What happened to rear screen wipers?

[MaxY]

Hi

My new C Class finally arrived this week. My son in law noticed that it has no rear screen wiper - something I had not noticed. Now driving around I see that a good many relatively modern cars are the same. What has happened to them?

Cheers

Max

 

[Spike]

You dont generally get them on any saloon cars, only hatchbacks and estates....

 

[SLinKyjoe]

Althou the Honda prelude had one. and i am not sure but the accord may have one too. nobody buys them so i havet seen one.

i think it would be a good idea for all cars.

and while we are on it. Can Mercedes Develop the Quick Clear windscreen that Ford use. which I notice has found its way into Jags and Range/Landrovers... It is an excelleant idea. much better than scraping or sitting in with the heater on full.

 

[SUE.]

Hi

My new C Class finally arrived this week. My son in law noticed that it has no rear screen wiper - something I had not noticed. Now driving around I see that a good many relatively modern cars are the same. What has happened to them?

Cheers

Max

I have never seen a saloon car with a rear wiper, no matter what age it is.

 

[190]

some ford orion,s had rear wipers when they changed the name from orion to escort
[four door escort the one with the boot]roughly 1994

 

[SLinKyjoe]

some ford orion,s had rear wipers when they changed the name from orion to escort
[four door escort the one with the boot]roughly 1994

they did indeed. and nobody bought them either.

a few yank things have them. infinti things i am sure did one.

 

[philharve]

No rear wiper

Hi All

Like MaxY, I purchased my C-class without realising it had no rear wiper. However, I made my purchased based on other criteria.

Now that the subject has been raised, I too have just realised that I cannot recall seeing a recent saloon/sedan with a rear wiper. I have only ever owned saloons and hatches and my Toyota, a hatchback, was the only vehicle that had a rear wiper. It needed one because the glass would accumulate dust quite readily. Rain alone wouldn't wash the dust off, it merely made matters worse.

I am fast approaching 2 months ownership of my Merc' and I've not had to clean the rear windscreen once, except as part of an overall cleaning to make the exterior sparkle like new. A 'feel good' task that took just two-and-a half hours.

Logically you would expect a saloon/sedan to be fitted with a rear wiper if it was common on hatches, estates/tourings. However, maybe there is a technical reason why saloons/sedans have one, maybe two, wipers less than other types of car. Perhaps the slope of the rear windscreen has something to do with it. Could it be that the angle in some way promotes self-cleaning? I don't believe the omission is just a cost-saving exercise! Just a thought.

REGARDS Phil

 

[mlc]

I think the main reason is the slope of the back window, hatches tend to be a bigger window with a much shallower angle. I also think that aerodynamics come into it. Many years ago i bought a new Mark 3 Escort, no back wiper so I fitted the OEM system. Worked perfectly but suddenly the back of the car was always dirty. I was told by Ford that the only model coming out of the factory with a back wiper was the XR3, which also had a rear spoiler. The air was lifted over the parked wiper by the spoiler, no spoiler no smooth airflow = dirty car.

Agree with SLK that heated screens are a major item missing from MB's. I cant understand why they dont fit them, I have had one for 18 years on a series of Fords. This is our first winter with our SLK and MrsC. refused point blank to believe that her car doesn't have a heated screen, last week she even went to work in my Mondeo because it was easier than clearing her own windscreen!

Mark

 

[philharve]

No rear wipers?

Hi All

I spent some time researching MaxY's comment about MB rear wipers ... or lack of them. I found the following comment on the Mercedes-Benz Canada website under ... 'Youthful Design' ...

<quote> 'Indeed, the slope of the rear window is also at a beneficial angle, so that a rear wiper is not needed to keep the glass clear in poor weather.'

I thought the shape of the rear end was somehow important ... the saloon's aerodynamics provides a self-cleaning action. Hatches and estates have a different backend shape, the type that attracts dust, rain, etc., hence their need for rear wipers.

REGARDS Phil

 

[pascal]

Simple:

Sedans (saloons) have a boot sticking out beyond the rear screen, so road grime
splashed up by the rear wheels does not land on the glass, but on your reg plate area.
For those of us who wash our own cars, it's easy to see where all this dirt lands.

Watch the back of a car traveling on a wet road. See the spray of dirty water.
Normally the rear screen of a saloon would be no dirtier than the side screens.
The rear screen of a hatchback is exposed to the front edge of this dirty water spray.

Also they would look Naff on a MB saloon.

Pascal

 

[MSG2004]

i saw on on a 96 mondeo saloon. a ford mondeo saloon is a rare thing in itself. looke hideous.

the saloon could do with a rear wiper but it would make them look hideous becuse they would not blen in with the car as they do on hatch backs.

 

[philharve]

But there's more ...

Hi All

Here's another quote ... this time from AutoSpeed ... about coated glass ...

<quote> 'Hydrophobic Glazing

If the rain can stream off the sloped windscreen without needing to be scraped off, things would become a lot simpler. It's the same principle that the aftermarket Rain-X coating uses - but what if such behaviour could be built into the glass? Windscreen manufacturers are developing just such glass, which is called hydrophobic (literally, fear of water!).

