Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Rain-X Latitude wipers
So the 42°C summer and -20°C winter finally got the better of my wiper blades today. My wife and a colleague of mine had both mentioned seeing ads for Rain-X Latitude blades so I thought I'd give them a go. They're different to normal wiper blade replacements in that they don't have the usual steel frame with all the hinges and pinch points. Instead they have a solid but flexible frame with the blade attached to it, and the whole thing is pre-bowed into a curve. That means (they say) no pressure points and a better contact all across the blade. From my point of view it means no snow and ice jammed into the hinges to freeze the blade into a useless shape at low temperatures. But being May, I'll have to wait a few months to see if that works out. They also have a small aerodynamic widget on them too which will allegedly prevent aero lift at speeds.
They snapped into place with the standard 'J' connector with no problem. I tried them on a dry windscreen - a good test for new blades - and they swished back and forth without a skitter or twitch. Trying them with the washers worked nicely too. We're expecting rain for the next few days so hopefully I'll get a chance to try them in anger.
We'll see how well they last and perform but they certainly look the part. They cost about $6 more than regular replacements.
Rain-X Latitude wiper blades
They snapped into place with the standard 'J' connector with no problem. I tried them on a dry windscreen - a good test for new blades - and they swished back and forth without a skitter or twitch. Trying them with the washers worked nicely too. We're expecting rain for the next few days so hopefully I'll get a chance to try them in anger.
We'll see how well they last and perform but they certainly look the part. They cost about $6 more than regular replacements.
Rain-X Latitude wiper blades
// posted by Chris @ 20:14 
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There's an interesting quirk of these wiper blades that has become evident after the first day of use. They don't contact the windscreen at the far right hand side of the passenger side blade. I'm not the only one to have this problem. A quick google search revealed all but one review that all say the same thing. They contact properly once the wiper is about 30° through it's up-stroke so it's more of an annoyance than anything, but my old, more traditional spider-frame blades never had this problem.
# posted by 
Chris : May 22, 2008 3:38 PM
Chris : May 22, 2008 3:38 PM
I have now reviewed these for my product reviews page. Rain-X Latitude review.
# posted by Chris : May 27, 2008 8:56 AM
Chris : May 27, 2008 8:56 AM
Hey Chris, I have also written a review / comparison of different bracketless wiper blades, it appears that not all bracketless designs are created equal!
Rain-X Latitude vs Anco Contour Premium vs Bosch Icon
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Rain-X Latitude vs Anco Contour Premium vs Bosch Icon
# posted by Boon : December 29, 2009 4:52 PM
Boon : December 29, 2009 4:52 PM
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