How to adjust your mirrors *good read*

[Kloubek]

Well, I thought it was a good read anyway.

http://www.linquist.net/motorsports/tech/mirrors/

I had never previously given my mirrors much thought. I've always adjusted mine so that the side of the car is still seen on the very edge of each mirror.... ever so slightly. However, as this site demonstrates, even doing that you're still duplicating some of the image available in your rear view mirror.

The idea is to set the mirrors even further out, so that they pick up where your rear view drops off. Makes a lot of sense... just never really thought about it.

[turbotrip]

been doing this for a few years now. i just reverse upto a brick wall and adjust them there to ensure minimal overlap

[J-hop]

Yea a lot of people have them adjusted "wrong" (including myself). My driving instructor back when I was 15 first brought the fact that I don't need to be looking at my own car while driving to my attention haha.

I find however I have to have a little bit of my car visible or else I lose perspective of where things are. Weird I know, I've tried for a full month driving with the mirrors out like that and never could get used to it.

In the end though mirrors are pretty usless IMO, I always do a full shoulder check before moving over and only briefly glance at the mirrors as even with them set according to that article their range of view is severely limited. I know some people ONLY use their mirrors, that scares the hell out of me.

I recently installed wideview sidemirrors with half the lens angled out so you can see cars until they reach the front window which is nice, but again mirrors should only ever be used as a pre check, never rely on them to give you the whole picture (pun intended)

[lilmira]

I don't think the other way is wrong. A quick shoulder check is plenty enough to see if there is anyone next to you. I don't even need to crank my head too far to do so. I still have what's in front of me in my peripheral.

I'd like to see just a bit of my car in my mirrors since I use them a lot backing out from a tight spot or when parallel parking.

As long as you know the limitation of your setup, do whatever you feel comfortable.

[StreetRacerX]

I make it a habit to shoulder check, but I have to agree that its not a bad idea to adjust your mirrors like that to cover your ass.

[Tik-Tok]

Can't stand not seeing my car in the side mirrors, as said it gives you perspective. I excessively shoulder check (if there's such a thing) anyways, so not a big deal.

[Seikencube]

Haha cool! I thought I was the only one, but I've been doing this for 2 years as well! It really helps minimizing less neck movement! but then again its more safe to always shoulder check! :thumbsup:

[chkolny541]

i saw this technique on a TV show a long while back, since then ive always had mine properly adjusted. I turn them in till i can see the side of the car, then widen them out. I know what the side of my door looks like just fine, no point in having my mirror pointed at it

[BokCh0y]

I saw this on a driving show years ago and this is waht i've been doing :thumbsup:

Good read though. Thanks K.

[xnvy]

Takes a bit of getting used to, but so far I'm loving it, thanks Kloubek.

[GQBalla]

made this adjustment i think two years ago now.

much better, took a little bit to get used too but now i can't drive a car without the mirrors like this

[powerslave]

As with most other people, I'm used to being able to see just a tiny bit of the side of the car in both mirrors. I did give this way a go, and it worked good, with one exception:

While waiting at a light, it occured to me that if I wanted to change lanes to the left (the turning lane, which was clear) I wouldn't have much indication if there was a guy speeding down that lane.

In the past, with the mirror lined up where you can see a bit of your car, you would also see all the way down the left lane. You could tell if someone was approaching fast, and that it was unsafe to change lanes.

With the new adjustment, the rearview mirror is mainly used to see if someone is approaching in the left lane. I couldn't do that while stopped at a light, due to cars behind me blocking my view. The side mirror itself would show the cars, but only once they're very close and are passing by, would not want to be pulling out into their lane at that point.

While the method presented here does work great while the car is moving, it doesn't work well while stopped.

I just may move the left mirror back to the position where it was before.

[Aleks]

There's been lots of times when drivers ahead of me drove forward while looking backward when shoulder checking, most of the time they end up drifting to one side of the lane.

I think this is a great idea but I doubt it will catch on. People are too used to looking behind them when changing lanes.

[Kloubek]

It does take a bit of getting used to, but with the boxster, being a convertible, I have these blind spots the size of Texas. I need to lean forward and shoulder check if I want to move into the left lane. Now, I don't bother.

But powerslave *is* right - it makes it tricky to see if someone is driving way fast on the left and your rear view is filled with vehicles behind you. Still, I think this is the better route than what I had before - just due to the black hole of a blind spot on my car.

[jsn]

I've actually been doing this for years. I discovered it a while ago. I used to have my rear view mirrors adjusted so that I could still see the side of my cars, but I realized that this gives you a large blind spit. Now mine are adjusted in a way that, as soon as they leave my rear view mirror, I can see them on my side mirrors.

Originally posted by Tik-Tok
Can't stand not seeing my car in the side mirrors, as said it gives you perspective. I excessively shoulder check (if there's such a thing) anyways, so not a big deal.

I used to have this issue too when I first made the adjustment but I got over it fairly quickly.

[cloud7]

This is pretty much the first thing they cover at any performance driving school, along with seating position, and hand position on the steering wheel.

