I once saw a car that was all customized out. Instead of having 2 front windshield wipers it just had one big one that was secured just off center of the windshield. I cant seem to find a picture of an example on the net or I would provide one.
Do you think there would be any benefit to a hypermiler car to have just one big windshield wiper?
Are there weight savings? Power savings? Cost savings in replacement blades?
I have heard that if you replace your main one with a slightly larger one and just delete the passenger one that you will have less coeficient drag.
even better than that is to have a switch that will keep the wiper vertical when not in use. I haven't done this but have heard that is pretty easy.
one thing to think about is that you won't see a lot of FE gains from doing this and you may need to check to see if that is legal in your state or area.
I would start with a grill block or a WAI (warm air intake) you will see much better gains from that. I started her not quite a month ago at 30mpg and am now doing around 35. my gas log doesn't reflect this because I just did the WAI on my car and still have a few hundred miles before tanks end.
*edit* also there is a lot of time, effort, and thought that would go into making the one wiper thing work right and look right.
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Heh, it's like sitting in a peach orchard and pointing out a blackberry that's 500ft up a cliff... lots of low hanging fruit all around before you waste energy on that blackberry.
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I used to have a 1991 Mercedes that had a single wiper centered...kinda cool design...but seemed a bit over engineered for what you get...occasional use. :-)
Work on the other things... and leave the "speed racer" stuff to the teenagers who think it looks like an autocross car.
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McIntyre's First Law: "Under the right circumstances, anything I tell you may be wrong."
O'Brien's First Corollary to McIntyre's First Law: "I don't know what the right circumstances are, either."
I've seen the one wiper thing on many a cheezy ricer, along with huge ridiculous wings, lots of stickers, and any number of other modifications that do not provide any function and look terrible.
I cannot imagine it being worthwhile under any circumstances. A fairing to cover your wipers, if they're not hideaway, would probably yield a much greater improvement while merely looking cheezy instead of silly.
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