.... why is there a plastic thingy along the length of the driver's side wiper, but not along the length of the passenger side wiper??

At first I thought that I must have lost the one on the passenger side somehow, till I noticed all Minis are like this!

 

Good question. Doubt anyone will have a good answer. Maybe because only the driver is in the car at such speeds that it actually does anything, assuming it is for aerodynamic reasons.

I'd like to know if the wipers on the Europian MINIs are reversed. If not, does the passenger get the wind blade?

 

I heard or read somewhere that it has to do with the intake being there and how it actually uses that left vent to bring in air. And that if that plastic thing was not there the wiper would be flapping all the time because of the intake. I am not sure if that is the real reason. But it seems reasonable

-joe

 

I think it's a spoiler to hold the driver's side wiper blade to the glass better at speed. Then again, I could be completely wrong about it, haha.

 

Wonder if all cars are like that, or maybe a German thing? Got a BMW and Audi sitting in the garage and both have the wiper airfoil only on the drivers side.

My understanding is that the air flow will apply more pressure to the blade as speed increases so it is more efficient at cleaning. It's only on the driver's side since vision is more critical to the driver. Perhaps it not on both sides to save money .

 

Yes, that is what it is and what it does, provided he is asking about the spoiler

Earl

 

I've heard the one about the intake as well, that the plastic bit helps push air down to the vent. I actually asked on another thread but didn't get much for an answer. I've heard the bit about it helping to hold it down as well, but then why wouldn't it be on both? I'm interested in the reason as I would like new wiper blades. Fitting different blades into there would be much harder than just slapping new blades (with mount) onto the arms.

 

high speed aerodynamics was my guess.

 

It's there to hold down the whole car, not just the wiper blade