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The door mirrors of my car are different from those fitted to any of my previous cars. At about 40mm from the outer edge there's a vertical line. The curvature of the mirror on one side of the line is different from that on the other side of the line. When I look in the mirror the view in the main (innermost) part is what I think of as normal, but the view in the outermost part is disjointed and distorted and (to me) is of no value. I'd rather the mirror had the one curvature for the whole of its width. As it is, the useful width of the mirror is effectively curtailed. What's the point of the two parts? I can't find anything mentioned about it in the Owners Manual.
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I think the outer part of the mirror glass gives a wide angle view to help eliminate blind spots.
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Its the wide angle part of the mirror, and everyone else finds it immensely useful.
Last edited by: Zero on Sun 21 Jul 13 at 14:02
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Once you get used to them L'es those wide angle sectioned mirrors are excellent, so long as they are squared off, i can't abide triangle shaped mirrors with the outside section narrowing down to a useless proprtion.
Useful to have the more convex section marked off, Volvo 940 was like that and as good door mirrors as i've ever found in cars, basically squared off.
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IIRC the first car I had with this feature was a 1996 Vectra, every car I've had since has had it. Usually only the driver's side but both sides on some. It is useful, it gives better coverage of the rear quarter blindspot.
At least my nearside mirror doesn't have that ridiculous 'objects may be closer than they appear' message that most Aussie built cars have aping their US counterparts. With the ubiquitous undertaking here I guess you need a wide angle/blindspot mirror on both sides too....
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>> Once you get used to them L'es those wide angle sectioned mirrors are excellent, .........
Perhaps that's the case in other cars, but in my car the view in outer portion of the mirror is disjointed and distorted. I've had the car four months and I still have to ignore the outer portion of the mirror.
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It's not there to give a picture perfect view, l'Es; it's to alert you that there's something to your right that you might otherwise have missed. In other words, you don't generally look at it, but you will notice it when it matters.
It isn't a substitute for a proper shoulder check (see multiple threads on privacy glass for my thoughts on that), any more than Volvo's BLIS and similar electronic aids, but it might just save you from yourself.
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>> Perhaps that's the case in other cars, but in my car the view in outer
>> portion of the mirror is disjointed and distorted. I've had the car four months and
>> I still have to ignore the outer portion of the mirror.
I understand where your coming from L'es with the drivers side when the mirror is narrowed and curved in the wide angle section, as in many form before function modern car designs.
Those car mirrors narrowed off at the outside edge so designed for aesthetics are generally pretty useless anyway.
Insignia deserves special mention for just about the most useless door mirrors ever, tiny little things on that bloated design not even sited properly and at arguably the most important outside edge narrowed almost to a point.
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Since I can't seem to be able to make effective use of the outer portion of my car's mirrors I'll continue to use my tried and trusted method of turning my head and looking over my shoulder. Before changing lanes on a dual carriageway I quite often turn my body as well as my head to enable me to get an even better view. I learned the latter technique off a work colleague. He said that passengers often queried the necessity for him to do it but he told me he found it to be effective and that he ignored their comments.
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"Before changing lanes on a dual carriageway I quite often turn my body as well as my head to enable me to get an even better view. "
As a passenger I think I would find that disconcerting to say the least. You would be losing me at the next service station. ;-)
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Not me CGN, i like a driver who double checks the blind spot, i have to with the MB because the drivers door mirror is flat glass, no other type possible unless you were to fit the drivers mirror from a LHD car, mirrors are different sizes either side.
Witness some modern licence holders at the wheels of lorries who draw their tassled curtains fully alongside them and hide therein, the only side view out is through the bottom front 1/3 segment of the drivers window, very strange people.
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I dont need to turn my body, I have the mirrors properly adjusted (ie not so I can see the smart coachline down the side of my car instead of the road,), I know where the blind spot is, and it only requires a sideways glance of the head.
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>>very strange people
They most likely have privy glass on their jamjars too.
:o}
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Ford Focus III - Door mirrors - Old Navy
