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- 2007 Mazdaspeed 6 Sport
I think many of us underestimate how important a good wiper blade can be. It's something you never think about replacing until you're an hour into a 5-hour rainy drive and are having trouble shedding all the water accumulated from the 18-wheeler next to you.
I'll be replacing my wiper blades very shortly (ordering today) and will be posting pictures of my old blades and new blades as well as a before and after review. I'm hoping this gets other people interested in trying other types of blades and reviewing them within this thread as well.
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User: Your site username.
Purchased: What type of wiper did you purchase?
Where: Where did you purchase these wipers?
Price: How much were the wipers? (Please include any special pricing.)
Rating: Rating of 1-5 (1=lowest, 5=highest)
Review: Please include a brief description of wiper performance. Be sure to indicate if you used them in snow, ice, heavy rains, and high speeds.
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User: Blendercloud
Purchased: Valeo Ultimate Wiper Blade 22" (driver) 18" (passenger)
Where: www.tirerack.com
Price: $19.95 each; buy one get one free for limited time; $8.15 shipping for a total of $28.10
Rating: 4.5 so far
Review: After a week the wipers are a serious improvement over the stock blades. The wiper system no longer feels cheap, but feels closer to what I was use to in my previous car, a BMW. I have only tested these in the rain and they were fantastic even at higher than highway speeds. They have a built-in spoiler within the design of the blade itself. It's not as smooth of an action, but noise is very low. The aerodynamic spoiler is not as effective as the OEM blade set on my BMW which is why I give it a 4.5.
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User: Mazdaspeeder
Purchased: Valeo Ultimate 21" and 19"
Where: Tirerack.com
Price: Buy one, get one free (total $19.95 + tax)
Rating: Rating of 1 (1=lowest, 5=highest)
Review:
I see a lot of good reviews for these wipers on this thread, but I have had a horrible experience with them. From the first time I put them on they were skipping over the surface of the windshield, leaving horizontal bands of water where they jumped. The passenger side wiper misses the last inch of its arc (closest to the A-pillar) and consquently leaves an uneven edge along that side. This is despite being the correct size for my vehicle and windshield. I realize applying Rain-X should help solve this problem and it does make them better, but they should work fine without the need for windshield treatment.
They were loud when I first started using them and in extended rainstorm driving I actually started to see accumulation of small black flecks next to my driver's side A-pillar. I can only assume the wipers were shedding material from prolonged, intense use. I've had then for more than a year now, and now they miss a big section toward the center of the driver's side wiper. They're still loud and they still do the horizontal skipping from time to time. The only redeeming quality is that they look better than traditional wipers, but the top of the blades has faded in the sun and does not darken again with application of a trim protectant like 303 Aerospace.
In my opinion, there's a reason these wipers are buy one get one free...they suck.
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User: sickmazdasix
Purchased: Bosch Micro Edge Excel
Where: Autozone
Price: $8.99 Each
Rating: 5
Review: Best blades imo *Please elaborate on this. Why are they your favorite?*
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User: tunersteve, SGT-MS6
Purchased: Bosch Icon
Where: Advance Auto Parts, AutoZone
Price: 22.99 for a set of two (buy one get one free in Oct. 2008); more recently $37/set at AutoZone
Rating: 5
Review: These are the only wipers I'll put on my cars. Frameless design looks great, very sleek and simple. My car stays outside year round and these will easily last a year before starting to go bad. Make sure to get exact sizing on these, as well as left and right correct style, as they have an 'aerodynamic spoiler' on the top of them to push them down at high speeds. No problems, no nasty noises, great performance in all temps I've been in thus far -5 to +100F. Flawless wipers. Oh, these things are great against ice buildup as well. It happens however it takes much, much longer and has less of an effect on performance as well.
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User: OJ Bartley
Purchased: Valeo Ultimate Wiper Blade 22" (driver) 18" (passenger)
Where: www.tirerack.com
Price: $19.95 each; buy one get one free for limited time; $8.15 shipping for a total of $28.10
Rating: 4*
Review: I ordered these blades with a friend who recommended them highly probably about 6 months ago, and they lasted through the winter quite well. They were nice and smooth, and the driver's side was pretty impressive. The passenger side didn't seem to curve as much as the windshield, and it left smudges towards the outside of the blade, and really only cleared about 2/3 of that area well. I gave a 4 with a * because I'm not sure that this is the fault of the blade or the windshield, because I seem to remember my previous blade acting similarly. They look great, and have held up well other than the contact issue. Still cleaning quite well on the driver side and 2/3 of passenger side.
