Windscreen forever defrost

[SeanR]

It really is bad.

Never noticed last year as no frost but this year, feels like an eternity.

No heated glass, I'm assuming not anyways.

Top left and right still frosty after 10 minutes of driving.

Guy at work recommends a trick I've never heard of, putting the sun visors down to assist haha.

[Marlinleg]

Defiantly I do it keep warm air trapped

[Vintagesixtysix]

Yes I remember my dad mentioning this one as back in the day (pre air con) especially on vans and wagons with large screens.

I haven’t noticed anything dramatic recently but I guess it depends on your conditions ( I’m urban only -5 on the dash yesterday )….. I’m sure our north of the border and Continental contributors will tell us to (person) up its not even double digit yet

(❄️😳❄️).

After the initial windscreen blast I do find going off Auto (AC) to screen and feet mode and incar circulated works best for me and tweak the fan speed down as it warms up.

[Vintagesixtysix]

Oh….. and I keep it very clean and use a hydrophobic coating. Maybe that’s a factor also??

[rich1068]

2 hours ago, SeanR said:

Guy at work recommends a trick I've never heard of, putting the sun visors down to assist haha.

Read about this only the other day. Tried it the last couple of mornings and it definitely helps.

[Linas.P]

SEL, F-Sport and SEi had windscreen heater, but only the bottom where wipers park. Key point for defrosting is humidity - I personally never had any issues because I was running AC all year long (and everyone should!). Yes sure it stops working at 0C, but at all other times it keeps car as dry as possible, which always helps with defrosting. But even then I generally do not have frost inside of the car - only outside, if you have frosting inside then again that would be issue with car just being damp.

As for the rest it is all normal. Turn the engine on - set the hottest possible setting to windscreen and leave it for 5 minutes, if it is too hot inside I ten to leave front passenger and opposite rear passenger windows open just tiniest bit, so that pulls the heat out of the cabin and dries it further, but keeps hot air on the windscreen where it matter the most.

[zoricib]

Am I missing something by using a scraper or de-icing spray? I've been turning the car on with heating etc and then I scrape the windshield - done in 2 minutes and the car gets a bit warmer inside. Also keeping the inside of the windows clean helps with condensation/fogging. 

[Illogan]

4 minutes ago, zoricib said:

Am I missing something by using a scraper or de-icing spray? I've been turning the car on with heating etc and then I scrape the windshield - done in 2 minutes and the car gets a bit warmer inside. Also keeping the inside of the windows clean helps with condensation/fogging. 

Of course!   (And use an hydrophobic treatment every month too, it really makes a difference!

[SeanR]

Linas, aye, car is dry as a bone on the inside.

Last 3 cars have always had really good front electric heated windows, lines show up in a minute or so, then off i go.

One of those that dont scrape windows, im afraid, prefer to let the car do it. Last thing i want to do at 4am on a cold morning is scrape windows in minus 4. Dont mind a brew whilst watching from the house whilst it does the job. lol

No car ive had in the last 15 years has been this slow.

If snow on the car, then obviously il shift it.

[J Henderson]

3 hours ago, zoricib said:

Am I missing something by using a scraper or de-icing spray? I've been turning the car on with heating etc and then I scrape the windshield - done in 2 minutes and the car gets a bit warmer inside. Also keeping the inside of the windows clean helps with condensation/fogging. 

Exactly this. Relying on the heater to clear the windscreen takes forever and burns an insane amount of fuel.

Invest in a decent scraper (I've been using this one for a number of years), and a quality trigger-spray de-icer, and job done in a couple of minutes. I recommend the Autoglym one.

Also. Never use the folding mirror feature at this time of year. If they get frozen stuck in the folded position, it takes forever for them to get warm enough to move, and leaves you screwed.

[SeanR]

John, i think with the severe lack of proper front heated window, i may have to resort to scraping haha

 

Dont know what Lexus were thinking.

 

Apart from that, 99% great car

[Mincey]

10 hours ago, SeanR said:

Guy at work recommends a trick I've never heard of, putting the sun visors down to assist haha.

I'm definitely trying this!

[Rabbers]

Depending on the thickness of the ice or frost, say 0.5cm max., my RC’s defogger with the cabin heating set high clears the windscreen (and side windows) sufficiently for completion by the wipers in 45-60 secs, which is only a little longer than the heated rear window takes to do its own job. So, although I was a bit worried when I first had the car, I am happy enough without the specific windscreen heater function.

[NemesisUK]

44 minutes ago, Rabbers said:

Depending on the thickness of the ice or frost, say 0.5cm max., my RC’s defogger with the cabin heating set high clears the windscreen (and side windows) sufficiently for completion by the wipers in 45-60 secs, which is only a little longer than the heated rear window takes to do its own job. So, although I was a bit worried when I first had the car, I am happy enough without the specific windscreen heater function.

Yes I was really happy with the defrost performance on my RC, far better than the Mercs I had before. Not had to test the RX yet...

[Rabbers]

1 hour ago, NemesisUK said:

Yes I was really happy with the defrost performance on my RC, …

I have often wondered if its effectiveness in the RC hasn’t got something to do with a lucky combination of windscreen angle and air direction.  Not that I mean to sell the car’s designers short.

[NemesisUK]

2 hours ago, Rabbers said:

I have often wondered if its effectiveness in the RC hasn’t got something to do with a lucky combination of windscreen angle and air direction.  Not that I mean to sell the car’s designers short.

I thought that also, plus the relatively small cabin volume helps.

The much larger internal volume of the RX presents a greater challenge and I think this where the designers came up with the targeted climate control, detecting which seats are occupied and only directing heat/cooling to those positions. 

[Rabbers]

8 hours ago, NemesisUK said:

The much larger internal volume of the RX presents a greater challenge and I think this where the designers came up with the targeted climate control, detecting which seats are occupied and only directing heat/cooling to those positions. 

Targeted climate control, of which I have no experience, sounds like a nice feature even regardless of cabin size, though I presume the “traditional” dual control function gives much the same result at the simple touch of a button.