My car came equipped with the heated fron windshield. It was originally sold in Chicago but I live in Tennessee and garage my car. This is not an option I would have chosen but have it nonetheless.

After owning the car for a few weeks now, I find the fine wires in the windshield somewhat annoying depending on the time of day and lighting situations. I'm assuming I'll just learn to ignore them and the associated light effects, but for now it is obtrusive.

I'm not even sure why I'm posting this as I can't see how there is anything short of changing the windshield, which I am NOT even considering. This is not that big of a deal but was just curious to see if other owners with the heated windshield thought.

Darin

 

Darin,

I am lucky not to have the heated windshield on my XF, because if i did, it would have had it replaced immediately.

Last time i had my car for service, they gave me a Land Rover with the option and i found it to be very distracting and annoying. I remember, as if i was trying t fight to see around it, if it makes sense. I can absolutely relate to your concern.

Like i said, i would just replace it with a standard one.

 

I had it on a loaner as well and it bothered me. You do get used to it but I'd prefer not to have it. Maybe you'll get lucky and a rock will hit it and you'll get a new windshield without it.

 

I have it on my car and yes, although at times it is very noticeable it, in no way, impedes my vision so I can live with it, distracting maybe but worth it for me. On top of that, the benefit that I get from it far outweighs my annoyance from it. I am glad I have it up here and have definitely noticed the benefit so far. Obviously living in a cold climate it’s much more beneficial than living in TN.

You could always get some good glass insurance coverage and hope for a stone J

 

Maybe if one of you see me on the road, toss a rock at me...just don't hit the paint, please.

 

HA!

 

When I was shopping it was the one option I wanted. Now that I have it, I could certainly do without it. It doesn’t even stay on all that long. You have to keep turning it on if it’s a long commute in a snow storm. I just learned to look beyond it and it doesn’t bother me anymore. That being said, almost anyone that’s riding for the first time with me, I tell them about it and they can’t see anything else for the duration of the ride!

 

You get used to it. When the windshield gets pitted from road debris impacts then the wires re very distracting at night or in bright sunshine. I had this option on my 02 X Type with the same experience.

I could live without this option, even in Canada, EXCEPT for those occasional episodes of freezing sleet on a parked car or when the windshield needs washing and it is minus 10C or colder and the windshield washer fluid freezes after wiping.

Also, in some situations of high humidity and cool weather the heating is useful. On balance I would not order this option separately but all Canadian cars were shipped with this, heated steering wheel(a must have, should be legislated in my country!), a very nifty block heater with fixed covered plug in located neatly in the grille (never needed to use this but it is considered mandatory to have this fitted in Canada ) and headlight washers as a winter package in 2009.

 

If your eyes are focussed up the road where they should be, they cannot be seen. It is only when a vehicle is new to a driver and they are obsessing about the wires that they are noticeable at all. And that is because their eyes are at close focus due to the obsessing.

 

"Cannot" is a bit strong. The issue is distraction. When the sun or headlights hit the wires your visibility is impaired regardless of how much you concentrate. The wires at visible. How much they affect your vision is subjective to some degree but not imaginary!

 

That is exactly the issue. They are obtrusive enough that they have a tendency to draw your eyes to them, depending on the lighting and glare. All-in-all it is a liveable situation just one I'd rather do without.

 

I guess things like these are like everyting else all down to personal taste?

I had the option some years ago on my Ford Mondeo as standard and it was the one feature i'd like on all my cars.
I'm not 100% sure now, but at the time it was a Ford patented design?

It was never distracting for me at any point in time and a very useful feature to have in winter.

 

I have one on my Land Rover and I love it!!! It is parked outside and to be able to hop in the Rover flip on the heater and drive off 2 minutes later is the best. and I really do not notice it day or night

I wish the Jag had one

 

No ... cannot is quite correct at normal focal distance for heads up driving.

The laws of optics, and the mechanics of the eye dictate this behaviour. These properties are well known to professionals engaged in fields related to optics such as opticians, optometrists and photographers.

If someone is having glare problems when their eyes are properly focussed down the road then they need a different prescription or they have astigmatism. Or, they need glasses and don't know it yet.

 

Interesting how this discussion has evolved...

Anyhow, I'm an ophthalmologist who specializes in cataract and refractive surgery. I have discussions daily with patients about nighttime driving issues in general and specifically with LASIK and multifocal intraocular lens implants which do induce some higher order aberations in the visual system. I have noticed some "starbust"-like effects with oncoming headlights originating from wires but am pretty easily able to overcome them with proper focusing, as mentioned above. I think the difference is, at least for me, there are times when I have to consciously focus at infinity whereas in my other vehicles without the heated windshield my focus simply feels more natural.

I must put this in perspective also...this car is garaged and I still own my Suburban (which used to be my daily driver) so any cruddy-weather days I won't be driving the Jag anyhow. That is why, for my life, I doubt I will get much use out of it. I can easily see how if I parked my car outside it would be of great help when leaving in the morning during the winter. Even in Knoxville, morning frost on the windshield is a very common occurance for a few months of the year.

Darin

 

I am stubborn. Cannot is simply incorrect. Concentration is not a scientifically standard phenomenon. Each individual is affected differently. Don't tell me the heater wires cannot be seen when I can see them. Don't tell me the heater wires are not distracting in bright sunlight or at night when the oncoming headlights refract around the wires. They are and they do.

Driving while focused only far down the road is extremely dangerous. The correct technique, especially at night, is to constantly shift your focus to ensure all possible hazards are identified as quickly as possibly, rated for danger and decision options formulated and ranked. Any distraction to this process represents a hazard to the driver. This includes poor ergonomics, poor or impaired visibility and speed inappropriate for the conditions.

Driving is in no way analogous to taking photos or staring at something in the distance. And my glasses are just fine. I can easily see much better from outside the car than from inside under conditions where the heater wires are distracting.

Heated windshields are a negative for some drivers. I would not fit one by choice because it impairs visibility under some conditions and offers insufficient advantages to make that impairment a net positive. If you can ignore the distraction then fine but don't wave pseudo science in the face of actual experience.

 

Simply put, its different for everyone.

Some obviously like it and see it as an added option / benefit, as I do, and others simply see it as you say, as a negative.

The wires, for me anyway were as good as invisible as I was taking in the whole panorama. As well as looking far ahead, then a little closer, perhaps at the car in front, this was switched between checking the rearview and back to scanning ahead and so on.....

I could really only "see" the wires if I focused on them intentionally and otherwse they were just an integral part of the windscreen

 

I've driven vehicles with heated windscreens for many years since having one of the original Triplex development batch fitted to my XJ6 Series I in 1974.

Although I don't notice the wires, I've often had passengers ask about them because they could see them clearly.

This is a frame from an in-car video taken recently at dusk and light rain:



In the pic, the vertical wires are very obvious but I couldn't see them whilst driving. I do appreciate that for anyone whose vision does pick up on the wires, they could be annoying and distracting.

Graham

 

Here's the deal...

The wires do absolutely create higher-order aberations in the optical system which would include the windshield and our eye. That will go for 100% of the cars installed with such wires.

That being said, how much an individual notices them or is bothered by them will vary widely. The methods each individual will use (either consciously or subconsciously) to compensate for said aberations will also vary widely.

One thing I love about this discussion thread is how each of us are individually "fearfully and wonderfully made".

 

I have it on my XJ, and it bothered me for the first 2 days. But ive forgotten about it since. and because my car is not garaged....ill deal with a little bit of wires as long as it melts the ice better than the conventional defrost