What? No Rear Wiper?

[Mr. LargeCoffee]

Having owned mostly hatchbacks over the last 50 years they have always come with a rear wiper. So when I was taking a test drive I attempted to activate the rear wiper only to find that there wasn’t one. A little surprised since the Civic hatchback comes with a rear wiper. I suppose the designer thought it would ruin the lines of the car. I’m a retired old coot whose main winter activity is to go skiing, so when it’s dumping snow and the roads are a mess I’m on the go. The rear window tends to get covered with salt spray in no time a frequently needs cleaning. I’m here, so I bought the car anyway, for those of you who live in snow areas that use lots of salt what are your experiences with rear visibility. Do products like rainX or ceracoat help?

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[acurax]

I put this on my windows and it seems to do well and last longer than RainX.
http://www.aquapel.com/

That said, the rear window provides such little visibility I find myself relying more on my side mirrors and backup camera, when reversing.

Here's an old blog post comparing the two. The link on the Aquapel website is broken, but I was able to find it on the internet archive way back machine.
https://web.archive.org/web/20081028054248/http://www.sports.autoblog.com/2006/04/17/rain-x-versus-ppg-aquapel-grudge-match /

 

[crepr12]

I'm in the NE and had no issues daily driver in the winter months....

 

[Integra23]

My first mod on previous HB's was to remove the rear wiper. I dont even uses rear defrost. Whats so important behind you?

 

[Mr. LargeCoffee]

I put this on my windows and it seems to do well and last longer than RainX.
http://www.aquapel.com/

That said, the rear window provide such little visibility I find myself relying more on my side mirrors and backup camera, when reversing.

Here's an old blog post comparing the two. The link on the Aquapel website is broken, but I was able to find it on the internet archive way back machine.
https://web.archive.org/web/20081028054248/http://www.sports.autoblog.com/2006/04/17/rain-x-versus-ppg-aquapel-grudge-match /

Thanks for the info. Looks like Amazon is the only place to get it. The local auto supply shops don’t seem to carry it.

 

[creaturemachine]

The rear window is so small it's nearly useless, especially with a proper tint. Since it's angled so low I didn't find it picked up much winter mess while driving like a more vertical one would. The lack of rear wiper is a plus. One less thing to go wrong.

 

[ChromaPop]

I'll stick with Rain-X because it's 10X less expensive than that Aquapel.

 

[SilverRocket]

. In all seriousness, the rain never pooled/beaded enough to block the rear view and even with a bit of speed, it washes downwards.

Also just my opinion and I know some are going to very much disagree, but you don't need to see out the back with 20/20 clarity. As long as it's clear enough to detect emergency vehicles or see head lights, it could be blurry.

Personally I'm extremely happy it doesn't have it.

 

[Frenzal]

The Integra is not a hatchback. It's a liftback. So no rear wiper I guess!

For the last year, it wasn't a problem in rain or snow!

 

[Mr. LargeCoffee]

. In all seriousness, the rain never pooled/beaded enough to block the rear view and even with a bit of speed, it washes downwards.

Also just my opinion and I know some are going to very much disagree, but you don't need to see out the back with 20/20 clarity. As long as it's clear enough to detect emergency vehicles or see head lights, it could be blurry.

Personally I'm extremely happy it doesn't have it.

My last car was a Subaru Impreza, the more upright rear window would get covered quickly on sloppy days with a slush/salt mixture, so a rear wiper was a necessity if you wanted to see anything out the back. I’m not worried about rain, that should shed off with speed. Time will tell. I do agree that it would ruin the lines of the car with a wiper sticking out on the hatch.

 

[Victorofhavoc]

I've been wondering about this actually. My q7 collects grime on the rear like no other and my gti did too. The sedans I've owned have never collected much grime though, but I only drove sedans in the dirty south, where snow and salt don't exist.

I'm curious to see how it will go in the salty midwest, but I ceramic coated my glass so that should help.

I drive out to Colorado at least once every winter, but for those trips we just take the Q7 on blizzaks. Can't beat that. On the Q7 I used an obd2 device called obd eleven, which allows modification of the Bosch registry and I was able to up the timer and lower the heat for the rear glass. This allows it to run for nearly twice as long as it normally would and it helps tremendously in snow, but also hurts with road grime because it just dries out the water and leaves salt behind. Ceramic coat does seem to help with the salt grime there, so I'd definitely recommend it.

Also, salt really sticks and leaves residue behind. I've found washing the glass with blue dawn and clay barring it is pretty much a must in the winter months to keep the wiper blades from skipping.

 

[KevCarver]

I read somewhere online there isn't a single panel in common between the Civic and Integra. The Civic liftback rear 3rd brake light/rear wiper combo isn't as nice as the smooth rear of the Integra with the high mounted brake! I've seen online comps of the rear reach over height of the cargo compartment higher in the Integra, and I think that makes more overhead room with the hatch up. Thoughts?

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