One Windshield Wiper Instead of Two
 

I once saw a car that was all customized out. Instead of having 2 front windshield wipers it just had one big one that was secured just off center of the windshield. I cant seem to find a picture of an example on the net or I would provide one.

Do you think there would be any benefit to a hypermiler car to have just one big windshield wiper?

Are there weight savings? Power savings? Cost savings in replacement blades?

I know... And I haven't even bought my new used car yet.

My thinking is, I might as well figure out the best ways to modify this car and avoid making any huge mistakes when I start up modifications.

But, yeah.. I need help ;)

You'd be surprised how much people will spend to reduce their bicycle weight by a few grams... ;)

I'm into light-weight backpacking. In that sport every bit of unnecessary weight is shaved off of every item. So this is kind of how I'm approaching hypermiling.

Remove both wipers and store them in the trunk along with the appropriate size wrench. When its about to rain, it takes me all of 3 minutes in install both wipers. This has nothing to do with weight and everything to do with drag. On a small car like the E30, the wipers are worth 1mpg on the highway. You'll also notice your wipers blades last much much longer when they don't accumulate dust through the dry season. We don't get a drop of rain for 7 months a year.

Instant and average MPG displayed by the OBC over many fill ups.
http://img159.imageshack.us/img159/2439/ssa41898ol7.jpg

A Car For Wayne
 

Gotta like this. No extra weight at all.

http://www.gravitydb.com/speed/

Change the gearing a bit and what works for speed will work for FE.

Caring about the weight of a windshield wiper on a car is a bit like caring about the weight of the pull tabs on your backpack. Maybe you removed all your pull tabs and use a paper clip you can switch between sliders :P. Anyway, there are lower hanging fruits out there.

1 mpg from no front wipers on a 27 mpg or so car seems a bit far fetched when compared with other aero mods and the results generally obtainned. I'm skeptical too, but i'd be willing to try it out.

Funny, I've never gotten 27mpg. Wost tank ever was 28mpg, best was 35, all highway. Since the majority of my driving is local mix of city and highway with trips between 3-15 miles at a time, my fuel economy is very consistent between 30-32mpg. Its really easy to beat EPA numbers. I'm running 12% taller differential, electric fan and manual steering. If you really want to split hairs, the wipers were worth 1.3 mpg on highway only runs. Obviously this car was designed before BMW discovered the wind tunnel.
http://blocati.de/wp-content/uploads...30-318i-01.jpg

In the realm of spliting hairs ... then technically running with just 1 wiper would better than 2 at hwy speeds ... and likely safer than none.

Let me get through my other mods this week and perhaps once I get my scangauge I'll do a couple days of running with 1 vs 2 wipers just for ****s ang giggles to help put this to rest ..

I never really thought about it, but why have the passenger side wiper? I have rainX washer fluid and it beads the water so I can see clearly anyway unless it starts to rain hard or I don't have my glasses on and it's dark, I only really need the drivers side one, visibility with the passenger side window is like looking out the side windows. It's pretty much easy to see. worst place is right in front of you.

That's the main reason I asked the question. :D

I think one big wiper would be hard to come by. So just having one might be better

I (used to) get rubber inserts for a dollar for my wipers. Just remove the old rubber, replace with new. Keep the old frames. It's $1 for a pair of rubber blade inserts. You cut them on the ends to fit, so It fits virtually any car. I spent 2 bucks on 4 wiper blades, screwed one up, got one for the rear (cut to fit) and 2 for the front (cut to fit). They're triple edge blades too. Worked out great until they stopped supplying them at the local big lots :(. I'll have to search them up right now!

Hmmm I do not think I could ever remove my wipers. I am not concerned about rain at all I can see rain coming. I am worried about those things you do NOT see coming. Splats and splashes where its get it off the window now or your crash :-) IE not worth it. I will aero the wiper first. I DO plan to remove the passenger wiper from Vger but I have huge 28" wipers and they "cross" each other. IE my drivers wiper almost reaches the other side of the windshield (I mean it too misses by some 10 inches maybe?)

