Best Windshield Wiper Blade after 1 Year of UV? Bosch Icon vs Rain-X, PIAA, Trico, Valeo, AERO

it's hard to believe it's been over a year since the last test on windshield wipers over the past year i've had some windshield wipers up on a metal roof getting exposed to uv so let's get the testing underway and see which brand held up the best in the first test we'll compare the amount of noise made by each brand then we'll see how the uv exposed wiper blades hold up at 55 miles per hour using simulated rain finally we'll compare the performance of the wiper blades under heavy rain conditions before we jump into the first test we'll be comparing two types of wiper blades the traditional style of wiper blade has been around for decades and uses a metal frame with a super structure and blade claws the more modern design uses a beam style construction in the last video we tested a couple of hybrid style wiper blades which uses a steel frame and a rubber cover but they didn't perform very well and we won't be testing them again this time at a price of 8.94 per wiper blade is this auto drive brand it claims to be a high performance all season wiper blade the auto drive uses a steel frame and super structure high performance design optimum visibility with pressure points rugged frame technology helps prevent ice and snow buildup the auto drive wiper blade is made in vietnam i purchased two aerodrive wiper blades one year ago this wiper blade has been out in the weather for a full year this wiper blade has not been so let's take a closer look at each one auto drive uses a protective coating on the rubber the coating on the new wiper blade is showing a lot of little cracks the protective coating on the wiper blade that's been experiencing uv exposure for a full year has plenty more cracks and is worn off in some areas there aren't any squeaks with the new auto drive wiper the uv exposed wiper is doing pretty good but there is a slight squeak at 11.93 the second least expensive brand we'll be testing is this trico trichoneoform brand premium protection beam blade it claims to be a premium oe factory replacement exclusive dual point coupler helps eliminate streaking we're going to test that these trico blades are made in mexico here uv exposure has definitely had an impact on the trico blades as you can see they're a lot more faded and we'll take a closer look at them the coating on the new trico wiper blade looks new without visible cracking or peeling the protective coating on the uv exposed tricho blade appears to be wearing away the new and the uv exposed trico wipers are definitely noisier than the auto drive at 12.7 cents per wiper blade the third least expensive brand we'll be testing is made by vallejo it's a 600 series premium wiper blade vallejo claims to be the number one worldwide wiper system manufacturer the vallejo uses a steel frame and superstructure synthetic plus natural plus coating there's no information on the vallejo box indicating where these blades were manufactured the coating on the new vallejo looks very similar to the coating used on the auto drive the uv exposure has definitely caused the coating to break down some the vallejo is definitely noisier than the auto drive the uv exposed vallejo is making about the same amount of noise as a new blade at a price of 16.98 is this aero quality all season rubber wiper blade the arrow uses a beam style construction it claims their durable material offers more thermal resistance and longer performance life specially blended rubber delivers smooth clean streak-free and chatter-free wipe we're going to test that the aero wiper is made in china the coating on the new aero wiper is in great shape without any fractures like the auto drive or the vallejo the coating on the uv exposed blade appears to be breaking down a little there's a slight squeak with the arrow the uv exposed arrow wiper is squeaking even more at a price of 18.94 is this bosch icon brand the bosch icon blade will be testing uses a beam style blade the clear max 365 is a rubber wiper blade the clearmax 365 uses a unique rubber technology this technology combines a soft rubber core with a powder coated shell which protects the wiping edge from ozone deterioration snow sleet rain and road debris for longer life it claims to reduce wiper friction for quieter performance the bosch blades are made in china the uv exposed bosch icon doesn't show any visible deterioration a very small squeak with the bosch icon the uv exposed bosch icon is making about the same amount of noise at a price of 19.47 are these michelin silicone blades durability tested 2 million plus wipes extreme weather performance it claims the last two times longer the michelins are made in vietnam the blade that hasn't been exposed to uv is on top the one that has is on the bottom there's definitely some type of coating that's been used on the wiper blades the uv exposed michelin doesn't show any visible deterioration there's quite a bit more squeaking with the michelin silicone blade compared to some of the other brands at a price of 24.97 is this rainex silicone endura brand two times longer lasting the rain x blade is made in indonesia just like the michelin silicone the rain-x silicone blade held up really well over the past year the rain-x silicone is definitely quieter than the michelin silicone the uv exposed rain x wiper blade seems to be about the same at 26.44 the most expensive brand we'll be testing is made by pia silicone advantage two times longer lasting water repellent silicone barrier long lasting performance quiet and streak free operation made in indonesia the pia and the rain x both appear to have held up about the same over the past year the new and the uv exposed po wipers seem to be making about the same amount of noise as the rain-x to simulate light to moderate rain conditions i put together a rain simulator on my pickup there's a spray nozzle aiming down at the front windshield the plumbing from the spray nozzle runs all the way back to the pickup truck bed where there's a generator a shallow well pump and 150 gallon water tank instead of it raining all the time i can just push a button and start the rain i'll be testing the wipers at 55 miles per hour let's go ahead and test the uv exposed wipers beginning with the auto drive brand which is on the driver's side of the vehicle the auto drive wiper performed well on the sweep to the left but water can be seen spilling over the top of the wiper element on the downward sweep to the right in heavy rain conditions the problem would be even more noticeable the trico performed very well on the sweep to the left as well as the sweep to the right the beam style design definitely helped it perform better than the auto drive on the downward sweep with very little water spilling over the top of the beam tricho is on the left and auto drive is on the right a lot more water is passing over the auto drive wiper while the trico wiper is doing a better job holding the water from passing over the element the vallejo did a great job on the left and right sweep it also experienced less water spilling over the wiper element compared to the auto drive the arrow uses a beam style blade and did a great job on the left and the sweep to the right there was a small amount of water spilling over the blade near the end of the right sweep the posh icon definitely did the best yet while all of the other brands experienced some water spillover on the sweep to the right the bosch icon did a great job managing the water the michelin silicone beam style blade definitely experienced more water spilling over the top of the wiper than the bosch icon it still did a great job the rayneck silicone beam style blade seems to be very well designed it seems to have performed just as well as the bosch icon the michelin is on the left and the rain-x is on the right the rain-x definitely seems to be doing a better job managing the water while the michelin had a little bit more water spill over the wiper blade the ps silicone beam style blade performed very well there was a small amount of water spillover on the sweep to the right very often when i get caught in a heavy downpour traffic comes to a near stop when you're just about stopped rain visibility becomes even more challenging so let's test the wipers using even more water spray while the vehicle is sitting still with heavier simulated rain conditions there's quite a bit of water streaking with the auto drive brand on the sweep to the left and even more on the sweep to the right the trico experienced quite a bit of water streaking on the sweep to the left but a little bit less water streaking on the sweep to the right compared to the auto drive the auto drive is on the left and the trico is on the right there is quite a bit more water streaking with the outer drive in the middle part of the windshield but the trico had quite a bit near the bottom there's quite a bit of streaking on the left sweep there's also quite a bit of streaking on the sweep to the right vallejo is on the left and trika was on the right there was definitely more water streaking with vallejo on the sweep to the left both brands experienced quite a bit of streaking on the right sweep the aero brand definitely did the best so far on the sweep to the left with just one water streak on the sweep to the right there was quite a bit of water streaking but definitely better than the other brands arrows on the left and trico is on the right arrow definitely seems to have done a better job on the sweep to the left there definitely seems to be less water streaking on the sweep to the right with the aero brand as well the bosch icon definitely did the best yet there weren't any water streaks on the sweep to the left the amount of water on the sweep to the right was very minimal compared to the other brands very impressive bosch icon is on the left and arrow is on the right while both brands did a terrific job the bosch icon definitely delivered a cleaner sweep to the left and to the right the michelin wipers did a pretty good job on the sweep to the left with a small amount of water streaking from the top of the wiper the michelin definitely didn't seem to do as well as the bosch icon on the sweep to the right the michelin is on the left and the bosch is on the right both brands did well but the bosch icon definitely did a better job on the sweep to the left and to the right the rainex silicone blade did fairly well but left the streak on the sweep to the left the amount of water left behind on a sweep to the right is definitely more than the amount of water left by the bosch icon rainx is on the left and bosch icon is on the right the bosch icon definitely seems to have done a better job managing the water on both the left as well as the right sweep the performance of the ps silicone wipers looks nearly identical to the performance of the rain-x wipers both experienced a small amount of water streaking on the sweep to the left and several streaks on the sweep to the right the bosch icon definitely seems to have done a better job pia silicone is on the left and bosch icon is on the right the pia silicone is definitely leaving behind more water than the bosch icon so it's bosch icon for the win in light rain conditions at 55 miles per hour the type of wiper blade i used didn't seem to make that much of a difference however in heavy rain conditions under slower speeds it made a huge difference and the bosch icon really stood out i was also very impressed with a couple of other brands the rain x seemed to do very well and if you're looking for a budget brand it's going to be really hard to beat the arrow all the videos in this channel including this one are viewers suggested so i hope you'll take time to give me some more video ideas thanks so much for watching please take care and look forward to next time

