The Lemon Fool

Approximately 2 weeks staying at a hotel and experiencing the weather consequences for my car parked in the hotel car park outside has led me to conclude that I am going to take a blade with me in future.

The roof of my car does not have a gully so after it has rained and i open my windows the water trickles onto the inside of the car doors. I could drive far enough for the water to be blown off before opening the window(s) but that would be inconvenient so far as i am concerned. Also, it doesn't solve the problem of the water dripping inside the car door and sometimes the seats the moment I open the car door(s).

For car cleaning, I used to use a flexi water blade - that is, before I got an Air Force Blaster Car Dryer : https://www.cardryers.co.uk/Blaster-Car-Dryer.php. Although the blade was efficient, it can only drag the water in the direction steered. A brisk sweep along the roof would sometimes leave me wet if I didn't move out of the line of fire quickly enough. Even i think it would be ott (or impractical) to dry the car thoroughly before each journey so a blade is going to have to be it. I shall have to remember not to talk in public about carrying a blade!

What do others do?

What make & model of car has such a stupid design?

brightncheerful wrote:I shall have to remember not to talk in public about carrying a blade!

You could always simply call it a squeegee or a wiper.

Scott.

robbelg wrote:What make & model of car has such a stupid design?

Tesla I believe, but in this case I seem to remember it is an Audi A1.

John

robbelg wrote:What make & model of car has such a stupid design?

A surprising number of relatively modern cars are similar. Most have smooth transitions between the roof and the sides, whereas twenty or thirty years back most had seams which channelled water away and allowed you to easily clip a roof rack on.

I suppose drag reduction is at least partly to balme.

I don't think any cars are sold on the basis that they will keep you dry.

brightncheerful wrote:Even i think it would be ott (or impractical) to dry the car thoroughly before each journey so a blade is going to have to be it.

You're not kidding. I see that the Air Force Blaster runs on 240 volts, so the chances of my nipping into the garage on a wet morning to hook its 11 foot cable up to a power point could be considered minimal.

I can't remember the last time I had a car with a welded gutter on the roof. It might have been my 1986 Ford Escort. Useful for attaching a primitive type of roof bars, and for growing my impressive collections of moss and rust?

BJ

staffordian wrote:

robbelg wrote:What make & model of car has such a stupid design?

A surprising number of relatively modern cars are similar. Most have smooth transitions between the roof and the sides, whereas twenty or thirty years back most had seams which channelled water away and allowed you to easily clip a roof rack on.

I suppose drag reduction is at least partly to balme.

I just looked at my 2018 Golf and while it has no "welded gutter" it definitely has a raised profile that keeps water from dripping from the roof into the interior when the doors are open.

John

My dad swears by wind deflectors, you can take the window down a little and no rain gets in. I see a lot of taxi drivers using them.

Back in the eighties they were huge ridiculous looking things but nowadays they are much more subtle, I’ve nearly been tempted myself as I also have the problem of water dripping in.

Bh

bionichamster wrote:My dad swears by wind deflectors, you can take the window down a little and no rain gets in. I see a lot of taxi drivers using them.

Back in the eighties they were huge ridiculous looking things but nowadays they are much more subtle, I’ve nearly been tempted myself as I also have the problem of water dripping in.

Bh

The only problem with them in the context of the OP is that they open with the door so would not stop the water running off the roof when the door is opened.