rear windscreen wipers

Kadeshh

have always wondered and never bothered to ask before, is there a particular reason why hatchbacks and liftbacks have a rear wiper yet saloons don't. surely with the lower slope on the saloon water will not run off as fast and would require one more so?...

sicruise

Splash from the back of hatchbacks goes on rear window, it tends to be dirty enough water... hence the need for wipers. But i'm sure there is some times when it is required in a saloon...

colm_mcm

It dates back decades. There is a curse on saloon cars with rear wipers. The Ford Escort, Mazda 323 and Daihatsu Applause are all dead now. Nobody dared ty it again.

colm_mcm

sicruise wrote:

Splash from the back of hatchbacks goes on rear window, it tends to be dirty enough water... hence the need for wipers. But i'm sure there is some times when it is required in a saloon...

Interestingly enough (?) some hatchbacks didn't come with rear wipers, the Skoda Octavia, for example came without a rear wiper for some of it's production run. apparently the exclusion of a rear wiper freed up boot space, for which the Octavia is already famous (on boards)

sicruise

I'm driving a MkV Golf and couldn't do without my rear wiper on long journeys after a fall or rain without it, obviously with different shapes n sizes some will be more prone.

Jip

colm_mcm wrote:

Interestingly enough (?) some hatchbacks didn't come with rear wipers, the Skoda Octavia, for example came without a rear wiper for some of it's production run. apparently the exclusion of a rear wiper freed up boot space, for which the Octavia is already famous (on boards)

But the Octavia is not a hatchback in the same way a Golf or Bravo would be for example. Drive a flat backed hatchback such as a Golf in bad weather and after a very short amount of time the read window will be absolutely filthy, hence the requirment for a rear wiper. Then take the Octavia, which is essentially like a saloon in body shape, in the same conditions and the window will remain clean and clear as it has an arse on it which blocks the filthy road spray.

Alun

Some saloons do have rear wipers .. the prvious model Primera, for example.

lafors

colm_mcm wrote:

Interestingly enough (?) some hatchbacks didn't come with rear wipers, the Skoda Octavia, for example came without a rear wiper for some of it's production run. apparently the exclusion of a rear wiper freed up boot space, for which the Octavia is already famous (on boards)

The new civic hatchback doesn't have one either!
My civic saloon doesn't, obviously, which is a royal pain in the ass.

Stephen

^^ It doesn't need one

alias no.9

colm_mcm wrote:

It dates back decades. There is a curse on saloon cars with rear wipers. The Ford Escort, Mazda 323 and Daihatsu Applause are all dead now. Nobody dared ty it again.

What about the fiat tempra and P11 primera, both featured bidets in the 1990's.

maidhc

alias no.9 wrote:

What about the fiat tempra and P11 primera, both featured bidets in the 1990's.

Peugeot 406 had a rear wiper on some models.

I don't understand why they are not fitted. On my focus, when you put the car in reverse and the front wipers are on the rear wiper gives a sweep. Very very clever idea and really useful for parking on wet days.

bazz26

Certain JDM Mitsubishi Lancer/EVOs have a rear windscreen wiper.

I've always driven saloon cars and to be honest not having a rear windscreen wiper doesn't bother me.

G Luxel

A lot of JDM saloons have rear wash wipe, including the Nissan Pulsar saloon.
There are also some UK spec hatchbacks that are not fitted with rear wash as standard and these are very bottom of the range Yaris,Micra, Fiesta, Corsa/Nova from the 80s to late 90s.

colm_mcm

bazz26 wrote:

Certain JDM Mitsubishi Lancer/EVOs have a rear windscreen wiper.

I've always driven saloon cars and to be honest not having a rear windscreen wiper doesn't bother me.

I have one on my FTO, and it's brilliant!

CJhaughey

Subaru Legacys have them, well the older model did.

milltown

Two reasons I believe:

1. The airflow over the back window of a saloon is cleaner so the rain and dirt tend not to gather as much although this is not much use in city traffic. After a spell of bad weather you'll see the whole back of most hatches will be filthy while on saloons the dirt will be below the lip of the boot. The blunt end of the car creates a relative vacuum as it passes through the air so the dirty road spray can just gather there without being blown away.

2. The other reason, which I can't believe designers haven't worked around yet, is due to the way the boot opens on a saloon. The lid couldn't open as wide if there was a wiper in the way. I presume a top mounted wiper causes other problems that I haven't thought of.

Owen

The MINI Cooper S GP doesn't have a back wiper either, and that's a hatch too.