blind spots revisited

[cgs2000]

I guess blind spots are the result of: (1) auto design; (2) driver's height/posture.
I had been bothered by two bad blind spots in my 2001 Golf TDI: just opposite the left rear fender (where fast cars are always waiting to crunch me as I change lanes); and back thru the rear window, where little old ladies crouch down waiting for me to back over them!
I found a wedge shaped auxiliary mirror, which, when positioned just right on the driver's side outside mirror, eliminates that danger. Solving the rear view problem was even easier: I removed the center headrest, based on the unlikelyhood that a 5th passenger would ever be on board.
A better view on the world, thru the windows of a TDI.
(a pic of the aux mirror is available: email me)

 

[TDI ESEL]

I can't correct this: When making a right turn, I'm just the right height to look to my left and see, the B-pillar. Quel pain.

 

[chopchop]

A tough body = beefy A,B & C pillars =fairly big blind spots. The Golf is particularly bad for this. You just have to get used to it by ensuring you perform shoulder checks EVERY time you change lanes!

 

[GoFaster]

Try adjusting your mirrors as follows.

While seated in the drivers seat, lean your body all the way to the left, right against the door, then adjust the LEFT mirror so that the left side of your car is just barely visible at the edge of the mirror.

Lean about the same amount to the right, towards the center of the car, and adjust the RIGHT mirror so that the right side of your car is just barely visible at the edge of the mirror.

Your mirrors are now probably pointing CONSIDERABLY further outward than the way most people have them. It will take a few days to get used to, if you didn't already have them like this. But what you'll find is that your inside rear view mirror will cover the lane behind and a portion of each adjacent lane, and now your side mirrors will cover what's beside you. Generally, a vehicle in the adjacent lane won't disappear from your side mirror until the front of that vehicle shows up beside you.

This is not a substitute for shoulder checks, but I've found that it allows much better visibility of what's around you than what is provided by the way most people have the mirrors.

 

[chopchop]

I agree, Brian - it's what mickey and others came up with some time back.

It's one bit of UK "Advanced Driving" technique which is inappropriate over here. There, we taught a driver to set his door mirrors so that, when positioned normally in the driving seat, you could see the down the side of the car in the first 25% or so of your door mirror. That method is wrong here, given the number of multi-lane roads & the generally wider carriageways. It is essential to see further outwards.

- Richard

 

[gardentender]

i have installed a slightly convex second mirror, inside, on the dash between the instrument cluster and the left windshield pillar, on the same visual plane as the outside mirror, which helps view the "dead space" directly adjacent the left rear quarter of the car. all the other outside mirror adjustment techniques are good but do not cover the whole area i want/need to view.

[ November 25, 2001: Message edited by: gardentender ]</p>

 

[cgs2000]

Perhaps I'm too tall or have poor posture, but a simple adjustment did not work for me. The auxilliary mirror seems to do the job.

 

[MITBeta]

The GoFaster/Mickey's MB Club method for adjusting mirrors so that you can't see your own car in them is GREAT! I have been using it since about February. This method creates a very wide rear view (from the whole left lane behind you to the whole right lane behind you) with very little overlap.

As a car approaches from the rear left, you see it in the interior center rear view mirror, just as it's headlights disappear off the mirror, they appear on the left side exterior mirror and the rest of the car follows. When a car cannot be see out of the corner of your eye OR in the interior rear view mirror, there it is BAM filling up the left exterior side view mirror.

This takes a few days to get used to, but offers far more information than the standard mirror adjustment.

 

[danix]

Install the euro convex mirrors as seen at parts4vws.com. $100 later you will eliminate most blind spots on your car. Installation took me all of 5 minutes.

 

[TDI2some]

Danix is right on the money. I got mine from New Dimensions for my 4000 Q and they are simple but amazing. Check it out.

http://www.newdimensions.com

 

[tongsli]

Well,
Brian is correct about the mirror adjustment, but I never caught the "Mickey" post about the adjustments.

VW.com actually had a section(back in '98) where they describe how to eliminate your "blind spots" I tell everyone about it. It used to recommend that you get someone to hold a 12 inch ruler on the left rear bumper and you adjust the inside of the driver side mirror to "look" 12 inches beyond the rear fender of that side.

On the passenger's side, they say to adjust the "inside" of the mirror to "look" 14 inches away from the rear right fender.

Regardless of the technique, YOU SHOULD NEVER SEE YOUR CAR IN THE SIDE MIRRORS.

With these adjustments, you have NO blind spots.

Lito

PS.

I did get the Wide angle mirror(driver's side) from virtual parts but still adjust my mirrors this way. You can only imagine what I can see!!!

[ November 26, 2001: Message edited by: tongsli ]

[ November 26, 2001: Message edited by: tongsli ]</p>

 

[tjl]

Regarding mirror adjustment, why not do this:

Find a parking lot with some cars parked in it (not packed full). Find a small car parked alone with empty spaces all around it. (A motorcycle is even better, but don't use a large van or SUV.)

Go into the space next to it, then go ahead slightly so that it is no longer obvious in your field of vision when you look straight ahead or at your side mirror on the same side as the car is. Adjust your mirror to see the car. Then go ahead some more until the back of the other car is just visible in the center mirror. Make sure that some of it is still visible in your side mirror. In other words, try to ensure that the car is always visible in either your field of vision or in one of your mirrors as you drive by it (this may not be completely doable if you are trying to use a motorcycle for mirror adjustment; similarly, if you use a large van or SUV, you may make the mirrors safely cover such a vehicle easily but leave blind spots that small cars can hide in).

