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So I've had 3 Fords in a row now and the last 2 have had their Quickclear windscreen which I think is great - de-mists in seconds and de-ices in very quick time too. Yes, Ok there are very small bars in the windscreen but once you get used to it, you don't notice it at all.
I'm looking around for a new car and am currently only really considering the Focus as I can't see me going for another car without the Quickclear screen. But I've realised that I don't have any recent experience of other makes and therefore wondered if people could tell me if other makes have a similar thing (although not bars in the glass as that is a Ford patent, I believe). Anyone able to tell me what other makes use? Or do they just have the standard air blowers?
Think ford had the patent on them so they were pretty much exclusive to them (and any firm they may have owned) though I dunno if/when the patent runs/ran out
Aircon.
Must be the longest running patent in history, seem to have been around for ever!
You mean a heated windscreen? I had a Ford heated windscreen and it was great. My current car does not have a heated windscreen, but I don't notice that either as de-icer is a lot faster. 😉
De-icer for the outside, Air Con for de-misting the inside.
[quote=Cougar said]Aircon.
A lot of aircon systems won't run at temps below about 3-5 degC
My Fiat Panda has one fitted as part of its Winter pack.
See if you can get an Eberspacher or Webasto heater fitted - you'll get a toasty warm car either on timer or at the touch of a button.
In my Landy the heater is set for 6 tonight - I finish at 6:30 and it'll be nice and warm with the screens all clear inside and out by then.
Most new cars have a small auxiliary heater to blow warm air before the engine gets chance to warm up. Won't clear the windscreen particularly fast though.
they've lost it now i think, so others are using it..?
I've seen plenty of cars which have a heated front windscreen as part of a 'winter pack' in the options list which costs a lot and which no one takes.
Mainly because the clear windscreen button which uses the aircon works so well.
It is a very good system. Love it on these cold mornings.
De-icer for the outside, Air Con for de-misting the inside.
The Ford system also heats up the water jets and the wing mirrors.
Plus of course you don't have to breathe in a bunch of nasty chemicals that you just sprayed all over your window.
It also clears mist a lot faster and more effectively than air con alone in my experience.
New Vauxhall Corsa has one http://www.vauxhall.co.uk/motability/cars/new-corsa-3-door/new-corsa-3-door.html I guess that since this is the very latest model/cheapest, it's come off patent.
S class Mercs have had them for a while too
I've had a couple of Fords with heated screens in the past, and no aircon or heater that I've encountered comes close (bar having a heater on timer). Obviously if you're side windows are iced up then you'll have to clear them manually (or make like an Audi driver) otherwise > Get in car, start engine, press button, wait 30s, swish wipers, drive off, win at life.
Its an option on new octavias too.
I wasn't really asking if anyone else uses the same system, I was more interested in knowing if anyone else has their own system to de-mist/de-ice and do they work as effectively as the Ford one.
Interesting to know that it's now available in other cars too.
Aircon
I've got aircon [i]and[/i] one of them fancy heated windscreens.
I can defrost faster than the time it took to type this post!
"Plus of course you don't have to breathe in a bunch of nasty chemicals that you just sprayed all over your window."
Strikes me of user error that.
Yeah ford lost the patent a few years back , i wouldnt thank you for it though the bars wind me up , like wearing dirty glasses - something im sensitive to being a specs to see guy. , air con works well enough - and i dont even have that . I just use the heater......
The Ford system also heats up the water jets and the wing mirrors.
Can you buy a car without heated mirrors these days?! Heated washer jets are very common too.
I wasn't really asking if anyone else uses the same system, I was more interested in knowing if anyone else has their own system to de-mist/de-ice and do they work as effectively as the Ford one.
Eh? Same thing shirley? You're looking for alternatives to a Focus that have a heated screen, what difference is it if it's the same technology Ford use, or subtly different?
Heated screens seem increasingly popular, ms njee20 test drove a couple of Minis (c2009 vintage) which had them - with fine wires in the screen just like Ford.
I just use the heater......
Chuck Norris just stares at his screen and it defrosts.
Ford had the patent but it expired years and years and years ago. Loads of new cars have heated front windscreens now.
as has been said, Webasto - next car will hopefully have this fitted. Then nice and toasty interior as well..
A large bottle of warm/hot water from thte tap poured steadily over the windscreen de-ices the outside instantly and warms the glass a bit so de-misting the inside is much quicker.
Volvo use them now (probably a hangover from they were acquired by Ford). They are an option, but quite a common one as part of the 'winter' packs.
Some BMWs have some sort of hot air alternative. Have never seen one in action to pass judgement though.
Eh? Same thing shirley? You're looking for alternatives to a Focus that have a heated screen, what difference is it if it's the same technology Ford use, or subtly different?
I don't know who Shirley is but I was wondering if other car manufacturers had other ways of heating the front windscreen.
I could be wrong but I thought there are 2 ways to heat something, inside to out or outside to in. Ford do the inside to out but do others use something that is specifically for heating the screen quickly that isn't bats inside the screen? Or is it just normal fans and ac?