Now what would be interesting is altering the REST position of the wiper! if I put the passenger wiper on the drivers side I could have the wiper VERTICAL against the edge of the windshield and have it move down the windshield and then back up IE where straight UP the glass is now the rest position. My wipers mount on the outer edge and swing IN so the wiper mount itself is almost completely to the sides of the vehicles. Use the passenger arm as well and I could even leave BOTH wipers intact and be able to easy aero them completely! MAN thats a good idea I am going to look into this tommorrow!!

Here is a really Q&D photoshop of what I mean Obviously this only works on cars like mine where the wiper mount is so far to the outside IE it would not be in my way looking out the windshield.

http://www.nerys.com/stuff/aeromod2.jpg

Some Mercedes have Single wipers, they are center mounted, and extend/ retract when in use.

I doubt it would be wrth the FE while, but it would be a cool swap in to a different vehicle.

Here having only one wiper is illegal anyway, you need to have 2.

Regarding the vertical positioning of the wiper, I'm pretty sure it would hurt more than help due to the impact on the A pillar vortex. But who knows without testing?

weight is only an issue in the design stage of the car i think. if weight saveing is a design goal in a new car design saveing some grams on every part and keeping all mechanisms simple and therefore light might reduce the overall weight. on the other hand most single wipers that cover the same area as double ones use a more complex mechanism, so theres not that much weight saved. so unless you already ripped out the interior and all seats and drilled holes in all non load bearing structures etc...don't think about the weight of a single wiper.

aerodynamic drag is another thing and more important although still marginal in relation to other areas of the car.The way wiper blades park and the blades themselves is more important than their number. a good wiper design should park outside of the airflow into a recess, the base of the windshield is a high pressure area so it's not as critical as other parts of the car but a fairing in front of the wiper that deflects the air over it is usually a good thing. also recently flatblade wipers have appears also as aftermarket add ons. these have an overall lower profile than conventional blades so they'll generate less drag when in use. i have used them and i'm quite happy with how they look and perform, they have a spoiler like top that performs pretty well at high speed to keeps the wipers stuck to the windshield rather than start to flutter , although this probably doesn't directly serve as a drag reducer the overall setup probably has less drag than normal wipers.

some racecars (and cars trying to look like them) have single wipers that park in upright position. perhaps these wipe better, but i assume the single wiper is for simplicity. an upright position in the center of the windshield won't add that much drag, an interesing example is the opel eco speedster wich was a concept car that set a diesel speed/economy record and was desinged for very low drag.

so if you're wipers are very exposed to the airflow pulling of a single wiper will arguably reduce drag, but will compromise wiper performance although this might be compensated fro with a single bigger blade that roughly clears the same surface

imho, installing a deflector in front of the wipers (for some trucks this is available as an aftermarket feature although mostely for looks i think) that shields them from the airflow as well as looking for flatblade wipers is the best way to reduce drag without compromising safety or running into legal issues.

if you have a coupé like hatchback with airflow attached to the rear window that has a rear wiper, pulling that off might create a slightly cleaner wake. and if the airflow is attached you won't really need the wiper anyway.

If you remove the wipers until it rains anyway, wouldn't you be breaking the law?

I've got 2 officer! They're just not...hrm...installed...lol

Yup I would be breaking the law. It was never my intention to remove them though. Too dangerous imho.

Hmmm unaware it was illegal. I would never remove both (as I stated earlier the problem is when you NEED them right this second and did not expect too IE at 50mph its too late to go huh lets stop and put them on :-)

BUT it is a thought. and its not "all" about raw mpg gain its also about the "mindset" the idea IE making an effort even if it results in very small gains.

There is a certain type of wiper that stick to the windshield better and has a better aero profile. I forget the name. Here is a picture of one.


http://www.productwiki.com/upload/im...ith_wettec.jpg

igo -

The name of the JPG may be a clue, Reflex wiper blade with Wettec :

Reflex Wiper Blades with WetTec - $19.99+
http://www.canadiantire.ca/browse/pr...=1210221798991
CarloSW2

Somebody forgot to tell Mercedes.

Officer: Well... install them.
Driver: Ok.
It doesn't do much about the wiper arm though, now does it?