I agree, the car's rear & 3/4 rear visibility isn't very good. That' s the price you pay for lots of plan & profile taper!
While I removed the passenger mirror entirely for the test, I will be making a custom, smaller replacement. I don't need the passenger side mirror for the driving I do, but I sometimes back into extremely tight parking, and need to be able to see beside the car.
FYI, and someone else asked, the tires were at 55 psi for the runs.
Some photos of the mods that aren't self-explanatory...
Grille block - full upper & partial lower ... (tape & thin plastic sheet)
This is fine for low-to mid-20's (C) temperatures, including city driving (engine is off when coasting/stopped).
Plan is to make a nicer looking permanent version of these pieces.
The side mirror is from a 1990 Suzuki Swift. (
This one.) The stock Insight mirrors fold, but not really very much. The Swift mirror is not a perfect fit - its mounting base doesn't fill the triangle of space the OEM one occupied. Currently there's duct tape sealing the gaps - I need to work on it.
When folded, the Swift mirror presents roughly ~40% of its usual frontal area. (Can't speak for the change in Cd). I only fold it when driving on 2-lane highways.
I made a filler "plug" to deal with the mess created at the exposed hinge when the mirror is folded. It's very easy to pop this plug in & out with one hand. I borrowed this part from the Firefly. (Wrote about it here:
Reflections on side mirrors: testing drag vs. MPG - MetroMPG.com )
