Foward vision obscured by mirriors. Clarifying previous thread
 

On left hand turns my forward vision, line of sight is obscured by the size and shape of the side view mirror. I clipped a stopped car making a left hand turn. I did not see the car at all and I was driving 5mph. The mirror completely blocked my forward vision to my left. I was aware of the problem and have tried to adjust my driving accordingly. I have no such line of sight problem in by BMW 325ci.

I'm 5'7". My seat is raised to its' highest position. I placed phone book on my seat. The 2 inches solves the problem. However, I think Nissan needs to redesign the side view mirrors or make me taller.

I'm off to purchase a booster seat.

:icon18:

uhhh

maybe you need to learn to drive.

honestly my friend

im about the same height as you and NEVER had anything close to that

I cant imagine how you clipped a stopped car... Its not like the car suddenly appeared from no where. You would have had to have seen it beside you or way ahead of you as you approached it... And the mirror isnt THAT big that it would hide an entire car if you were close enough to clip it. If the car was far away it could block the view of it.

Nissan shouldnt have to redesign anything..

accepting fault, and not blaming the car would be the first step...

:iagree:

I have to agree with others here. I am 5'8" and have no visibility problems when driving my Z.

Do you have your driver seat in the gangster lean position? :confused:

It was my fault.
 

I took my BMW 325 ci back to the location. I can see over that mirror. The Z mirror blocks my field of vision on left turns.

At 4 way stops I have noticed the mirror completely blocks my view of the car to my left. My line of sight even at the highest seat adjustment is blocked by he mirror.

I've owned an e-type and a 280z. No problems. By placing a towel or cushion on my seat, my line of sight is improved in my 370.

I'm not the first to have noticed this problem.

When I made my left turn, I did not see the car. It was my fault. I'm not in gangster lean position.

That mirror will completely obstruct your left field of view at stop signs and such if you are short. Even entire cars...let alone a poor pedestrian. You need to fix it before you someone...or worse, your car!

Phone books won't be in print forever ya know. Unbolt the seat and take a peek under it. Get some spacers, use a hockey puck...whatever. Or get different mirrors. The OEM ones are too big anyway. They don't need to be that high from top to bottom, and reducing that height has zero to do with blind spots, which will be because of the side to side angle.

My personal solution? I only move my car when I'm sure I'm not gonna hit stuff. Try it, I really like the results so far.

:rofl2:

I am 5'11" but I have noticed that side view mirror has the size to block out kids and dogs and anything that may come from that forward-left angle. But once you know it does that its easy enough to look around that mirror and make sure you're clear. Its not a good idea to be turning left if you know your line of sight is blocked. Stop and sit up and take a better look before turning.

You do realize that pickups and trucks have large mirrors yet I don't see them running into cars and people at every turn.:rolleyes:

If its really an issue get a Prius they have great visibility and small mirrors for aerodynamics.
:shakes head:

nick- lol! no more wind drag. :D

There is one spot near my home where I encounter the same visibility problem the OP mentions. It is a left turn onto a road the slopes down, away from the intersection, and intersects at about a 110 degree angle (rather then a typical 90 angle). So a car stopped on the hill is completely blocked by the mirror, and difficult to see unless you look under the mirror (not an easy maneuver).

Most other intersections are fine with some peaking around the outside mirror.

You made it sound like your body is glued to the seat when you are in the car, you can always be more caution when making turns or switching lanes, lean forward a lil to look around and make sure nothing is in your blind spot.

Its just common sense.

I don't see how the mirror blocks anything from the left unless your car is a right handed driver? And close objects can't be blocked by the mirrors. But from a distance the super large Z mirrors do hamper vision from views over 40ft from the car which can be an issue with a car coming at you at a high rate of speed.

I feel the Z mirrors are clumsy, I notice the same issue in the juke. I don't know why people on this site are always sending people to prius' and family cars because of visibility issues with Z mirrors or similar things. From vette to ferrari, I have seen a plethora of race ready mirrors with a lean frame. Where is it written that fat bloated mirrors are the premier feature of a sports car???

Now, OP, my suggestion to you is start looking into aftermarket designs because nissan isn't going to re-engineer mirrors into a sports car that can barely break 10k units in sales. 2012 was the update year and the Z is not getting any updates. That info in itself speaks for your suggestion to nissan for redesigning mirrors. Go to Nissan Cars, Trucks, Crossovers, SUVs & The Bottom Line Sales Event | Nissan USA and you will notice they still have the 2010 Z on the advertising roster with the 2011 and we are 2 months away from the first 2012's rolling out. Aftermarket is your only solution. As far as close objects be more careful. It seems you are 5'8 but your legs are long and u have a shorter torso. So u may be compromised some with your overall view?