*New Michelin Stealth Wiper Blades
 

Hey guys,

I was just sittin' on my azz when I saw a rad commercial for these new wiper blades.

Anybody else seen these? supposedly they're aerodynamic and low profile. :rolleyes:

Amazon.com: michelin stealth wiper: Automotive

I have some like that. I like them but for my vehicles they are no more aerodynamic.

I use rain x and almost never run the wipers unless I get a lot of road gunk on the windshield. I use it on all the windows, it also helps me see the effects of drafting when in heavy traffic. Watching the little drops start to oscillate then actually stop at 60+ MPH is fascinating, until I look back up the road and;

C-R-A-S-H OOOOO CHIT!

regards
Mech

I have a set like that too. They might be more aero but that don't wipe as well at the ends of the blade.

I've had a set similar for about 2 (or 3?) years now. They work in ice and snow as well as rain, and that is why they are good.

The aerodynamic drag of windshield wipers (in their resting position) is virtually zero; on most cars anyway.

Ooh great now I can save $.75 of fuel a year while reducing my visibility!

A few less hooks and sharp edges - should be better for pedestrian safety should you ever scoop one up.

I have the bosch version (bosch icon's) of this on my car. Complete waste of money, I bought them for the extended lifetime and don't get any longer lifetime than a normal winter blade. They do seem to wipe slightly better, but not worth the 5x price that they usually carry.

The eco friendly product to have would be replacement rubber strips, the metal parts can last the lifetime of the car really, it's a silly waste to replace the whole thing.

On my dads old S-class where a new blade cost $100 we bought a $3 generic of the same length and switched the new rubber over. Worked fine.

Does anyone remember the good ol' days when you could walk into a car parts store and buy replacement rubber inserts? I haven't seen them in years.

(Am I a crotchety old man yet?)

About 15 minutes ago I replaced my noisy cheap wiper blades. These are the second to the cheapest ones I can get at the store ($10 ea. Vs $6.50 ea.). The rubber blade part looks to be about double the size of the cheapest ones, and I can see no difference in the rubber part to the twice as expensive ones ($21- $26 EACH!).

I will let you know how they work.

The first thing I thought of when I saw the fiberglass boot covering is; I bet these are a little more aerodynamic too.

S10 4x4 Pick Up pictures by kach22i - Photobucket
http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x...ades-boots.jpg

Although, on a second look, this one end is not form fitting at all. Maybe the fiberglass boot designed to keep snow and ice out also makes it less form fitting to windshield curves.

S10 4x4 Pick Up pictures by kach22i - Photobucket
http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x...p/DSCF5110.jpg
http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x...llx-detail.jpg

I can fill up my +20 gallon gas tank with what some of the fancy blades cost. Crazy pricing, all made in Mexico from what I saw. I can see no reason for the unreasonable costs.

That ain't no fiberglass boot cover. Winter blades are regular old school blades under a rubber boot. The new "monoblades" are altogether different.

I have no idea what these new "monoblades" you are talking about are.

I can show you what I'm talking about. Then you can decide if you wish to talk about it, or educate me with photos and examples of other technologies out there.

S10 4x4 Pick Up pictures by kach22i - Photobucket
http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x...are-Blades.jpg

I think the lack of a gap makes these winter blades more aero, but it would take a great leap of faith to claim they will increase MPG. So I'm not even going to look for, or document any possible gains.

If you go to post #1 you will find a link. Go to that link. You can see a better example of what this thread has been about so far if you look at the pic of the Bosch Icon blade, because it's not in a package. The difference between these "monoblades" and winter blades should hopefully become evident.

What is somewhat astonishing is how hard it is to put this notion of wiper blades being "aerodynamic" or "unaerodynamic" to rest. Seriously?

I originally did that, the images were small and blurry at best, even when zoomed in on. And I saw no side by side comparison either.

Why don't you just post an image of what you are trying to point out?

Do you have them on your car right now?

The car I have them on is 400 miles away from me at the moment so sorry, I can't run out and snap a pic for you!

Perhaps google images can help.

Dang, I was hoping to see one of your old cool VW's or something.

http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r...4202010005.jpg

Well, this is the car they're on (Moon Unit) and yes this pic not only doesn't help see 'em, it was taken when it had old school blades on it.

As a nice rust FREE California car now residing in the Rust Belt, it goes into storage for the winter.

Thanks for the bickering.

Bosch Icon
http://www.aa1car.com/library/wiper_...bosch_icon.jpg

Standard blades
http://cosconline.com/11776_Wiper_blades.jpg

Was that so damn hard?

I've heard of people using this...i'm going to look into this.

Thank you for the base sheet comparison Tyler, it is a useful starting point for further comparison.

Automobile 2 - Odds and Ends pictures by kach22i - Photobucket
http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x...des-AA300_.jpg

I do think that the two on the ends would create less of a disturbance in the high pressure zone found at the base of a windshield.

http://www.alfabb.com/bb/forums/gt-1...ed-gtv-66.html
http://www.alfabb.com/bb/forums/atta...opped-copy.jpg

I'm glad we're discussing these darn things, keep it goin'...

