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How to adjust your mirrors


Mac
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I'm the same, if I can't see my car in the mirrors then I worry that they're way too far out. I like to have just a sliver of metal visible at the edge of the mirror, and to back it up with a glance over my shoulder before I pull out. The quick glance is not exactly a hardship, and caters for those days when you haven't set the mirrors properly or are in a different car.

I've experimented with setting them as described, so that the fields of view just about overlap, and it is pretty good. The problem is that there isn't always a suitable view behind you when you're setting them; you need there to be some points of reference in all the right places to line things up.

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I have them set so you can just see a tiny rear corner of the car on each side.

I've also found myself looking over my right shoulder for the last three or four years when overtaking on the motorway, just because people can come out of nowhere.

Same here. I need to see some of my car to judge stuff.

I also look over my shoulder when overtaking - after an incident in 88 where I nearly squashed a car on the motorway after seeing a gap in my mirror and NOT the car between ........... :o

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In the Z, there's no real use for the interior mirror unless the roof is down, so the nearside mirror looks wide as described in the article, but offside is pointed quite in so that it looks over the rear arch and doubles as an interior mirror :)

No trouble for blind spots, I'm always looking over my right shoulder if I need to change lane as I don't even trust the mirrors to cover that for me. Also important to check the left side as that's where cyclists like to try and steal paint off you when driving in built up areas +++

In the gf's Lupo, they're manual mirrors, so nearside is permanently pointing to the curb for parking and the offside is pointing at the fuel cap, because manual mirrors are RUBBISH! Added awareness needed in that motor :grin:

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I have the mirrors like that on the 911, but given the curvature of both wing mirrors on the R36, I have the same field of view - but with the rear corner visible on each side.

Never had a problem with them set wide, and find it annoying when you get in a car and the mirrors seem to be set to point at the rear wheel arch.

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Mine are set so that I have to move my head to see the car. That way when I'm at low speed its not a problem I just tilt my head, but on the motorway I get to see a much wider field and am more aware of whats coming up in my mirrors as a result.

Plus having done a few defensive driving courses where they say look to see 'if' you need to indicate when changing lanes rather than doing it automatically you tend to look in them more to do that initial check rather than being sloppy and indicating then looking which is what most people annoyingly tend to do these days.

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Mine are set so that I have to move my head to see the car. That way when I'm at low speed its not a problem I just tilt my head, but on the motorway I get to see a much wider field and am more aware of whats coming up in my mirrors as a result.

Plus having done a few defensive driving courses where they say look to see 'if' you need to indicate when changing lanes rather than doing it automatically you tend to look in them more to do that initial check rather than being sloppy and indicating then looking which is what most people annoyingly tend to do these days.

Can't understand the thinking behind that???

You check your mirrors to see "IF" you need to indicate. What happens if you miss that car/bike in your blind spot? You have pulled out without seeing him or warning him that you are changing lane.

As soon as I see an indicator on it puts me on red alert that the car infront may move over and I am ready for anything.

I do the whole shabang, wide mirrors so I can just see the paintwork of my car, indicate and "life saver" over the shoulder.

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You check your mirrors to see "IF" you need to indicate. What happens if you miss that car/bike in your blind spot?

I agree. You're not meant to make a maneuvre unless you can do it without causing someone else to take avoiding action. Therefore, if you look properly and make your move at a safe time, no-one will ever need to avoid you and, therefore, in theory, you never "need" to indicate.

The indicators are, then, in order to provide warning of your intentions to the road user that you *didn't* see. By definition, s/he could be anywhere...

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I do the whole shabang, wide mirrors so I can just see the paintwork of my car, indicate and "life saver" over the shoulder.

I used to be slightly more casual over the last point until about 6 or 7 years ago I nearly took a motorcyclist out on the motorway, he was doing way, way over a ton which is why he appeared from nowhere but it put the sh!ts up me so much made me much much more cautious when moving out.

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Can't understand the thinking behind that???

You check your mirrors to see "IF" you need to indicate. What happens if you miss that car/bike in your blind spot? You have pulled out without seeing him or warning him that you are changing lane.

I have argued the same but the thinking behind it does make you use your mirrors and check the road far more often than I ever used to and i still indicate but it is what they teach you. Don't forget that many do the old indicate, start to move and then look so the principle that you should be aware of what's around you and ensure you check first is a vast improvement for many that come off the courses.

There are also many many occasions where people indicate where it is completely useless, unnecessary and gives false information that make things worse not better.

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In the gf's Lupo, they're manual mirrors, so nearside is permanently pointing to the curb for parking and the offside is pointing at the fuel cap, because manual mirrors are RUBBISH! Added awareness needed in that motor :grin:

is that to stop sneaky gits siphoning petrol from it whilst its moving? :) i rely so much on being able to dip my mirrors when reversing to park (why oh why doesn't my car do this automatically!) that i'd be lost in a car that i had to reach over and do manually.

i have my mirrors set up so i can see my car (old habit i suppose) but i always do a quick glance over my shoulder before actually moving over lanes.

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Auto dipping is handy, but can be annoying. My mum's 3er has it and when doing reversing manoeuvres that aren't parking it's actually annoying. Would be handy if there were a button to disable it. There probably is one isn't there?

It disables it when you move the mirror adjustment select switch.

Left for auto dip, right for normal.

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It's the nearside that dips so you don't kerb the alloys +++

Yeah I know what it does, I've had several cars that do it, I always turn it off, because I just don't need it, not that I'm any kind of expert at parking or anything, I just know where the curb is, and how wide my car is!

Normally moving the mirror switch to either the left or right position disables it.

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I am going to adjust mine after reading that article.

I currently have the drivers side just showing my car (like others) and the near side showing more of my car and a S bit lower, to help avoid kerbing when reversing...........but I think this is a habit I started years ago when I lived on a very narrow street and used to have to park as close to the near side kerb as possible.

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