Hmmm...this topic begs the following question to be asked:
Do you have your mirrors adjusted correctly in the first place? If you are able to see the side of your car in side mirror, then they are most likely adjusted incorrectly...and I would say an overwhelming majority of the drivers I see on the road have them set this way. If I'm directly behind someone and I can see their ugly mug in the side mirror, I know that person is an idiot. Only on rare occassions when I'm next to someone and am in their "blind spot" do I see their face squarely centered in the side mirror. That, folks, is the correct way to adjust the mirrors. For sport cars with small mirrors, you usually have to point the mirrors way out more than a "normal" person would think. Driving around like this is something to get used to but I find that I can't drive the "conventional" way anymore...
Here are a few good techniques:
- Sit in the driver seat and lean all the way to the left so that your head is about to touch the window. Adjust driver mirror so that with your head in that position, you can just start to see the side of the car. Likewise for the passenger side mirror, move so that your head is in the middle of the car. Adjust so that you barely start seeing the side of the car. This is just a starting point...minor tweaks will be necessary for your use.
- Park in a parking lot where it's two rows of cars and that you pull into one and drive through so that you're about to pull out of the spot in front of you. Adjust the driver mirror so that the end of the line in the spot next and behind you (mark A) is in the lower left corner. The same for the passenger mirror. The following crude ascii art is an example (the html screws it up..just click quote to see my original intent):
| | fr | |
| | | |
| | bk | |
----------------
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
a b
- The third method is just to go driving on the highway. Pace yourself in front of and next to someone who would be in your "blind spot". Position yourself such that if you had to do an emergency lane change, you could do so and not have his front clip your rear...he'd be pissed, but there would be no contact. Now...adjust the mirror so that the car in your blind spot is centered in the side mirror. Now as you're driving, if you see a car centered, you know that if you had to make an emergency change, you can do so. If the car appears further back, then you have plenty of room. If you don't see the front of the car in the mirror...it's not safe to change. As the car moves closer alongside you, it'll disappear from the side mirror, at which point you'll just see the car out the window.
This trick works perfectly for the E36M3 and I do admit that I would like a slightly wider mirror in the Elise (the limited view from the in car center mounted rearview mirrorr because of the head rests), but I don't find it at all too scary to drive the Elise. Yes, the driver side could definitely be wider and I might just do the RHD passenger mirror upgrade route.
And besides, if you're driving faster than everyone else out there, who needs to see what's behind them anyway?