IMHO Save your money on rain-x unless its on a discount offer or something...

Indeed. After all, it'll only be of use for saving fuel if you take the wipers off entirely...
Personally, I think that wipers have a very different effect on drag depending on the vehicle in question - if the wipers have a 'garage' when not in us (ie tuck down behind the bonnet) they'll have next to no effect on wind resistance, if they're hanging out in the breeze on the windscreen... then surely they will have a significant effect and the Bosch type will surely be of benefit?
And I've just seen a pair on eYab that're no more expensive than a pair of 'standard' type.

Taking the arms and blades off will likely have next to zero reduction in drag.

I use RainX and have one wiper on, tucked down lower than stock, out of the wind. I have been procrastinating disconnecting the other wiper motor. But the benefits (though very tiny) are three fold: (1) I have observed differences in droplet patterns on my windshield with/without the wipers so I think it does something but I don't make pretense to it being a much of a something; (2) RainX allows me to use the one blade less than I would and still be safe, which saves battery power for my alternator cut-off, deep-cycle, plug-in setup; and (3) disconnecting the unused motor will likely save a little more power. If the motor turns out to be a little weighty and easier to remove/replace than to simply cut power to, then I will maybe remove the un-needed motor altogether.

All that said, I redesigned my airdam and reinstalled it yesterday. Now it does not scrape and I expect real freeway gains from that, unlike the near-fantasy gains my wiper delete provides. :thumbup:

Bosch model looks familiar, I have that, also I have AC Delco blade of similar style, it has smaller center piece so that it should be even better.

Thing is, I can hear wiper blade making noise, I put cardboard cowl and noise did stop, but between traditional blade and streamlined blade I have not found difference in consumption, also I think that there is no measurable difference with wiper cowl either, just sound missing, it is so small piece and also at rest it is pointing more or less along airflow as I have only one wiper arm mounted at center and it is pointing from center to side.

With cardboard cowl, there was no change in mileage that I could of notice.

These kind of blades however seem to be wiping screen better, pressure is perhaps more even, also ice is not effecting them so much as snow is not building up on these, so it has been worthwhile investment, just not in terms of aero.

AC delco one did go bad rather quickly, I don't think that it lasted even a month, but with good cleaning got it to work week at a time, Bosch has been bit better on that aspect. Both experiences are from winter use as summer time wipers are not used that much, not so much chance of driving at rain and no constant salt water spray from vehicles coming from opposite direction.

I would say that go for Bosch blade if your blades need replacing, but don't except it to save money, it does cost awful a lot at least in here, it was something bit over 40 euros while AC Delco was around 20 euros, conventional ones can be lot cheaper, but from my experience last less than what Bosch blade has lasted.

There is only one motor.

:o
Well that'll settle that, then, won't it?!

That is how they stay so well synchronized!

If you're sure you'll never reconnect the passenger side wiper, you MAYBE could unhook the linkage for a fractional watt savings in power drawn from the motor (depends on how it's configured). But the lion's share of the load is already gone with the removal of the arm and blade.

I concur. This is annoying and another way off showing how lazy (or stupid?) of a society we have become.

I believe that there is one shop here that still has those rubbers.

Also I use old blades for my Volvo headlamp wiper blades, I get several from single old window blade ;)

Why so? Given that radio aerials are said to be bad for aeros, and they appear (to the eye) to be more aerodynamic than wipers?

Because on the typical 3 box design there is a bubble of relatively slow moving (not free stream velocity) air at the base of the windshield where the wipers live. The story may be different on one box designs or any design where the angle of hood and windshield are very close.

There are many threads here about it if you want to go more in-depth.

Right, remember Bernoulli's principle. Higher pressure at the base of the windshield means there is slower moving air there. The air molecules are piling up like schoolkids in the hallway after the recess bell has rung.

That said, I have noticed wind noise from my wiper blades since they don't seem to fully retract on their own.
http://i337.photobucket.com/albums/n...t/IMG_2447.jpg

pushed down manually;
http://i337.photobucket.com/albums/n...t/IMG_2448.jpg
So maybe I could throw a pair of the low profile blades on there, instead of fixing the mechanism. :p

And I love Rain-X and don't consider it a waste of money, but it is completely useless in town when you're traveling less than 45 mph, which is why I'm not removing my wipers.

I don't like even looking at the wipers. I like the way early 70's Chevelle's, and Mustangs
hid them nicely.

Is there some negative airfow problems w that solution?

Added complexity and perhaps 1c of added cost to manufacture. I had Pontiac Safari once, 1986 model and it had such feature too, but I was told it was rather unreliable mechanism. I managed to do better than 26mpg on long trips with that one, but I doubt hiding wipers had much to do with that :D