There are several reasons for this poor performance. Some say the spring does not pull with sufficient force to effectively touch the entire glass. Others say there is a small bump underneath the arm that prevents the wiper arm from making sufficient contact. I've tried a few of the proposed solutions including bending the wiper arms or using a Dremel tool to grind down the bump underneath. The theory is that the absence of the bump allows the spring to pull the wiper arm more closely against the glass. I've found these recommended hacks partially effective. furthermore, the bent wiper arms look awkward and position the arms high up into the slip stream of air passing over the windshield. It is ideal to have windshield wiper arms out of the slip stream when not in use.
There were discussions on some of the other Corrado forums that suggested replacing the sorely inadequate Corrado wiper arms with Wiper Arms from the MK1 Audi TT. This solution utilizes two Drivers Side Wiper Arms. So I thought I'd give this a try.
The Audi wiper arms are made by Bosch-just like the Corrado. So they should bolt straight up to the existing shaft on my Project G60 Corrado. So first on my list is to find two Driver Side Audi Mk! Wiper Arms.
Take note: There are two types of MKI wiper arms. The part numbers are.
8N1 955 407 A - mk1 Audi TT wiper arm with J-hook end
8N1 955 407 D - mk1 Audi TT wiper arm with pin style Aero hook
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I found one arm in a local VW/Audi specific salvage yard. It was from a pre-2005 TT. We cannot use the Passenger side wiper arm due to it's different length. So I will have to acquire a second arm from another source. The Audi Wiper Arms are available from online parts retailers. I was able to acquire the second arm this way. Since the first arm I acquired was the J-Hook type, I bought the matching arm with part number 8N1 955 407 A
Some of the other parts that are mentioned in the discussions are the nuts and caps.
Regarding Wiper Blades --
My Corrado utilized 19" wiper blades from the factory. (I do not know if other years used different length wiper blades) Some feel these 19" blades were just too small. I also discovered that the 21" wiper blades from the Audi were too long and would make contact with the window trim when mounted. Unfortunately, Bosch did not make a 20" wiper blade for this application so this dilemma required some creative problem solving.
One challenge I experienced, that is worth mentioning, is that none of the suggested 20" wiper blades noted in the discussions worked with the J-hook wiper arms I purchased. I was beginning to doubt that I had followed the instructions correctly. However, careful review of the discussions revealed that the part numbers mentioned in the discussions were for the pin type "Aero" wiper arms only. Unfortunately, I had purchased the earlier "J-Hook" type wiper arms. So I needed a different wiper blade. Part numbers for replacement blade for the J-Hook arms were never mentioned in the discussion threads.
Therefore, I simply took one of the wiper arms to my local Auto parts counter and asked them for a 20" wiper blade that will fit the large Audi Style J-Hook (Unfortunately, I did not make note of the manufacturer or part number) I will commit to getting a part number and update this post in the future.
The advantage of the MK1 Audi Wiper arm is that there are two springs to create greater down-force on the windshield. The improved performance of these wiper arms is how the Corrado windshield wipers are supposed to operate. And the longer blades means that more of the windshield surface area is cleared during each sweep.
HUGE DIFFERENCE!
No more spots or incomplete windshield cleaning. And the Audi wiper arms look like OEM equipment on the Corrado. An observer would not even know these are not original equipment.
If your wiper blades do not perform well enough to keep your windows clean in inclement weather, then I suggest getting Audi TT MKI wiper arms / 20" blades and replace those old Corrado windshield wipers. One of the most useful modifications done to the Endless Corrado G60 project.
Update: as of December 2021: In the text above, I reference that I purchased the second wiper arm (Part 8N1 955 407 A) from an online retailer. That online retailer was ECSTuning. Someone asked me that question offline. I checked their website and unfortunately, their listing for this part now indicates that this wiper arm is no longer available. So if you decide to do this modification, you will have to source the two drivers side wiper arms from another online retailer or a salvage yard.
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