Can you retro fit a heated front screen

[fireman]

My screens cracked anyway and i was wondering if the loom ect what already there to fit a heated front screen to my VRS.

[bengie]

skoda don't do a heated front screen do they??

the only company i've seen with them is ford.

[beeftech]

No heated front screen I'm afraid :(

[PaulC]

isnt it a ford patented system?

[rainbow-walker]

BMW have it too.......

[fireman]

That explains it then. I had a ford before and miss the heated screen

[WW_VRS]

You can get it retrofitted, but I have to get back to the UK & my email accounts there.

Basically the one I'm looking at has two sets of terminals on the windscreen, both need a 12V feed. They can be on permanently but you need a relay + switch ideally.

I'm considering feeding the relay 'coil' part from the normal rear window heater switch, and adding a fuse etc.

Won't be back till the 31st though, but if I get this sorted I will definitely post some pics, pricing info etc.

[logiclee]

Ford have the Patent on the small wire heated front screen system. Fords other cars like Volvo and Jaguar also use the system.

Some other manufacturers like Lexus use the system but have to pay Ford for the license.

They use loads of power, most Ford screens are split in two being fed by a 30Amp supply to each side. Because of the power requirement Ford wire the supply through an engine run relay so the screen can only be powered with the engine running.

Cheers

Lee

[spinndrift]

Ricky Evans Motorsport supply retro fit heated screens which are used extensively in rallying.

Can't remember the web address think its www.heatedscreen.?

Don't know it they do them for skodas either.

Not much use really I suppose.

[Gizmo]

That would be http://www.heatedwindscreen.com/ then

[DavidY]

Ford have the Patent on the small wire heated front screen system.

I wonder how much longer they have left on that patent? I had an idea that patents only last 25 years - and Fords have had these for several years already.

[AngryNortherner]

I think you can get a heated screen on the Ibiza FR as an option shame Skoda didn't offer this on the Fabia.

[WW_VRS]

It was Ricky Evans from heatedwindscreen.com who responded to my query, just pasted the relevant bit below:

We have this item in stock the cost on for one unit is £180.00 +vat . We do not supply wiring product for this item but recommend that you use a Auto electrician

This was on the 6th of Nov '05 - I will try to get more info on insurance impact, and complexity of wiring. I've got a chip in my windscreen anyway so it seems like a good time to investigate

[bryand]

Slightly off-topic, but does anyone have a list of which cars share the Fabia windscreen (I would guess the Bora and Ibiza, for a start)?

[Leon-y-k]

Slightly off-topic, but does anyone have a list of which cars share the Fabia windscreen (I would guess the Bora and Ibiza, for a start)?

vw polo will probs have the most options and most expencive! but i dont think the Bora screen will fit being the same as the Octavia, Golf, and A3. i dont think the Seat deserves this option! it isnt on! lol:mad:

[johnmb]

No idea on retrofit , however the NEW Passat , has heated front screen as an option . its in the brochure .

[bertJ]

I drove my Sister in Law's Ford Focus with heated front screen for a while. I found the wire patterns particularly distracting at night where they seemed to distort oncoming lights into minute 'sunbursts'. As I also wear spectacles perhaps that had something to do with it. I would also question the need for such a device as the front screen clears very rapidly with modern air con as on the Fabia. Probably of some use if the screen is heavily frozen. (I'm sure someone will disagree with me!)

[WW_VRS]

I found that at -6 deg C indicated by the little 'puter basically the front screen would not defrost for a good 7..8 minutes, and that was with me actually revving the engine to get boost, without which the temp just never gets up.

For whatever reason the side windows appear to clear pretty well, and the rear window heater clears the rear window PDQ too. Just the windscreen takes ages.

The rest of the car warms up within about 5 mins if you stick it on recirc, full heat, max fan speed. I tend to do that first and then stick it back onto the windscreen once the air has warmed up a touch, after which it clears within a minute.

Heated windscreen would save me about 5 minutes of wasting fuel, and allow me to drive off. Air con is useless when the temps are that low, as it turns itself off