Driving in heavy rain is not the time to discover that your windshield wipers need replacing. If you haven't put new ones on in a long time, it's in your best interest — and really, the safety of everyone around — to get on that ASAP.

My recommendation is to go with silicone rubber wipers like the ones from PIAA's “Si-Tech” line. They do tend to cost a bit more up front — around $17–$27 per blade — but they more than make up for it in longevity, with about double the lifetime of conventional blades.

Moreover, these particular wipers are impregnated with an active silicone coating, which is continually reapplied on the windshield with every pass. At slower speeds this causes water to bead and easily wipe away, while higher speeds often cause this beaded-up water to simply fly up and off the windshield without even needing to turn the wipers on.

Either way, you'll have the best and clearest possible visibility in bad weather, along with blissfully quiet operation.

Now, you should know that the Si-Tech wipers are a frameless design. The benfit of this is that the blade can more easily contour to the shape of your windsheild for even wiping, and without a frame, there's less worry about snow and ice buildup in the winter.

The downside though is that when the blade does eventually wear down, you have to replace the whole unit. If you prefer having a wiper that accepts silicone refills, PIAA's AeroVogue and Super Silicone lines are what you want.

PIAA's Si-Tech wipers come in sizes from 16" to 26". You can also view the company's entire collection of wipers and refills to find the exact thing you want.