3 ms·

I'm really curious from those folks who have this feature if it is actually useful (and why), or if it's really just a novelty?

glenngillen 5y ago
Yeah, I almost never touch my wipers. Only exceptions I can think of is if there’s a very very suddenly change in the speed/volume of rain falling, I’m stopped for an extended period (the automatic speed adjustment works better when you’re moving), or if a bug or something has hit the windscreen and I need to squirt to clean it. That sentence was a real effort to go down memory lane though, it’s just not something I really have to think about anymore.
mulmen 5y ago
I have it on my BMW. It works great. There is still a similar looking control as you would have with a conventional system but instead of wiper speed it is basically a "sensitivity" or a "desired dryness". Here in the PNW rain can be a light mist or proper raindrops and may change minute to minute. So I just turn it on, set it to something in the middle and the wipers wipe when necessary. I rarely have to touch it again after turning it on. Compare this to my old Toyota that just had low-med-high. Low was still moving constantly, the only intermittent was a manual "mist". This meant my wipers were running way too much even on low or I had to hit the mist every 10-20 seconds.
martyvis 5y ago
It's great (have it on my Subaru). It is particularly useful at that wet road or drizzle stage when more water comes from other vehicles than the sky. At that level it might wipe only 3 to 6 times a minute. It certainly removes that over-compensating dry wiping you get without it. I used my older Toyota Land cruiser on a road trip and constantly adjusting the intermittent interval in the drizzle was a pain.
baud147258 5y ago
as an infrequent driver, I have difficulties splitting my attention between driving and dealing with controls like headlights and wipers, so anything that automate that is great
fouc 5y ago
The typical stick for controlling the wiper speeds usually only has a few different speeds, there's no fine-grained control of getting the exact speed to match the rain. You're forced to switch between too slow and too fast. Too fast creates a jarring sound/vibration, too slow means the water starts building up on the window, causing visibility issues. An automatic wiper speed seems a lot safer.

glenngillen 5y ago

Yeah, I almost never touch my wipers. Only exceptions I can think of is if there’s a very very suddenly change in the speed/volume of rain falling, I’m stopped for an extended period (the automatic speed adjustment works better when you’re moving), or if a bug or something has hit the windscreen and I need to squirt to clean it. That sentence was a real effort to go down memory lane though, it’s just not something I really have to think about anymore.

mulmen 5y ago

I have it on my BMW. It works great. There is still a similar looking control as you would have with a conventional system but instead of wiper speed it is basically a "sensitivity" or a "desired dryness". Here in the PNW rain can be a light mist or proper raindrops and may change minute to minute. So I just turn it on, set it to something in the middle and the wipers wipe when necessary. I rarely have to touch it again after turning it on. Compare this to my old Toyota that just had low-med-high. Low was still moving constantly, the only intermittent was a manual "mist". This meant my wipers were running way too much even on low or I had to hit the mist every 10-20 seconds.

martyvis 5y ago

It's great (have it on my Subaru). It is particularly useful at that wet road or drizzle stage when more water comes from other vehicles than the sky. At that level it might wipe only 3 to 6 times a minute. It certainly removes that over-compensating dry wiping you get without it. I used my older Toyota Land cruiser on a road trip and constantly adjusting the intermittent interval in the drizzle was a pain.

baud147258 5y ago

as an infrequent driver, I have difficulties splitting my attention between driving and dealing with controls like headlights and wipers, so anything that automate that is great

fouc 5y ago

The typical stick for controlling the wiper speeds usually only has a few different speeds, there's no fine-grained control of getting the exact speed to match the rain. You're forced to switch between too slow and too fast. Too fast creates a jarring sound/vibration, too slow means the water starts building up on the window, causing visibility issues. An automatic wiper speed seems a lot safer.