Channel: Project Farm

Views: 854,294

Rating: 4.9617109 out of 5

Keywords: Seafoam, project farm, best windshield wiper, best wiper blade, windshield wiper blade, wiper blade, car windshield wiper blade, Bosch Icon, Rain-X, PIAA, Michelin, Trico, Valeo, Auto Drive, aero, rubber wiper vs silicone wiper blade, rubber wiper, silicone windshield wiper, silicone windshield wiper review, best windshield wiper blade, best windshield wiper blade brand

Id: g3S8udUSKtY

Length: 10min 35sec (635 seconds)

Published: Sun Nov 01 2020

Reddit Comments

[u/ToastyMozart]

TLDW: Bosch Icon, with honorable mentions to the Rain-X Endura and the Aero.

[u/Hwy290]

Always quality testing, thanks 👍👍

[u/doggos4house2020]

Project farm has so properly fantastic content testing everything under the sun. I’m so happy he’s become popular with his channel

[u/ThirteenMatt]

I don't believe they're called Icon in Europe (at least in France it's Aerotwin) but they've been my favorites for a few years. I find they have a nice pressure over the whole length and age well.

[u/JamesFuckinLahey]

This is going to be highly dependent on your vehicle and the geometry of its windshield. I know the Icons are really good on some cars and horrible on others depending on the curvature of the windshield.

[u/ZeGermanHam]

I've used both the Bosch Icon and PIAA Si-Tech over the years on my cars. From my personal experience living in the Pacific Northwest (Seattle), the PIAA Si-Tech seems to last longer and the the silicone coating works better than the Bosch. That's just my experience, though.

[u/eneka]

I swear by PIAA silicone blades. They have cheaper ones too, some of their inserts work directly in oem blades. Love how I can get 5 or so years out of them before feeling the need to change them.

[u/Rohkii]

I've bought so many Icons. At least 3-4 Cars with 1-2 pairs.

[u/YellowCBR]

My Michelins developed a memory staying bent they way the rest which creates a terrible skipping noise at the start of every up-wipe. Still does fine visibility-wise though. Gonna get Icons now I think.

But I believe newer cars will alternate how the wiper rests.