Hood Deflector: Why and Which one?

[hohieu]

Hello All,

I am thinking about installing a hood deflector on my Forester and was wondering if they keep suicidal bugs off of the windshield as welll. We drive through many farms during the summer, and this would be an incentive to get it.

 

Also, what would you go with: OEM, VentShade,...? Any suggestions you have would be appreciated.

[gbhrps]

I put an OEM deflector on my 02 OBW, not so much for taking out the bugs as much as for taking out the stone chips on the hood leading edge. Yes it does deflect some of the bugs...but not all. It does deflect the stones. It was well engineered and fit perfectly with no drilling using the already installed fasteners. Looks good and sets off the front of car, in my view. Now, if there was some way to do the same thing for the bumper, the mirrors and the A pillars??? I know......don't drive the car!

[Sweet82]

Be carefull

 

Tree debris seeds,pods,leaves,etc...Fall into the gap between the hood and the deflector and they are hard to get out and they will scratch the hood and the deflector if not removed quickly.

 

I just pulled mine off to clean that area and found all kinds of scratches.

 

My .02

Glenn

82 SubaruHummer

01 Forester

[hohieu]

Yes, that's what I figured. I had the same problem some time ago with a tank bra on my motorcycle. As to the hood deflector, I was really concerned about the windshield but understand that this was an issue only on the 98 foresters. Windshields on the MY 99-03 foresters remained the same until this car was completely redesigned for 2004. I'll probably keep it simple not install one. I can deal w/ the chips on the leading edge.

Thanks to both of you for the input.

[hohieu]

I Now, if there was some way to do the same thing for the bumper, the mirrors and the A pillars??? I know......don't drive the car!

You know, Subaru offers a complete front end bra for your OBW. I think 1stsubaruparts.com usually has the best prices, but check the shipping costs. However, I don't know how this will affect you hood deflector, and dirt or debris that squeezes b/t the bra and the finish will certainly scratch up your front end.

 

Ultimately, I think it's better to save your money and let you Subie age gracefully, as difficult as this may be to witness.

[tcervo]

I'm also considering the hood deflector. Does anyone know if it affects the gas mileage? I'd imagine, since it changes the aerodynamics, it has to affect the gas mileage at least a little bit...

[gbhrps]

The amount of debris that lodges between the hood deflector and the hood is VERY little. I've had mine on the car since 02 and I can't recall the last time I had to fish anything out from under it. As far as the tiny scratches that anything like that would do to the finish... I'll take them to any stone chips that give rust a place to start any day of the year. As far as a bra is concerned, I've had one on my 90 Nissan 300ZX (just a toy) since new...and my experience is exactly the same as with the hood deflector.....tiny scratches that can easily be buffed out....whereas a stone chip cannot. The only downside to the bra...if it gets wet, given enough time, if you don't take it off to let it dry out before reinstalling it, it will fog your paint. Again in my case, it never gets wet because I never take the toy out in the rain.