Go to the other side of the car and repeat for adjusting the other side mirror.

Of course, this won't replace shoulder checks, since motorcycles are significantly smaller than cars, and gray cars without daytime running lights, or cars at night (especially with some failed marker lights), can hide more easily. But it can reduce the amount of shoulder checking since you'll be able to tell when it is not safe to change lanes more often without shoulder checking.

 

[tjl]

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Richard P:
[QB]A tough body = beefy A,B & C pillars =fairly big blind spots. The Golf is particularly bad for this.<hr></blockquote>

Well, old Volvos have tough passenger boxes, but visibility is quite good. The Golf's big C pillar is the main blind spot maker.

 

[NYTDI]

As posted by GF you should adjust your side mirrors so that you don't see the side of the car except w/ your face on the door glass or over the center console, cars will come off your rearview mirrors and onto your sideview mirrors and with a little fine tuning you will see the car in the sideview untill it enters your peripheral vision, 'course this doesn't totally eliminate a quick over the sholder glance. This has worked well for me for many many years. When I tell people to try it I tell them that it may take them a month to get used to it.

If you have any doubt that this is the way you are supposed to adjust mirrors you may be interested in the way some manufacturers are now dealing with the one downfall to adjusting mirrors this way - you can't see close into the car while tight manuvering in a lot/garage (actually if you just move your head to the window or center of the car you can usually manage just fine). Many new cars/suv's have a feature that tips the mirrors down and in when the car is placed in reverse allowing a good view of anything that may be lurking inches away from a rear bumper or wheel well.

BTW I love those euro mirrors mentioned above, wish I ordered both sides instead of just one, I can highly reccomend them.

 

[car1car]

Hello, Regarding those euro split-zone mirrors, it appears from the picture on parts4vws.com, that the mirrors have a convex or aspheric zone on the outboard end of the mirror--is this correct, is the rest of the mirror flat? What is your opinion of these mirrors, for both the driver's and passenger side. Also, I assume that the blue ones will help cut down on the annoying headlight glare at night. How do these install; Bentley manual says something about prying the mirror off from the bottom to remove it (not very clear). Thanks very much for your opinions and help. Charles

 

[MITBeta]

NYTDI: I'm told that our VR6 counterparts have just such a feature on the their right hand side mirror: put the car in reverse, and the mirror tilts in and down.

 

[Sun Baked GL]

from http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=148891

 

[danix]

Even the flat area has a somewhat convex nature to it, it seems. Great for visibility, not so great for detail. If I'm trying to pick out that police cruiser 1/2 mi back I have to rely on the inside rear view mirror.

 

[Pressurized]

Unfortunately the European convex mirrors are not legal for automobile companies to supply in the US on the drivers side. However they do work very well, its just our Congress thinks we're too stupid to judge reflected distances in the convex mirrors here in the US.

The blue tint is too reduce glare from headlights, its a nice touch and not typical on a car in this price class.

 

[neimis]

Here's one driver too stupid to be able to accurately judge distances with the aspherical driver's mirror!

Seriously, no matter how many times I told myself "objects in mirror are closer than they appear", time and again I misjudged distances, causing me to change lanes unsafely.

I also found the image in these mirrors quite blurry and indistinct compared to stock NA spec mirrors. As well, I did NOT like the blue tint (my originals are close to clear); I found them to be too dark.

All in all, both my wife and I hated 'em. I sent them back for a refund. Best solution: adjust your mirrors properly (further to the left). Cost: $0.00.

 

[MITBeta]

neimis:

A good rule of thumb for changing lanes is that if you can see the headlights of the car in the lane beside you in your interior, rear-view mirror, you're safe... otherwise speed up, slow down, or whatever to get to a safe distance.

 

[NYTDI]

Hmmmm... wonder what the wiring/relay looks like for the VR6 tilt feature?? Wonder if this would be an easy add on. Anyone out there who finds those Bentley wiring digrams easier to read than I do?

 

[Michael Moore]

I'm the guy who took the pictue that is posted above. I bought the mirrors in Switzerland last month.

They have good and bad points. On the good side, the exaggerated convex portion on the outboard 25% of the mirror is just great for spotting cars that lurk in the blind spot. You can see the roof and bodyside of a trailing car clearly in these mirrors until the front bumper of that car has actually passed forward of the mirror.

The blue tint is very helpful for reducing glare at night. I like it. You can also order these mirrors without the blue tint (just normal clear mirrors, aspherical) if you prefer.

It's nice not to have the silly text on the mirror telling you what you already know about objects being closer than they appear.

On the 'bad' side: They are not the greatest for picking out detail - as one poster mentioned, you can't tell if a car a long way back is a police car. For my purposes, I don't care. When I am using the mirrors on the side of the car, I am only interested in looking at whatever is within 100 feet of me. With these mirrors, I can see everything that is within 100 feet behind and beside me.

Note that they do take a bit of getting used to - same as basic convex mirrors took a bit of time to get used to when they arrived about 20 years ago.

Michael

 

[dieseldorf]

 

[cgs2000]

It seems we all agree that there is a blind spot, but I really can't get the "magic adjustment" working for me. Meanwhile, my little $1.50 add-on mirror works for me (pic available, via email).