[Khrrck]

A Peterbilt truck driver I knew would replace the front windows every several years. With a "sand blasted" windshield with the sun at the right angle, it can be a blinding experience.

Fine water droplets could reflect/refract light in those 'pits' When I replaced the windshield, this issue was history.

That's kind of what I was thinking. I'm pretty sure this is the OEM glass and it has a lot of little rock nicks, but looks nice and clear otherwise. I'm hoping that some polishing will even out any invisible roughness, helping it stay clean and wipe better. If not, eh, it's annoying but not buy-a-new-windshield annoying so far.

It's winter though so I'm not gonna mess with it for now.

 

[84B23F]

OEM glass and it has a lot of little rock nicks,

.
Youtuber mentions "microscopic dirt" in this video using Rain-X. Using 0000 Steel Wool might remove this dirt, and allow Rain-X to fill in these "pits."

"After a little time goes by, every windshield gets a little hazy. That goes double for autos that are towed right behind a large motorhome. Using our toad (towed car), we show you how to use fine steel wool, Rain-X and Invisible Glass to make your view just a little bit clearer.

Although our car's windshield has a lot of little nicks from over a decade of being towed behind our motorhome, we still want to keep it as clear as possible. Regular washing can't remove the fine dirt that gets into the pores of the glass, so we use a little detailer's trick that we learned years ago: 0000 steel wool. While you'd expect that steel wool would scratch the glass, it's exactly the opposite. Just like furniture makers use extra-fine steel wool to rub out the surface of the wood after each coat of stain, it polishes glass the same way.

NOTE: We use extra-fine 0000 steel wool in this video. It's EXTREMELY FLAMMABLE, so exercise care in storing and using it."

 

[Radtap]

Out here there is nearly a constant layer of dirt on your windows, during very light rain you gotta let rhe windshield actually get wet otherwise the first couple wipes just smear the dirt across your windshield. You gotta wait until enough water builds up to clear the dirt