Do wind deflectors affect visibility?

[Octman]

I am thinking of fitting wind deflectors to my Yeti's doors but was wondering how they affected the visibility bearing in mind the windscreen pillars are pretty thick already. Will adding an amount of semi dark, presumably not optical quality, plastic beside the door pillar make things much worse or not?

Thanks

 

Chris

[Llanigraham]

I've had them on for nearly 3 years and some 50k miles and don't notice them.

[The Plumber]

After thinking about deflectors myself for over two years I took the plunge a couple of months back. Noticed them at first but as Graham states you eventually get to a point where they become invisible.

 

Mind from my poor experience fitting them; there's a thread somewhere and subsequent use, I'd not be bothered with them again if I changed to another vehicle. Slightly more wind noise window closed and water still gets blown in if you have the window open more than an 1" or so.

 

 

TP

[Paul52]

I fitted mine within a few days of getting my Yeti .I've now had them 3 months. There is a slight reduction in visibility but I don't find it to be unacceptable. These things tend to be a bit subjective but I do think it has cut down wind noise and particularly I haven't noticed any "booming" when driving along with the windows down (for the dogs!) which I did experience a couple of times on test drives and was one of the reasons i hesitated before handing over my bag of gold to the dealer.. But I am impressed with the way they direct water off the roof away from the windows - i find in light rain i can have the windows down 2-3" without rain getting into the car (obviously unless there is a strong side wind). I would certainly have them again.

[jonceebee]

Yes you soon get used to them and really do not notice they are there. Like Tim, I would not fit them again as the advantage of rain etc. is minimal and there is a certain level of wind noise increase noticeable.

[New2Yetidom]

As previously stated by other posters (not sure if that's the right term) you don't notice them  after a few days, the big thing for me is not raining in when parked and Ive left the window open for the dogs.

even better is the airflow changes so your windows stay clear in the rain so you can use your mirrors. Had a big problem with this in the early part of the year with all the salt on the road

[rockhopper]

My Freelander was fitted with them. They lasted a week before I removed them. I could not cope without being able to see, especially at night, the whole mirror, as it seemed to cut off too much on the nearside and made the drivers side pillar even wider.

 

(just to balance the positives above  )

[Octman]

Thanks for all these replies. They seem to be a bit of a mixed blessing so I will ponder a while longer.

 

Chris

Edited 4 September, 2013 by Octman

[Trev2]

I realise this is an old thread, but I'm interested to know (to those that have them fitted and like them), which ones did you get.  I'm a fan of them, and I've had them on my last four cars.  My dealer says they don't do them, but I know Climair and Heko do.  So which did you get?  My Yeti is a 2013 pre facelift 2litre TDI Elegance.

[Arkaig]

I got the Heko ones, front & rear - price c£25 - and rate them highly, easy to fit and no problems.

 

Available here: http://www.e-heko.com/en/Marka_Model/SKODA_YETI/44681-5D-2009ROT.html?cg_4=18801

[Llanigraham]

I have had the Heko ones on mine for over 4 years, with no problems.

[Trev2]

Thank you gents, much appreciated.

[CFB]

Heko here too.

Easy too fit and stay in place. I've found the rears do need the clips provided though, as they tend to slip down as the ends are parallel.

Mine are the dark tint and, as above, noticed them at first but not now.

I had the climair on my first Yeti and although they also do the job, the back end of the fronts are stuck to the outside of the door frame with double sided tape. It works but not a tidy solution. Plus, when the weather gets warmer, the sticky pads melt and they ping off.

[Andyrep]

I've not got them on my Yeti but had them on Mitsubishi delica I used to have, and they were quite big, whilst fine most of the time they were dreadful after a heavy frost

[speedsport]

Heko get the thumbs up from me too. Instructions seem a bit vague but if you take your time, they work fine.

Or at least the front door ones were fine till I sold 'em to Llanigraham! I was doing a fair bit of motorway driving at the time and was noticing the extra wind noise a bit too much. Now I do less long distance high speed stuff, I realise I should have kept 'em!

I've still got the rear door ones in place & can't fault them.

[Llanigraham]

Tough John!!       

[Urrell]

A few pictures as I've fitted Climair wind deflectors today.

 

 

 

 

 

[GeoffH]

A great set of pictures Urrell.... Mine are sitting on a shelf in the garage waiting for a Yeti to put them on.

I now have a Code 20 Build Week so allowing the 23 hours to build followed by train, boat & transporter I gather it takes about 3.5 weeks from BW so looks like early April until I can "play". :cocktail:

[Urrell]

If fitting Climair the clip on the door has to be just right, these two pictures from outside and inside show how it's fitted as the instructions are a bit vague to say the least.

 

[CFB]

Urrell, thanks for the pics of the rear fitting.

I mistakenly said above that the Climair were held in place with sticky pads at the rear.

It was in fact the cheap first set I bought off Ebay that fitted like that.

The climair fitting is fine and stays put. I just didn't like the way the back edges look.

[Paul52]

Update to post 4. I've got Heko. They were very easy to fit and still in place after 18 months. I'd certainly have them again, not least to be able to have the windows cracked down without rain coming in.

[speedsport]

When I bought my deflectors, I bought Heko brand because at the time, they were the ones supplied as Skoda official accessories, and probably still are.

[137699]

As somebody who has never used Wind deflectors on any car, could one of your lovely folks who have fitted them advise what the benefits of fitting these to a Yeti actually brings?

 

I find when I open the window it's because I *want* air in the car - does this not make wind deflectors an oxymoron?

 

I'm not trying to be funny - just trying to understand. They seem to be really popular on Yeti's and 4x4's in general so I am just trying to work out why people tend to fit them to larger vehicles whereas very few people fit them to cars?

[Paul52]

As somebody who has never used Wind deflectors on any car, could one of your lovely folks who have fitted them advise what the benefits of fitting these to a Yeti actually brings?

 

See post 4 on this thread. They aren't going to make any difference if you want the windows half down in driving rain but when it's raining and you want the windows down an inch or so for ventilation or fresh air I've found they are a great help. A secondary benefit is that in warm weather you could leave the car with all four windows cracked down about an inch - just above the bottom of the wind deflector - and the gap is just about invisible.

[g6zru]

Do you need open windows with Climate Control? Does that not negate the point of A/C? 

Even our local buses have a notice on the windows that says "Please do not open this window as this bus is Air Conditioned".

 

Fred