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User: Stealth01
Purchased: Michelin Ultimate
Where: Advanced Auto
Price: $17-18 each, I think
Rating: 4.5
Review: My MS6 still had the stock wipers on it for the first year I drove it, so when I started getting constant streaks, I decided to upgrade. I hadn't heard of these before, but the design looked solid so I tried them out. So far, they've done very well. In snow, rain, and sleet they've done extremely well keeping the windshield clear, and with splashback from a deep puddle they struggled for about a second, then cleared it. The only thing they seemed to really struggled with was some mud that splashed on the windshield. I am very pleased with them so far.
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User: Evolved (Lots o' noms)
Purchased: Michelin Radius
Where: WalMart
Price: $13 each
Rating: 5
Review: I replaced some old Rain-X wipers (not a fan of even when new) and it was a world of difference with the Radius Wipers. The new ones are frameless, so they get more contact on the windscreen and they won't collect snow/ice. Big fan so far.
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User: boost2dms6
Purchased: Rain X Latitude
Where: Advanced Auto
Price: $38.98 for both 22"/18"
Rating: 5
Review: These blades are very very good. They are durable and contour to the windshield perfectly. I had these on my previous car for about 4 months or so and they held up great. Wouldn't see having to replace these for atleast a year. I will not buy any other windshield wiper again. Throw on some actual rain x product on the windshield and you double the effectiveness of the product.
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User: Hirudin
Purchased: Rain X Latitude
Where: Auto Zone
Price: I don't remember, but they were pretty much the most expensive in the store.
Rating: Driver's side: 2 Passenger side: 5
Review: I live in Albuquerque, New Mexico where it seldom rains and almost never snows. After looking over all the wipers in the store I decided to get these Rain X Latitudes. I installed them and went on my way, they seemed to work well. Lately though (after being on the car for around three months) the drivers side wiper leaves a large wet area right in the middle of my field of vision on the down stroke of the cycle. I fine this VERY aggravating, a feeling that is only exacerbated by the fact that they are pretty much the most expensive wipers I could buy.
The passenger side wiper works perfectly.
I'll be replacing my wiper blades very shortly (ordering today) and will be posting pictures of my old blades and new blades as well as a before and after review. I'm hoping this gets other people interested in trying other types of blades and reviewing them within this thread as well.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
User: Your site username.
Purchased: What type of wiper did you purchase?
Where: Where did you purchase these wipers?
Price: How much were the wipers? (Please include any special pricing.)
Rating: Rating of 1-5 (1=lowest, 5=highest)
Review: Please include a brief description of wiper performance. Be sure to indicate if you used them in snow, ice, heavy rains, and high speeds.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
User: Blendercloud
Purchased: Valeo Ultimate Wiper Blade 22" (driver) 18" (passenger)
Where: www.tirerack.com
Price: $19.95 each; buy one get one free for limited time; $8.15 shipping for a total of $28.10
Rating: 4.5 so far
Review: After a week the wipers are a serious improvement over the stock blades. The wiper system no longer feels cheap, but feels closer to what I was use to in my previous car, a BMW. I have only tested these in the rain and they were fantastic even at higher than highway speeds. They have a built-in spoiler within the design of the blade itself. It's not as smooth of an action, but noise is very low. The aerodynamic spoiler is not as effective as the OEM blade set on my BMW which is why I give it a 4.5.
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User: Mazdaspeeder
Purchased: Valeo Ultimate 21" and 19"
Where: Tirerack.com
Price: Buy one, get one free (total $19.95 + tax)
Rating: Rating of 1 (1=lowest, 5=highest)
Review:
I see a lot of good reviews for these wipers on this thread, but I have had a horrible experience with them. From the first time I put them on they were skipping over the surface of the windshield, leaving horizontal bands of water where they jumped. The passenger side wiper misses the last inch of its arc (closest to the A-pillar) and consquently leaves an uneven edge along that side. This is despite being the correct size for my vehicle and windshield. I realize applying Rain-X should help solve this problem and it does make them better, but they should work fine without the need for windshield treatment.
