# Do any cars have this windshield wiper feature? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 7, 2009, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-cars-have-this-windshield-wiper-feature/520378 "2009-12-07T22:47:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-cars-have-this-windshield-wiper-feature/520378/21 "2009-12-08T15:31:59Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > Have you ever used RainX? As long as you’re going more then 40 or 50 miles an hour you often don’t even need to use your wipers…Though it does take some getting used to since the rain travels _up_ your windshield. In some states, you are required to turn on your headlights when you use your windshield wipers. I’ve always wondered if a Rain-X defense would work. ---
**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-cars-have-this-windshield-wiper-feature/520378/22 "2009-12-08T19:32:15Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > I also bet that not a single one of the people upthread who said they have this feature really have a wiper controller which follows their speedometer. I’m not upthread, but I do have a 66 Bronco with a feature that pretty much tracks wiper speed with vehicle speed. That truck has vacuum operated wipers, and as engine vacuum decreased, the wipers slowed down. Of course, that mean that as the vehicle goes faster, the wipers go slower. In heavy snow, you have to get off the gas completely in order for the wipers to work at all. All in all, it keeps your speed slow enough for the conditions. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-cars-have-this-windshield-wiper-feature/520378/23 "2009-12-08T19:51:40Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Speed sensing is silly. A design like that would be using vehicle speed as a proxy for what you really care about, quantity of water on the windshield. And as Rick outlined, there are lots of reasons why vehicle speed is a crappy proxy for water quantity / rainfall intensity. > > The electronics for a rain sensor are no more or less expensive than those for a hookup to a speedometer. > > I also bet that not a single one of the people upthread who said they have this feature really have a wiper controller which follows their speedometer. They have wiper controllers with rain sensors. > > Same cost, better results. I’ll bet you feel silly now. ---
**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-cars-have-this-windshield-wiper-feature/520378/24 "2009-12-08T19:59:08Z")
After the first winter, I was starting to doubt the slogan ‘Ford has a better idea’. ---
**Author:** ![BrandonR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@BrandonR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrandonR)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-cars-have-this-windshield-wiper-feature/520378/25 "2009-12-08T21:54:52Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Speed sensing is silly. A design like that would be using vehicle speed as a proxy for what you really care about, quantity of water on the windshield. And as Rick outlined, there are lots of reasons why vehicle speed is a crappy proxy for water quantity / rainfall intensity. > > The electronics for a rain sensor are no more or less expensive than those for a hookup to a speedometer. > > I also bet that not a single one of the people upthread who said they have this feature really have a wiper controller which follows their speedometer. They have wiper controllers with rain sensors. > > Same cost, better results. Yeah, that makes sense if the rain-sensing wipers work on how much water is on the windshield. I was under the assumption it was only capable of detecting if there was water or not (either yes or no, not varying degrees of how much water). ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2009, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-cars-have-this-windshield-wiper-feature/520378/26 "2009-12-09T01:22:49Z")
Yeah, that’s why I mentioned “I think” that my Expedition is speed sensitive. It’s hard to tell. Is there more water because I’m going faster, or because it’s raining harder? Doesn’t really matter; they work perfectly. So perfectly, that I leave them on all the time, and when the window-washer rats ignore my “no’s” and squirt my windshield, they automatically shoo off the miscreants. ---
**Author:** ![ed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c77e96/32.png) [@ed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ed)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2009, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-cars-have-this-windshield-wiper-feature/520378/27 "2009-12-09T01:26:42Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > I also bet that not a single one of the people upthread who said they have this feature really have a wiper controller which follows their speedometer. They have wiper controllers with rain sensors. What do you want to wager? From the Altima manual: > [@](#): > > Push the lever down to operate the wiper at the > following speed: > > - Intermittent: — intermittent operation can be > adjusted by turning the switch toward sA > (Slower) or sB (Faster). Also, for vehicles > equipped with speed dependent wipers, the > intermittent operation speed varies in accordance > with the vehicle speed. (For example, > when the vehicle speed is high, the intermittent > operation speed will be faster.) [http://www.courtesyparts.com/pdf/2009-Nissan-Altima.pdf](http://www.courtesyparts.com/pdf/2009-Nissan-Altima.pdf) ---
**Author:** ![butler1850](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@butler1850](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/butler1850)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2009, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-cars-have-this-windshield-wiper-feature/520378/28 "2009-12-09T16:15:22Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > Have you ever used RainX? As long as you’re going more then 40 or 50 miles an hour you often don’t even need to use your wipers…Though it does take some getting used to since the rain travels _up_ your windshield. > [@Magiver](#): > > I hate that product in the winter. Salt spray seems to inbed in it. I go through a lot more washer fluid. I’m a big fan of the additive to the windshield fluid made by RainX (Or competitive “Like” products). Pour it in, and it applies over time. It refreshes the built base each time you spray. I only like the “normal” RainX the day I apply it. > [@kayaker](#): > > In some states, you are required to turn on your headlights when you use your windshield wipers. I’ve always wondered if a Rain-X defense would work. Daytime running lights are a godsend. Does the headlights rule require the rear running lights to activate? I’d bet that law enforcement would rule that Rain-X isn’t a defense against needing to activate your headlights in inclement weather. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2009, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-cars-have-this-windshield-wiper-feature/520378/29 "2009-12-09T16:21:42Z")
> [@butler1850](#): > > Does the headlights rule require the rear running lights to activate? I’d bet that law enforcement would rule that Rain-X isn’t a defense against needing to activate your headlights in inclement weather. Actually, I’ve chatted with a coupla cops I know and they feel the law is poorly written. > [@](#): > > PA: Sec 4302, (b), (3) of the Motor Vehicle Code states that headlights and taillights are to be on at the following time: “Any time when the vehicle’s windshield wipers are in continuous or intermittent use due to precipitation or atmospheric moisture, including rain, snow, sleet or mist.” So, even if it is pouring, if the driver does not need to use wipers, they (per cops I’ve talked with) would not be cited, or if ticketed, would prevail in court. ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2009, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-cars-have-this-windshield-wiper-feature/520378/30 "2009-12-09T16:33:09Z")
My 1986 Starion had that feature. I miss that car. ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2009, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-cars-have-this-windshield-wiper-feature/520378/31 "2009-12-09T17:15:45Z")
> [@Dag\_Otto](#): > > I’m not upthread, but I do have a 66 Bronco with a feature that pretty much tracks wiper speed with vehicle speed. That truck has vacuum operated wipers, and as engine vacuum decreased, the wipers slowed down. > > Of course, that mean that as the vehicle goes faster, the wipers go slower. In heavy snow, you have to get off the gas completely in order for the wipers to work at all. All in all, it keeps your speed slow enough for the conditions. Many cars in the '40s and '50s did this (my father remembered it as a particularly Ford trick) and if you stepped on the gas they practically staggered to a halt, and whipped round as you changed gear. I remember sitting in the back of a Dodge Weapons Carrier watching this. ---
**Author:** ![Susanann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ab992/32.png) [@Susanann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Susanann)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2009, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-cars-have-this-windshield-wiper-feature/520378/32 "2009-12-09T19:18:35Z")
My 1955 Chevy had this feature, sort of, well, actually kinda the opposite. The windshield wipers were connected to some sort of vacume tube, so when I accelerated, the wipers would slow down, and when I actually floored it, the wipers would stop until I eased back on the gas. (what was really wierd, was my 1970 VW Beetle for which my tire would go flat if I used my windshield washer too much) ---
**Author:** ![Translucent\_Daydream](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/translucent_daydream/32/16170_2.png) [@Translucent\_Daydream](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Translucent_Daydream)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2009, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-cars-have-this-windshield-wiper-feature/520378/33 "2009-12-09T19:26:52Z")
I used to have an old pickup that did that, but it was more related to the fact that it was getting more voltage at a higher engine speed because the generator was pumping out harder. Pull up to a light, the headlights would dim, and the wipers would slow to a crawl. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-cars-have-this-windshield-wiper-feature/520378.md?page=1)