[Aditya]

Today, cars offer various features to make driving more stress-free. Among these features are auto-headlamps and wipers which switch on or off automatically depending on the light and weather conditions. In the case of auto-wipers, the wiping speed is altered depending on the intensity of the rain as well.

However, not all manufacturers offer these features together. Some offer only one of the two and in most cases, it's just auto-headlamps that make it to the equipment list. Some of the cars that offer only auto-headlamps include the Honda Amaze, Honda City, Hyundai Verna, Hyundai Venue, Hyundai i20, Kia Sonet, Maruti Baleno, Maruti Brezza, Maruti Grand Vitara, Maruti XL6, Toyota Hyryder and Toyota Innova Crysta.

Auto wipers are available on more expensive Hyundai and Kia cars and Mahindra, Skoda, Tata and Volkswagen vehicles, but then, they come with auto headlamps as well.



GTO and I prefer to have auto-wipers ahead of auto-headlamps as they are a big boon in the 4 monsoon months when you have to continuously switch the wipers on or off, fiddle with the speed, intermittent setting etc. In an hour of varying levels of rain, one would probably change the wiper setting a dozen times! The monsoon has just withdrawn from Mumbai and from my innumerable drives during the season, I can safely say that a well-calibrated rain-sensing wiper setup would have reduced my effort considerably.

Compare this to auto-headlamps which you usually just switch on once, at the time of sunset. On the flip side, the headlamps of a car are used throughout the year whatever the season, while wipers are not.

So, if you had to pick one, which feature would you prefer - auto-wipers or auto-headlamps?

[GTO]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line & voted for auto-wipers. Thanks for sharing! With the way prices are climbing today, OEMs should just offer both & close the matter .

[vb-saan]

I would say Both. But if the selection must be one, then it would be Auto headlamps. I find it super useful especially when getting into a basement carpark, tunnel, etc.

[corvus corax]

I find intermittent wiping superior to automatic wiping or atleast thats the perception I have got from the dumb automatic wiping system in my Polo. I find myself constantly fiddling with the knob adjusting the sensitivity mid driving as sometimes the wiper speed is too low or too fast with respect to the amount of rain water falling on the wind screen, which is at times quite frustrating.

[Karaboudjan]

I fully second the opinion of Aditya and GTO. Would any day choose auto wipers ahead of auto headlights, just for the convenience of not adjusting the wiper speeds based on the ever changing rain intensity.
In contrast, headlights can be adjusted by the flick of a switch.
Cannot vote yet.

[shankar.balan]

Ideally both.
But if I have to make a choice then it is Auto wipers any day. Drizzle or Rain or indeed Snowfall or Sleet of varying intensities can happen rather suddenly in a completely unpredictable manner, especially when on a nice long road trip. I would much rather have auto wipers to clear my windscreen.

I mean, I can see perfectly well, hence I will know when to switch the headlamps on, for example if entering a tunnel or a basement or in misty conditions in the day time, or when twilight fades into darkness!

[narayans80]

I would choose and use Auto-Wipers

It is easier to identify a dark spot and proactively switch on the headlights, also you are better off switching headlights on your own than factoring electronics delay in a dark spot. My current car has auto headlamps, and I've not bothered using it yet.

On the contrary, gauging the intensity of the rain and setting the wiper speed accordingly is not something that you'd be so quick to respond to. Also the intermediate speed settings are something I have never done on the move. On all the cars I've owned, I've only used the 3 main speed settings. This is sometimes either too fast or too slow, which I have to manage as I drive.

Rear wipers are those out of sight-out of mind things during rains. While switching on is easy, you decide based on what you see on IRVM. I sometimes forget to switch off in traffic.

On a related note, this is what Hyundai has to say about Auto headlamps in the Alcazar manual I wonder what's the purpose then

[Aditya9100]

Auto wipers for me are one of the biggest convenience feature. You just need to put it into Auto mode and let the sensors do its Magic of increased or decreasing wiper speed, monsoon has almost withdrawn from the eastern states and i can definitely say that during that phase , the auto wipers have definitely helped me focus more on the road rather than fiddling with the wiper stalk.

P.S- cannot vote yet

[CArspeed]

Auto wipers any day above auto headlamps. The reason is the unpredictable quantum of waterfall falling on the windshield that depends on various factors happening all of a sudden viz. the intensity of rains, speed of our vehicle, trees and flyover over our head and also the splash from the vehicles from opposite direction. Infact I don’t use the auto headlamp feature in my 2011 Altis.

[tilt]

Auto-headlamps any day. I see people driving at dusk with no headlights or taillights. tahey have been driving since afternoon, they do not realise that it is dusk and that they are not visible to other traffic. just because they csn see other vehicles they believe they too csn be easily seen.

Rain, they see it, they are affected, they can turn on wipers. Headlights, not so much.

Cheers

[myavu]

Voted none! I can see what's happening in front of my car. Whether it's raining or getting darker (entering tunnels, underground parking, etc) I like to do it myself.

[condor]

Auto-headlamps. Will be used much more than auto wipers.

The other point about wipers is that, if the windshield is dirty, plus any gravel/dust resting on the wiper blade, these can cause scratches on the windshield.
(Whenever in doubt i stop, wipe the blades clean and then use the wipers)

[MotoBlip]

Originally Posted by corvus corax

I find intermittent wiping superior to automatic wiping or atleast thats the perception I have got from the dumb automatic wiping system in my Polo. I find myself constantly fiddling with the knob adjusting the sensitivity mid driving as sometimes the wiper speed is too low or too fast with respect to the amount of rain water falling on the wind screen, which is at times quite frustrating.

Agree with you 100%, the one on my i20 is equally dumb and I have to constantly adjust the sensitivity setting to make the wiper speed acceptable and it still doesn't work right. I'm usually quite a phlegmatic guy but this gets on my nerves every time, I will probably stop using it altogether.

[arpirocks]

Voted for Auto-Headlamps.

This is something that you will need almost every time you drive the car and it's a very critical feature in my honest opinion. Many times, the driver would not realize switching on the headlamp is not safe.

• Ensuring lights are on in the dark, the moment the visibility gets low and not depending on driver instinct
• Going in tunnels
• Going inside basement parking, etc.

Compared to the auto-wiper - most of the time it's obvious to switch it on when it's raining - the indicator to start it is right in front of you! But, having said that - I would also love to have it in auto-mode!

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by myavu

Voted none! I can see what's happening in front of my car. Whether it's raining or getting darker (entering tunnels, underground parking, etc) I like to do it myself.

Darkness yes, easier to judge ahead.

For rain, you may want to guess the rain pace ahead for this scenario (Your near-miss experiences on the road).

Its manageable in highway with less traffic, where you get time to react. Gets unnerving when you are faced with a wall of rain doing 40-60 kph city traffic.