Pilkington's hydrophobic coating is designed more for application on side windows than the windscreen. It works by changing the way in which the water droplet sits on the surface of the glass - in effect, the droplet has less contact area with the glass (it beads), allowing it to slide off more easily. The coating can be subjected to boiling water, acid and alkalis without being substantially degraded, and it is also rated for thousands of 'flannel rubs'

REGARDS Phil

 

[mlc]

MSG2004 - You certainly know how to make friends My last two main cars have been Mondeo Saloons! Agree that the hatch back is much more common but on the current model they are so similar that I am not sure that the window angle is much different between hatch and saloon, which actually means that a wiper would be useful on the saloon.

Mark.

 

[jberks]

It seems that people who owned hatchbacks prior to having saloons find it odd that saloons have no rear wiper. Personally I have never felt the need for a wiper on a saloon. Its rarely of any real use on a hatchback. I believe its for cleaning rather than removing water droplets. The only place you really need a rear wiper is on an estate. I have one on the jeep and its essential, but that has a vertical rear screen directly at the back of the car.
When a car goes through the air, a vaccuum is created directly behind. I believe its more to do with the distance between the screen and the end of the car (vaccuum) than much else. The closer the screen to the rear, the closer to the vacuum and the more muck that will be sucked onto it. A saloon has a boot, so the boot edge gets mucky but not the screen (look at the back of your car this time of year). On a hatchback the rear screen forms part of the boot lid so the glass is closer to the end of the lid, hence some hatchbacks have wipers. though with the shape and length of the screen, they are of minimal use. An estate or jeep have the screen within the vaccuum area so need a wiper and washer to keep them clear.
If it was purely angle related then an estate car with a steeper angle than a saloon wouldn't need one either. As I say, its not there to clear the rain, but to work in conjunction with the washers to keep the screen transaparent.

On the rainx issue, I use a halfords variety on the windscreen of the E. It works really well. Needs replenishing now though.

 

[pascal]

A rare sight over here, a Mondeo. Prefer a Cortina Mk. 2, 2000e.

I think the hatch back version of Mondeos, and similar cars like that, are really Fastbacks.

Jberks is right. Not that slope makes no difference, it does, but its mainly the
position of the screen.

I had a Datsun Cherry Coupe 5sp. Remember the rear screen on that. Nice looking
car before the rust. Great engine. Most were driven to the scrapyard.

Pascal

 

[reflexboy]

My Dad owned two mazda 323's....The older one had a rear wiper but the newer one didn't. They were both saloons.

 

[Geoff_Slade]

I think the main reason why they aren't fitted is the self cleaning argument although my W124 doesn't self clean half as well as the Toyota Carina I had.

The other thing is aesthetics. A few Japanese saloons e.g old Subarus had rear screen wipers but they don't look right, just spoil the line.

I wondered about the Halfords RainX product. Might try it after this endorsement especailly on the rear and side screens.

 

[MaxY]

Thanks for all the responses. I wasn't complaining about the absence of the wipers (though my wife would) I was just puzzled by their absence. My C class is the coupe and I agree they would look totally naff. Shows that I am a bit out of touch on the subject.

Cheers


Max

 

[SLinKyjoe]

ahhhhhhhhhhh now you say.

the C Class Sport. that makes more sense..the one with the extra window down at the back so you can see when you park.

The dealer told me when i looked at one, that the rear window is large and they hadnt developed a large wiper unit to do that one vehicle. Probably couldnt' be bothered more like. they could have knicked one off the M Class or and E-Class as they have reasonable large rear windows. it would sit in the air flow around the rear tailgate kickup. so maybes aerodynamics play a part in the lack of one?

 

[philharve]

Self-cleaning design

Hi All

Whilst driving to work one morning this week I looked in the rear view mirror at the rear windscreen and though 'that's dirty, time to wash the car again!'. It was a cold day and it hailed during the night. The road was white this particular morning and the rear winscreen was useless: the hail and dust had contrived to obliterate my rearward view. If I wanted to look behind I would have to open the driver's window. Feeling lazy, I decided I would set off to work with the rear windscreen in its present state.

I was not far from home when I happened to look in the rear view mirror and noticed that the edges of the rear windscreen were clear and bright: visibility through this area was excellent. Why? I hadn't touched the rear windscreen heater at all.

I continued on my way into work and periodically looked in my rear mirror and noticed that the clear area had broadened and it continued to spread towards the centre of the windscreen. Within 5 miles the rear windscreen was bright and clear. There was no sign of the congealed hail stones or dust that had obliterated my view.

I subsequently deduced that the rear windscreen must be self-cleaning and the aerodynamic flow of air over and around the boot area had removed the dust and crust of ice that had formed.

So perhaps this is the answer to why there isn't a rear wiper, it doesn't need one. Special coatings on the external surface of the glass will prevent dust and grime sticking to it.

REGARDS Phil