Rear wipers are pretty common here and I do admit they can be a literal lifesaver in some situations. However, I have personally found little use for rear wipers on any hatchback I have ever driven. First of all, I would never even start driving a car without having relatively clean windows. Secondly, the angle of the rear window on a hatch or wagon-style car is so steep that neither snow nor rain accumulates very much. The rear spoilers also act as a roof over the window, shielding it from poor weather.

Since I found the need rather worthless, I looked into removal options. Luckily, it’s not illegal to delete the rear wiper and motor, so off it went, probably saving me a massive .5kg (1 lbs). Yes, I know... it’s not much. The hole on my Alto Works was patched by two pieces of aluminum, sandwiching the hole to prevent water leaks.

The rear looks much cleaner and less cluttered without a rear wiper across the back. It’s a subtle change on a black car, but very noticeable if you’re into such details.

It’s definitely more noticeable on my Swift, I suppose, since the rear doesn’t have that additional spoiler to partially hide the glass-mounted wiper arm, which stuck out like a sore thumb.

Another benefit of this is that it allows me to have decals across the rear hatch glass without damage. And that means +HP. Gratuitous advertising shots above.

One huge benefit from removing the rear wiper is that now I have a free water spray pump. Any guesses on why that’s a very good thing?

I picked up a cheap aluminum nozzle online and pulled some of the spare hose from the rear hatch to be used for under the hood. The rear hatch nozzle was left intact because I would otherwise need to plug the hole and the weight difference would be negligible in doing so. I experimented with a few places to position the nozzle and after a few squirt-tests, I decided on this position in the front hood scoop.

This location allows the spray pattern to have decent coverage of the I/C, minimizes airflow restriction, and the hose can protrude into the space behind the radiator. The momentary rear wiper spray button now operates the front nozzle for as long as the button is pushed.

The water will help cool the intercooler, turbo, and intake charge, thereby theoretically keeping pressure and power more consistent during hard driving. I didn’t come up with this clever idea, as it was an OEM feature or option on several Japanese cars, such as the Mitsubishi Evolution and Subaru STIs.

There are some detractors on various forums that feel I/C sprayers offer little to no benefit. For me, there is virtually no drawback as it adds only a few grams of weight for the nozzle; the remainder of the wiring and hose are pre-existing. I say if it’s good enough for some OEMs to include such a function, it’s worth including in my project car. In the future, I’d like to automate the process and wire it to throttle position or RPMs, but for now this is perfect.