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  #21  
Old 18th December 2014, 12:03 PM
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The_Laird The_Laird is offline
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David and I both fitted the proper curved blade some months ago - miles better than any other blade I've tried. He'll agree, I'm sure
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  #22  
Old 18th December 2014, 12:27 PM
HPsauce HPsauce is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ScottD3 View Post
Say that's a 22" blade with a curve, its over all length could be 21" .
Overall 21.5". But a 23" blade still works for me.
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2003 D2 FL S8. Irish Green Pearl/Beige. Solar sunroof, auto-dim mirrors, electric rear seat functions, ski hatch retrofit; extended leather. Aftermarket DVB-T, reversing camera and full XCarlink (Bluetooth etc.).
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  #23  
Old 18th December 2014, 05:52 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by The_Laird View Post
David and I both fitted the proper curved blade some months ago - miles better than any other blade I've tried. He'll agree, I'm sure
I don't doubt that for a moment, but I'm fascinated now why that should be. I mean, I can think of a few advantages of having a curved blade, but I can't think why it would be that the curvature alone would make it wipe better than a straight blade, except maybe if by being curved, the increased vertical distance between the middle of the blade (ie the peak of the curve) and the ends of the blade, create a more rigid structure, one that is less prone to wobble/judder as it moves across the windscreen.

Other than that, I would imagine the curvature would have the cosmetic advantage of bringing the tip of the n/s wiper closer to, and more inline with, the bottom edge of the windscreen. No doubt the curve also reduces the overall effective straight-line length of the blade, but if that were the only advantage, a shorter straight blade would be just as good.
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  #24  
Old 26th July 2015, 04:34 PM
snapdragon snapdragon is offline
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I think the D3 blades are Valeo as the rubbers say SWF on them - but most other VAG cars are BOSCH Aero but there is no Valeo aftermarket part number for UK/RHD and places that sell these are selling LHD parts, but the EKTA specifies different part number of RHD & LHD and different for passenger and driver side but aftermarket ones are usually same for driver and passenger so there must be some compromise.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8kHXwEzCw8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhNDZOd9G9U

Last edited by snapdragon; 26th July 2015 at 04:47 PM.
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  #25  
Old 26th July 2015, 08:57 PM
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notorious notorious is offline
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Don't confuse Valeo with SWF.
SWF is premium german brand for wipers. SWF is better than Bosch.
Valeo is cheap s**** in comparison.

That logic was true for D2. SWF may be owned by valeo, but the quality and brand are separate.
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  #26  
Old 26th July 2015, 10:23 PM
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Goran Goran is offline
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I had to replace my blades recently, I read this thread and was going to order SWF from Germany, but in the end I just got Bosch blades from Halfords, they seem to be good quality.
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  #27  
Old 27th July 2015, 10:58 AM
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Dezzy Dezzy is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by The_Laird View Post
David and I both fitted the proper curved blade some months ago - miles better than any other blade I've tried. He'll agree, I'm sure
I had non genuine blades when i first bought my 8, switched them out for genuine and was much better, and now i can change the rubbers too, TPS 7.50 i think it was. Quantum blades also available too and are really reasonable.

Just a question, how often do you guys clean your blades? I was getting smearing and cleaned the blades with meths. Apparently they don't need changing as often as i thought.
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  #28  
Old 27th July 2015, 11:10 AM
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I don't clean them. I change to genuine SWF rubbers on my D2 every year which I buy from TPS.
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  #29  
Old 28th July 2015, 06:04 PM
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ScottD3 ScottD3 is offline
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I need to order new wipers for the D3.
wheres the recommended place?
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  #30  
Old 28th July 2015, 06:12 PM
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I'd use TPS. Even the cheap Quantum blades are ok and only a few quid each
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