Driver's Side Mirror

JoeS · Feb 20, 2012

In the US, driver's-side mirrors are mandated to be flat, unlike the (smarter) rest of the world where convex mirrors on both sides are the norm. The distortion from slightly convex mirrors is perfectly acceptable and DOES allow one to properly judge distances, as evidenced by the quite-usable right-hand mirror.

Because the iMiEV's side mirrors are located fairly far forward, the driver's side mirror field of view is very narrow and results in a significant blind spot even with the mirror set to its maximum outboard position. As an aside and irrelevant to this discussion, I'm well aware that most drivers do not know how to properly adjust their driver's side mirror - just Google it to find out how to properly execute this seemingly-simple task.

As a temporary fix, I've added a small cheap overly-convex mirror inside the car (using Velcro™) to cover the blind spot (I don't want to stick it on the outside mirror, yet...). Here's a photo of the driver's view: with the left side mirror rotated fully outboard, that is still not enough to see the car that is sitting there, and it is just outside one's peripheral vision! - but you can at least see it in the little convex mirror.

After 50 years of driving with absolutely no blind spots using old convex Lucas mirrors way forward on the front fenders (yes, I still have a bunch of them) and recognizing that I can't mount them on the fenderless iMiEV, what I'd really like is to order a convex left-side mirror for the iMiEV from Japan, Europe, Australia, or anywhere else - does anyone have any ideas or sources? Also, I wonder if our US mirrors the same size/shape as the narrow iMiEVs?

Absent that, perhaps it's time to take off those oversized un-aerodynamic iMiEV mirror housings and install a couple of small smart video cameras...

jjlink · Mar 9, 2012

I put this sport mirror on. It works OK until we find a full convex mirror. It probably would have been better to put it higher on the flat mirror like the one in the Blog JoeS mentioned. http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/30/in-defense-of-convex-drivers-side-mirrors/

Mirror by JJLINK, on Flickr

Don · May 13, 2012

Joe,

This eBay seller lists convex mirrors for both sides of many Mitsubishi cars, as well as most other makes and models

http://stores.ebay.com/car-parts-market?_trksid=p4340.l2563

If we could figure out what car Mitsu 'borrowed' our mirrors from, we could maybe buy the convex replacements and just stick them on over the factory mirrors. If not, maybe if we sent them a tracing of our morrors we could buy a pair which come closest to fitting and then have a local glass shop trim them to fit? My right side mirror doesn't seem to be convex either

After only a few days driving the car, this topic is very high on my priority 'to do' list also - The left side blind spot is just horrendous!

Don

tonymil · May 13, 2012

Thanks for posting this. I've taken three test drives but never focused on the mirrors and blind spots. This won't stop me from buying, but it's very disappointing.

JoeS · May 14, 2012

Don, thanks for the post. After 3000 miles of driving with that inside convex mirror I'm finding that for now it has adequately and unobtrusively solved my problem, as it always does show someone sitting in that blind spot. I've picked up a handful of add-on mirrors from various auto stores and intend to experiment further to see if there's a better mousetrap. In the meantime, I appreciate your looking for a convex replacement for the driver's side mirror.

fjpod · May 14, 2012

I've used those stick on convex mirrors in the past, but usually a smaller one will suffice. I haven't noticed a blind spot (I guess that's why they call it blind) problem any worse on the imiev than my other cars. In fact I thinks it's easier to see 360 degrees around with this car than my Prius. Everything in the Prius is in the way, seat backs, headrests, pillars, rear spoiler...