They were loud when I first started using them and in extended rainstorm driving I actually started to see accumulation of small black flecks next to my driver's side A-pillar. I can only assume the wipers were shedding material from prolonged, intense use. I've had then for more than a year now, and now they miss a big section toward the center of the driver's side wiper. They're still loud and they still do the horizontal skipping from time to time. The only redeeming quality is that they look better than traditional wipers, but the top of the blades has faded in the sun and does not darken again with application of a trim protectant like 303 Aerospace.
In my opinion, there's a reason these wipers are buy one get one free...they suck.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
User: sickmazdasix
Purchased: Bosch Micro Edge Excel
Where: Autozone
Price: $8.99 Each
Rating: 5
Review: Best blades imo *Please elaborate on this. Why are they your favorite?*
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User: tunersteve, SGT-MS6
Purchased: Bosch Icon
Where: Advance Auto Parts, AutoZone
Price: 22.99 for a set of two (buy one get one free in Oct. 2008); more recently $37/set at AutoZone
Rating: 5
Review: These are the only wipers I'll put on my cars. Frameless design looks great, very sleek and simple. My car stays outside year round and these will easily last a year before starting to go bad. Make sure to get exact sizing on these, as well as left and right correct style, as they have an 'aerodynamic spoiler' on the top of them to push them down at high speeds. No problems, no nasty noises, great performance in all temps I've been in thus far -5 to +100F. Flawless wipers. Oh, these things are great against ice buildup as well. It happens however it takes much, much longer and has less of an effect on performance as well.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
User: OJ Bartley
Purchased: Valeo Ultimate Wiper Blade 22" (driver) 18" (passenger)
Where: www.tirerack.com
Price: $19.95 each; buy one get one free for limited time; $8.15 shipping for a total of $28.10
Rating: 4*
Review: I ordered these blades with a friend who recommended them highly probably about 6 months ago, and they lasted through the winter quite well. They were nice and smooth, and the driver's side was pretty impressive. The passenger side didn't seem to curve as much as the windshield, and it left smudges towards the outside of the blade, and really only cleared about 2/3 of that area well. I gave a 4 with a * because I'm not sure that this is the fault of the blade or the windshield, because I seem to remember my previous blade acting similarly. They look great, and have held up well other than the contact issue. Still cleaning quite well on the driver side and 2/3 of passenger side.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
User: Stealth01
Purchased: Michelin Ultimate
Where: Advanced Auto
Price: $17-18 each, I think
Rating: 4.5
Review: My MS6 still had the stock wipers on it for the first year I drove it, so when I started getting constant streaks, I decided to upgrade. I hadn't heard of these before, but the design looked solid so I tried them out. So far, they've done very well. In snow, rain, and sleet they've done extremely well keeping the windshield clear, and with splashback from a deep puddle they struggled for about a second, then cleared it. The only thing they seemed to really struggled with was some mud that splashed on the windshield. I am very pleased with them so far.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
User: Evolved (Lots o' noms)
Purchased: Michelin Radius
Where: WalMart
Price: $13 each
Rating: 5
Review: I replaced some old Rain-X wipers (not a fan of even when new) and it was a world of difference with the Radius Wipers. The new ones are frameless, so they get more contact on the windscreen and they won't collect snow/ice. Big fan so far.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
User: boost2dms6
Purchased: Rain X Latitude
Where: Advanced Auto
Price: $38.98 for both 22"/18"
Rating: 5
Review: These blades are very very good. They are durable and contour to the windshield perfectly. I had these on my previous car for about 4 months or so and they held up great. Wouldn't see having to replace these for atleast a year. I will not buy any other windshield wiper again. Throw on some actual rain x product on the windshield and you double the effectiveness of the product.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
User: Hirudin
Purchased: Rain X Latitude
Where: Auto Zone
Price: I don't remember, but they were pretty much the most expensive in the store.
Rating: Driver's side: 2 Passenger side: 5
Review: I live in Albuquerque, New Mexico where it seldom rains and almost never snows. After looking over all the wipers in the store I decided to get these Rain X Latitudes. I installed them and went on my way, they seemed to work well. Lately though (after being on the car for around three months) the drivers side wiper leaves a large wet area right in the middle of my field of vision on the down stroke of the cycle. I fine this VERY aggravating, a feeling that is only exacerbated by the fact that they are pretty much the most expensive wipers I could buy.
The passenger side wiper works perfectly.
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