rain sensing wipers

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dsonyay62

Member
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2013 CX-5 Touring, FWD, Tech Package, fog lights, Bose, Moonroof
If you have the rain sensing wipers, what is the sensitivity level you use? My wife was coming home yesrerday and a few drops hit the windshield causing the wipers to turn on. With only a few drops on the glass there was a big smear as the wipers came into contact with mostly dry glass, bugs, and dust/dirt.


I had the sensitivity level set almost half way. I readjusted them to a little past halfway. This may help.. we'll see.

How do you like this feature overall?
 
Actually, i dont think you can adjust it. I think the adjustment is for intermittent wiping when NOT on auto mode. Ive found the auto mode to be pretty intuitive so far though. Only had to manually swith it higher one time when it was really coming down.
 
Yeah you're probably right... I remember seeing the intermittent switch in the same area and thought it may be for that instead. I thought I read in the manual there was an adjustment for this feature. Maybe I'm mistaken. I have had very little seat time in this car so far... the Mrs has been beating mo it every morning. LoL. Need to download the manual so I can read while she has the car.
 
Nodnerb said:
Actually, i dont think you can adjust it. I think the adjustment is for intermittent wiping when NOT on auto mode. Ive found the auto mode to be pretty intuitive so far though. Only had to manually swith it higher one time when it was really coming down.
Click to expand...

Hey- I just looked at the owners manual (p 170 of the PDF version from this forum) and there actually IS a sensitivity adjustment. With the rain sensing wipers there is no intermittent selection (the selections are MIST/OFF/AUTO/LO/HIGH). If you use AUTO, the adjustment range is used for sensitivity of the AUTO mode.

I may try to experiment with this feature when the wife gets home using a garden hose.

If you have this feature-- you may want to experiment with it as well.
 
I have this feature on my mazda5 and to be honest, I don't notice a difference. It acts the same way no matter what the sensitivity level.
 
I have driven in the rain a bit and do not detect a difference from the Auto Wiper sensitivity range. You can in the setup turn off the rain sensing feature if you don't like it and it will become intermitten...
 
GAXIBM said:
I have driven in the rain a bit and do not detect a difference from the Auto Wiper sensitivity range. You can in the setup turn off the rain sensing feature if you don't like it and it will become intermitten...
Click to expand...

Yeah I saw that option too... and was about to post the same thing.
 
rmac said:
I have this feature on my mazda5 and to be honest, I don't notice a difference. It acts the same way no matter what the sensitivity level.
Click to expand...

Same here, it's a little too aggressive for me.

GAXIBM said:
I have driven in the rain a bit and do not detect a difference from the Auto Wiper sensitivity range. You can in the setup turn off the rain sensing feature if you don't like it and it will become intermitten...
Click to expand...

Where is this setup mode located? (non-nav)

Edit: Sorry, I thought I was in the Mazda5 section.
 
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I had the same in my previous Speed3 and IMO it does make a difference when i adjust the sensitivity level, on my CX5 also.
 
dsonyay62 said:
If you have the rain sensing wipers, what is the sensitivity level you use? My wife was coming home yesrerday and a few drops hit the windshield causing the wipers to turn on. With only a few drops on the glass there was a big smear as the wipers came into contact with mostly dry glass, bugs, and dust/dirt.


I had the sensitivity level set almost half way. I readjusted them to a little past halfway. This may help.. we'll see.

How do you like this feature overall?
Click to expand...

Probably the best option would be to leave them off until really needed, more than just a few drops. Doesn't make too much sense that there's a adjustment dial when there's no int. wiper setting.



Jeff
 
Hate them. Often I don't even use wipers when I am going faster than 45mph. All you need is a clean and treated windshield which is far better at displacing water than wipers (with consideration of drag).
 
Acts the same on all sensitivities for me, turned it off and use intermittent. On the same topic, blades looked in perfect condition but not wiping well, noticed bottom of drivers blade vibrates across the screen while wiping. Replace with aero twin and wipe much better but driver blade still not perfectly smooth, no big deal though.
 
dsonyay62 said:
How do you like this feature overall?
Click to expand...
I was skeptical of auto-sensing wipers but they came with other options that I wanted. I've driven in a LOT of rain, slush and snow in the last 8,000 miles and they have actually been a valuable asset. The sensitivity adjustment does not have a very wide range but it definitely has a real effect. I will typically adjust it to either high or low depending upon conditions with good results. Only one time was it necessary to use manual (auto was not wiping enough).

The best thing about auto-sensing wipers? I was driving on an undivided highway after a hard rain had stopped (wipers on auto but not wiping) when a semi-truck went by in the opposite direction and a huge spray of water douched the windshield. Immediately the wipers did two fast swipes and left me with clear visibility. I didn't even have time to think "oh, how do I turn on the wipers?".
 
MikeM. said:
The best thing about auto-sensing wipers? I was driving on an undivided highway after a hard rain had stopped (wipers on auto but not wiping) when a semi-truck went by in the opposite direction and a huge spray of water douched the windshield. Immediately the wipers did two fast swipes and left me with clear visibility. I didn't even have time to think "oh, how do I turn on the wipers?".
Click to expand...

I like it, as mikeM says it's very handy when the windscreen is unexpectedly soaked. Especially when you're pulling out at a junction or at a roundabout/traffic circle and you're busy changing gear or signalling etc. In the circumstances it's quicker to react than you are. Sometimes though there's too much build up of water on the windscreen before it reacts so you have to intervene. mist/drizzle usually causes this for me.
 
I too wanted some of the GT features like auto climate control and knew the rain sensor wipers would be a gimmicky feature. First thing I did was see if they could be disabled and was happy to see that they can be turned off and replaced with standard intermittant control by going into the personalized software settings in the radio and just turning this feature off. The intermittant works fine with 5 levels of control and each swipes perfectly at intervals of 2, 4, 8, 16, and 32 seconds.
 
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