Right hand side wiper reversal - why?

If it is racing heritage. Why are the right hand drive versions not reversed? It is a production matter not racing heritage that has the wipers in front of the driver. If it were the right hand drive versions would be reversed and an arm available to do this conversion



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This post was auto-generated based upon a question asked on our tech article page here: Pelican Technical Article: Wiper Reversal

[Wayne 962]

That's a good question. I think Porsche has traditionally kept them on the left side. Although they block more of the driver's view when they are off, they also clear more of the windscreen from this position. Perhaps someone else on the forums can comment?

- Wayne

[175K911]

I suspect that the wipers park on the left so that when rain hits, the area in front of the driver is cleared first. I reversed mine because I don't run on the track in the rain so I wanted a little better visibility. It's distracting at 120+ when the wiper in front of the driver is flapping around. Oh, and I've seen factory production racers with just one wiper.

[nesslar]

Both, I'd agree, but mainly the latter; sudden downpour, quickly cleared. Even a racer needs a wiper to "try" to clear away blown out oil from the cars in front should something go wrong. No, wait, Porsches don't lose oil......

[jmohn]

I've never found/heard any specific information why Porsche parked the wipers in front of the driver; but ...

I have noticed (since reversing mine to park on the passenger's side), when you turn off the wipers, there is a trickle of water, from the tail end of the driver's wiper, that trails up the windshield in front of the driver; this did not happen when they parked on the driver's side.

Not a huge inconvenience, but I have considered putting them back to original.

Jerry M
'78 SC

[Joe Bob]

Less obstruction while driving. My Recaro seats drops me down a few more inches than the stock seat. The wiper is in my line of vision.

[ossiblue]

The early 911's, up to 1968, came with the wipers parked on the passenger (right) side so clearly, Porsche made the decision to change sometime after the introduction of the 911.

There is something to be said for the immediate removal of rain when the wiper is parked on the left, but I have found the greater annoyance coming from the water that remains directly in front of the driver's eyes when the wipers come to rest. This water streak is considerable (not just a drip or two) as it is a result of the water being flung off the tip of the right hand wiper blade as it moves to the rest position. That is the reason I made the switch on my 73. I don't track, and I didn't do it to get the parked blades out of my field of vision (though I do like that benefit). I did it to get a clear windshield once the wipers have done their job.

Just an observation--my other cars (obviously not sports cars: Toyota Land Cruiser, BMW 525, VW Jetta) all have the wipers parked on the right.

[nesslar]

Originally Posted by Joe Bob

Less obstruction while driving. My Recaro seats drops me down a few more inches than the stock seat. The wiper is in my line of vision.

I had the same problem in my '86 with the standard seats, even with a pair of risers under there! Seems (I have heard) that in the '86 model the seats sit lower from the factory. With my sport seats I sit higher (and no risers!), alleviates the problem (mostly). ossieblue makes a good point about the water; I still intend to switch mine over, especially since I'm usually the only one in the car. I avoid most all rain, but the cleared view will be nice!

[Joe Bob]

Mine is an 83 and I made my own seat adapters for the Recaros...so I dropped a few inches as I mentioned. I also removed the passenger side wiper and used a longer arm on the remaining one. So I'm a single wiper guy.....

BTW, you don't have to go thru the trunk to do the swap. I went thru the gauge cluster, took me five minutes to do the change. It's a little tight but doable. Make sure you have a magnetic probe to grab the nut and washer.

[911pcars]

I have noticed that wipers parked on the drivers side seem to divert some of the water that would normally run upwards. For those whose attention spans tend to drift, eye-balling a moving rain drop could be a potential driving hazard. OTOH, there's better visibility w/o wipers in one's field of vision. YMMV.

For the more timid customizers among us, moving the wipers to the opposite side could be a low key act of a "rice" modification so as not to offend the concours aficionados in the audience. But I feel some momentum growing, i.e. "WWFD?" (What would Ferdinand do?).

Sherwood

[Joe Bob]

What do RHD owners have from the factory?

[jonmont]

My understanding is that Feferal safety requirements (I believe beginning in '68) mandated the wipers be parked on the driver side--less delay in front of the driver's eyes when first turned on. I think Porsche made the corresponding change (parked on driver's side) to RHD cars to be consistent.

[Superman]

Why? Because I wanted them out of my way. The better question is "Why would you want them to park on the driver's side?" Nobody (except Porsche) does that. Sure, they clean the area in front of the driver very quickly. But they obscure vision all the time. Plus.....the left blade rests against a sharp curve, and over time it stops wanting to lay flat against the flat parts of the glass. And as someone said, at speeds in excess of 120, the blade crawls further upward. I spend a great deal of time cruising at 120+.

Also, take it from a guy who loves motoring and lives in a rainforest......Rain-X is your friend. I put wipers on my car because it makes me legal.

[dagriff]

Originally Posted by Joe Bob

What do RHD owners have from the factory?

Drivers side. It's on my long list of things to do, but way down!

[80-911SC]

so if you have a US car and do a wiper reverse would a set of euro arms allow them to sit correct ???????

[dicklague]

I was thinking of the post today while I was driving my 911.

The wipers block the road between 10 and 11" in front of my car! Well is doesn't block really, and any other car would have a hood there to block things out to 15 or 20 feet.

So my summary of blocking visibility is: BULL----!

[Wilhelm]

Just put them where you want them. And..forget about it !