Warm water in a spray bottle. Job done.
I don't know who Shirley is but I was wondering if other car manufacturers had other ways of heating the front windscreen.I could be wrong but I thought there are 2 ways to heat something, inside to out or outside to in. Ford do the inside to out but do others use something that is specifically for heating the screen quickly that isn't bats inside the screen? Or is it just normal fans and ac?
Well... yes, as people have said, many brands use a very similar system to Ford, by actually heating the glass (which is done with wires inside the screen): Volvo, Mini, Skoda, Fiat, Vauxhall etc. They will all work exactly the same way as the Ford system - ie they're not just blowing hot air onto the screen.
Do you want to know of a way of heating the screen not with air and not with anything in the glass?
I'm just confused as you said that you're only considering a Focus because it's so good, but are now saying that you're not interested in alternatives with exactly the same feature...
Warm water?
Bless...
Either gonna freeze on impact or shatter depending on temperature difference. Wouldn't be the first time I've ended up with a bumpy windscreen from trying to clear muck in the first few miles...
VW have it. Mine's rubbish, but it's an aftermarket one. There's no way an OEM one would be this bad.
Never feel the need to use it, but maybe that's because it's a rubbish one.
Warm water?Bless...
Either gonna freeze on impact or shatter depending on temperature difference. Wouldn't be the first time I've ended up with a bumpy windscreen from trying to clear muck in the first few miles...
Those are at the extremes, there's quite an overlap in the middle where no ill effect whatsoever will come.
Yes, Ok there are very small bars in the windscreen but once you get used to it, you don't notice it at all.
Can't stand them and can't get used to them - its like having a windscreen than is never clean. Have to put up with them in hire cars but if I was ever to buy a ford the first thing I'd do is get the windscreen replaced
They are very fine. I guess you probably notice them at first if you are not used to them, but once you are driving then your eyes are focussed into the middle distance and you don't see them.
At least I don't anyway.
The BMW hot air thing is pretty effective, although it is better suited to soting out misted windows rather than ice / frost.
My Cooper S had a heated windscreen in 2004.
[i]Interesting to know that it's now available in other cars too. [/i]
Land Rovers have them (probably as they were previously owned by Ford) and you really can't see the 'wires', and judging by the new Corsa advert others now too.
[quote=GrahamS said]They are very fine. I guess you probably notice them at first if you are not used to them, but once you are driving then your eyes are focussed into the middle distance and you don't see them.
At least I don't anyway.
Just got a new Ford with said heated screen. If I stare at the windscreen I can see the elements, if I drive normally, looking ahead of the car then I don't notice them.
Great feature IMO.
VW have a film that goes over the glass rather than elements within the glass, works well.
Wife had the heated screen in her Ford C-Max. Start engine, press front and rear heated screen buttons, clear side windows with scraper, front and rear now clear. Drive off. Really liked it.
Now need to scrape all the windows. Not a big deal, and it all stays clear once warmed up.
Oddly, my car has a heating element at the base of the windscreen where the wipers sit.
[i]Can't stand them and can't get used to them - its like having a windscreen than is never clean. [/i]
No it's not. It's like a clean windscreen with very fine lines in it.. (Unless it is dirty!)
[I]Warm water?
Bless...
Either gonna freeze on impact or shatter depending on temperature difference. [/I]
If it's freezing on impact, use warmer or more water. If it's shattering, well, I've never known anyone that's ever actually happened to.
My last focus (mk1) and current focus (mk2) have heated screen, despite not being particularly high spec. models.
I wouldn't have another car without it now, it's so quick and easy, and I don't notice the elements in the screen at all.
Always pisses off people with much more expensive cars as they sit there scraping/deicing or waiting for the heater...... 😈
Air con/heater does not even come close to defrosting the screen as fast. Also great if screen steams up, clears that in seconds.
Start engine, press front and rear heated screen buttons, clear side windows with scraper, front and rear now clear.
My Focus has a separate button marked "Max" which turns on both screen elements, but also turns the blowers onto maximum speed and temperature and directs them at the windows. It's pretty effective - the car is usually pretty close to de-iced by the time I have the kids strapped in.
Or for maximum pimp value I can just hit voice control and say "Demisting On" 😀
Next you'll be telling us about your mate who had his arm broken by a swan!...shatter depending on temperature difference.
Had a heated screen on the Puma, possibly the best feature of any car going. There's no way an engine powered heater/aircon will clear a screen as fast as one with heating elements built in, especially if the screen has ice on the inside and outside.
The Puma would take around a minute then the ice would show a sort of crackle effect and the wipers would sweep the ice clean off. Brilliant.
Agreed on how good they are - we used to special order the minibuses with them on, as the frost on the inside was as much a bother as outside, and you get fed up of wet dashboards all the time from the frost that falls off when you scrape.
The galaxy now has one, and as CountZero says, a couple of mins scraping side windows/getting kids on board and you are good to go. Even the kids know where the 'Max' button is, and press it for me regularly...
They still aren't as quick as de-icer tho. 😉