Valeo Flat Blade Wipers on 156 Review

[Simon_S]

I've just fitted these to my 156 and thought I'd pass on my findings...
Pros

• Visual impact of parked wipers is much reduced
• Very easy to fit
• Wipe beautifully - smooth, silent action

Cons

• Passenger side wiper is shorter than original curved wiper - reduced screen coverage
• Passenger side wiper can't cope with the curvature of the screen - tried bending it a bit more, now it lifts off in the middle of the wiper
• 156 owners will know that the screen washers are crap because the jets hit the wiper before the screen; I thought the low profile blade would help but, no, the jets hit the 'integrated spoiler' and it's worse than ever

Verdict - stick with conventional wiper blades on the 156.

On the plus side:

• Service from www.wiperblades.co.uk was excellent
• They stock replacement rubbers for the rear wiper of 147s and 156SWs, I didn't know these were available, only £3.25 too
• A tank of Shell V-Power Diesel and a long, fast journey has got my JTD running nicely and reduced its smoking habit

Hope this proves useful, cheers,
Simon_S

[Squadrone Rosso]

I had the Valeo's and found them good. I've now gone for the Bosch and they are bloody amazing Agreed on wiperblades.co.uk

[Il Dottore]

Just had a look on wiperblades.co.uk

Which Bosch ones did you get? The Aerotwin flat blade or the Super Plus?

[jonwood79]

I have the Bosch Aerotwin retro-fits on my 156 and have no complaints whatsoever. They deal with the curvature of the screen fine so just must be a little superior to the Valeos. I agree that the washer-jet thing is annoying, though.

SuperPlus are just normal wiper blades.

[Squadrone Rosso]

Originally Posted by Il Dottore

Just had a look on wiperblades.co.uk

Which Bosch ones did you get? The Aerotwin flat blade or the Super Plus?

Aerotwins. Cheaper than the Valeo's, neather mounting clips and just so much better in terms of performance

[Simon_S]

Originally Posted by Squadrone Rosso

Aerotwins. Cheaper than the Valeo's, neather mounting clips and just so much better in terms of performance

Wish you'd posted this before! I'd had the normal Valeos before and they'd outperformed the normal Bosch so I stuck with the brand
I think the answer to the washer problem might be a spacer to raise the nozzle half an inch so the jets clear the wiper blade, I'll have a play some time.
Cheers,
Simon_S

[Squadrone Rosso]

It pays to use the search function wipers

Cheers,

[Il Dottore]

Another solution for the washer problem could be to get the wiper blades moving before the water starts squirting. I always flick the wiper arm up to make the blades move before I pull it back for the wash to start. At least the water hits the screen until the blades come back down again. I wonder if there's a way of changing the timer so there's no pause before the wiper motor starts, but it still does several wipes before it stops. Maybe there's a relay from another make of car that does this. Any ideas anyone?

[n3xus-cy]

a mate sorted me with some Valeo from Peugeot [he works in the dealeship].. the blades are longer, fit perfect and do a better job than the factory ones...

[dpat]

Bosch Aerotwins are the ones to have

[Decky]

i got valeo flat blades cause the original wipers lifted off the screen at 60-70mph which was a disaster and the new blades worked perfectly for a few days and now they become just as airborne as the standard ones 50mph max in the rain