[Kennyredline]

I'm old school, I need to see the side of my car in my mirror; I bought those small convex stick-on mirrors for two bucks at Mal-Fart, and they work great....I still shoulder check though....can't break that habit!

[Buffalo Soldier]

I like to see part of my car in my side view mirror. If you want to see whats beside me without shoulder checking just move your head forward and look at your mirror.

[frizzlefry]

I used to use this method but when I got my A3 I realized that the side mirrors are huge and slightly convex...so I can still see the edge of my car and have almost no blind spot. I still shoulder check of course, in case someone decides to change into the same lane I want at the same time.

[frizzlefry]

ndHOmYCMaXQ

[clem24]

The mirror issue has been one of my pet peeves for a long time now. The real problem? 50% of drivers out there (and I'll let you guess which gender makes up the majority of that) don't even know that mirrors even exist.

So many drivers out there aren't even shoulder checking properly. They turn their whole body to check, when really, as pointed out, your mirrors have the ability to cover about 95% of your view around your car. It's actually very rare that a car is in that blind 5%, once you have your mirrors setup properly. A good shoulder check only really requires a slight turn of the head, and then checking your peripheral vision. Because that way, you NEVER take the front of the road out of your vision. You just never know when the person in front decides to slam on their brakes or that little child darts out into traffic.

Another way to check your blind spot without even turning your head is to just move your head forward towards the windshield and looking into the mirror.

Some people use those little convex mirrors, but I find they are POINTLESS for traffic; they're only good for parking. With the convex mirrors, I can clearly see a car beside me, but I have NO clue where they are in relation to me. It's impossible to judge distance due to the distortion they create. By that time, if I had done the above (using my mirrors and quick glance), I would've easily determined where the other is. If convex mirrors are so good, manufacturers and the government would make them standard equipment on cars.

I was fortunate to have a good instructor at AMA. It was this little old lady, but she taught me so many things that I still remember to this day.

[FiveFreshFish]

As mentioned before, shoulder checks add risk because you take your eyes away from the front. Arguably, a potential side collision is preferable to a potential rear-end collision. If you change lanes into a car in the blind spot, that driver can react to your mistake by braking, honking and giving you the finger, and then you can correct by going back into your lane. If you're going to rear-end a car in front while shoulder checking, that driver may not even be aware that you'll hit him; even if he was aware, there's not much he can do to avoid you or get your attention.

I've used this method of mirror adjustment for a long time, probably longer than most of you have been alive. If you can get over not seeing the side of your car for reference, this is definitely superior. I don't shoulder check when changing lanes. Freaks out passengers on occasion, and some have subconsciously shoulder checked themselves. It's more of a slight turn of my head about halfway between looking straight ahead and looking squarely at the mirror. This give my peripheral vision enough to see anything not covered by the mirror (which isn't very much). Trust your mirrors. Trust your peripheral vision. With a bit of practice, you don't need to see something directly to know it's there. I think everyone who's a driving enthusiast should at least give this a go. Switch back if you don't like it.

If you insist on having your car visible in your side mirror, then the moving your head forward seems like a good solution to eliminate the blind spot while keeping forward vision.

powerslave mentioned that it's a problem sitting stationary in traffic and wanting to change into the left lane but traffic blocks rearward view. The solution is to move your head to the left. Now you can see what's coming in the left lane. This is a small price to pay for not having to shoulder check. Easy to do when your car is at a standstill anyway.

clem24, Ford has been putting these little convex mirrors on their cars for a few years now. They're not mandated by government, but not everything the government requires (or omits) makes sense, does it? I think they are of value in traffic. If there's a car in the little convex mirror, don't change lanes. To me, this is preferable to those blind spot warning LEDs in the side mirrors that some manufacturers are promoting.

http://www.driverside.com/backseatdriver/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/2009-ford-blindspot-mirror.jpg

If any of you have driven in Europe, the side mirrors are aspherical. A bonus is that none of these mirrors have the stupid "Objects in mirror are closer than they appear" message just because they aren't flat. (See, this is an example of a useless government requirement.) I have aspherical mirrors on all my current cars including a few from the past. Top mirror is asperical, bottom is the stock flat driver's side mirror. The mirrors are on the garage floor and the reflection is the overhead garage door in its open position. Notice the dotted line on the left that separates the more curved section? With these, you can judge distance and speed because the distortion is only slight. Anyway, this is just another tool that makes the blind spot even smaller.

http://i55.tinypic.com/v33sle.jpg

[FullFledgedYYC]

How to adjust your f'ing mirrors properly. (http://motoringtv.com/jim-kenzie-proves-there-is-no-such-thing-as-a-blind-spot--p151683)

And another article to support it for those slower people
How to adjust your mirrors (http://www.caranddriver.com/features/how-to-adjust-your-mirrors-to-avoid-blind-spots)

[wtf im nameless]

You're always so peachy, aren't you?

[FullFledgedYYC]

All day, every day.

[Modelexis]

Repost :)

http://forums.beyond.ca/st/342099/how-to-adjust-your-mirrors-good-read/

You need a forum search tutorial for slow people!
j/k ;)

[FullFledgedYYC]

Solid ownage.

Close it if you like mods.