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What a Drag: Time to Get Rid of Outside Mirrors (Car Talk article)
Anybody see this?
http://www.cartalk.com/content/what-...utside-mirrors |
My head is spinning from all of the comments after the reading the rear camera article. More comments than there are assholes!
Cameras to replace mirrors are coming and nothing will stop them. I'm planning to use them on my reverse-trike EV with a Mini iPad dashboard/camera screen. |
Neat feature!
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I rather enjoyed this comment. "Hey, that's it! Once the car cameras have been out for a while, I'll bring to market a new "green" invention to replace all those problematic, electricity hog cameras. It's a flat piece of glass with a reflective surface......." |
Hey, they gave Darin a shout-out
...and posted a photo of the beautiful VW 1L.
I don't want to see mirrors go away. When electronics fail, mirrors continue to work. Light won't ever suddenly stop reflecting. |
Mirrors?!?! Whats that??? Must be related to turn signals? :thumbup:
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I was a little surprised at the lack of understanding about aerodynamics in the comments. I guess I shouldn't be. Several people simply dismiss the aero impact of mirrors, despite the evidence. Several more say "the automakers could make mirrors less draggy if they wanted to". Right. And they haven't been trying? The more aero optimized the rest of the vehicle is, the larger the relative impact that mirrors have on fuel consumption. "Standard" mirrors on a VW XL1 would probably account for more than 10% of its energy consumption at highway speeds. |
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For most of us starting from a non-optimized shape, even after lots of aftermarket optimization, mirror removal could definitely be an improvement but it may be small enough to get lost in other environmental noise. For a while there I was running the biggest mirrors I could find. I've since shrunk back down to factory and am looking at smaller, with the addition of some interior mirrors to retain field of view. When you drive as slow as I do, a clear view of what's climbing up your tailpipe can be kind of important. |
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- With the level of electronics in today's cars, with TFT displays, LCD screens everywhere and centralized vehicle control and infotainment systems, adding two more cameras should add less than a hundred dollars to the price tag over two power-adjustable/power-folding outside mirrors. |
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As the electronics get cheaper, easier to manufacture and easier to install, the quality tends toward a mean that prioritizes cheapness of manufacturing over durability. Those cameras aren't repairable, so keeping their costs down requires a lot of corner cutting. How many electronic devices are out there whose cameras have failed even as the rest of the device continues to function? Quite a few. It appears to be a bit of a theme around iPads, especially following a software upgrade, and iPads are supposed to be some of the highest-quality home electronic devices you can buy. Even when cracked into dozens of pieces, you can still usually glean a useful image from a mirror. And my truck is carbureted. |
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