Windshield Wiper Blades

[mabelair]

All right, so I picked up my Prius yesterday, and sure enough, we have a huge snowstorm that dumps 30cms of snow in the space of a day. Aside from all season tires simply not being up to the task, I had a number of issues with the windshield wiper blades, as they kept streaking, and generally made a mess of the snow on the windshield.

Luckily, when the car is driving faster than 20 km/h, it's not an issue since the car is so aerodynamic, but for those of you in colder climes, do you have any suggestions for good winter wiper blades?

I'd appreciate any info you could provide.

Thanks,

MAB

[Tideland Prius]

Unfortunately, no lol. But I'm sure MarkDerail, David Beale, Kinghuang, Jayman, Sarge and so forth can chime in. I've managed to get away with the standard blades but I don't think I can this year esp. if they're forecasting colder + snowier across the entire country.


Looking forward to your advices for snow blades!

[Devil's Advocate]

I'd recommend the new constant pressure blades. I think Michellin and Bosch both have blades. The use spring metal to keep constant pressure over the whole blade instead of the spring and bridge design. Plus no gaps for snow to collect. I believe the Bosch version go under the name Icon.

[shottesbrooke]

The Bosch Ikons/Icons are great - I've got a set on my 2006 - you can slightly upsize the driver's side blade too, if you like, to 28" from the stock 26". The provide a very clean sweep and minimal noise, and they give the car a cleaner look to boot. There are two fitments - the Prius (I think, you should confirm) takes type 'A'.

[Devil's Advocate]

Also, If you want to replace the rear wiper with anything than something from Toyota, you have to replace the entire arm. There are thereads in PC that tell you where to get a new arm. It's not cheap, but you can then put any standard blade on the arm, and a larger sized blade too!

[Boo]

Originally Posted by shottesbrooke

The Bosch Ikons/Icons are great - I've got a set on my 2006 - you can slightly upsize the driver's side blade too, if you like, to 28" from the stock 26". The provide a very clean sweep and minimal noise, and they give the car a cleaner look to boot. There are two fitments - the Prius (I think, you should confirm) takes type 'A'.

That's good to know re the driver's side. Is there enough room to increase the passenger's side too from the stock size?

[TonyPSchaefer]

I just ordered the RainX Latitude wipers. I'm waiting for them to arrive. I'll let you know how/if I like them once I get them on.

[fruzzetti]

What's "Snow?"

[JaviNOS]

I just installed Bosch Icon's about a week ago... Its always raining here in PR! ... They work great. Icons are also stock blades for Civics Si and some BMWs from what I've seen so far... So they must be good. My 2 cents

[David Beale]

From previous posts, "winter blades" from Trico are:
26" -P/N 37-260 (drivers side)
18" -P/N 37-180 (passenger side)
These are the metal framed rubber covered types.

The dealer only had 24" and 18" in the "Toyota" part. In fact, he couldn't even find a listing for the Prius, and those he found were "substitutes". Not very impressive!
Canadian Tire didn't have 26" (though they did have 28"), so I walked away. OK, I ran away screaming, but that's just me and Canadian Tire!


So I haven't purchased any yet. I also haven't needed any yet as we don't usually get heavy snowfalls here. We just get a few cms. at a time, it just doesn't melt until April!