Help! I've Lost a Ford Escape between my Side-view and Rear-view Mirrors!

2008(last gen) Kia Optima with folding mirrors.

LOVE this car. Perfect combo of size/handling/features. So far reliable knock on wood.

Per the title of this post, I literally merged into a highway right on the bows of a ubiquitous Ford Escape SUV. My side(outside) mirrors are set so that none of my car's rear quarters appear in them. Instead, I can watch a car overtake me, on either side, from my rear, transitioning from the RV mirror to the side mirror, and finally, while the rear quarter of that vehicle is still visible in the side mirror, the nose appears in my periphery vision.

The last car that setup worked well in was with the mirrors of my 1996 Ford Contour, which did not fold. With it's European ancestry(the Mondeo), I never lost sight of a vehicle that either overtook mine or that I passed. The only time I had to turn my head in that car was when backing up! And here's the secret to why I think I'm "losing vehicles" in both my 2005 Malibu and this Kia:

In the Contour, the distance of the inner edge of the side mirrors to the a-pillar/side glass was less than ONE INCH. On the Malibu and Optima, that distance is at least two inches!! Now, folding mirrors are not new in cars: VW and Audi's have folded since the late '70s. Mercedes fold back to the '80s, if I recall. And the distance from inner reflective edge to the side window glass was probably maximum just under 1-inch.

The problem is this trend to situate the mirrors(folding or not) out ever further from said a-pillar/side glass. I snuck out early one morning and measured the distance from the inner edge of the mirror reflective surface to the side glass on some of the newer cars in our tenant parking lot. That distance measured as much as THREE INCHES in some cases. This is precisely opposite the direction engineers want to be going with regards to "improving" sideward visibility - at least in passenger sedans/coupes/small x-overs. (Light trucks/SUVs/RVs have their own unique visibility requirements for drivers - which deserve a thread of their own for purposes of this discussion.) That two-three inches could easily mask a SCHOOL BUS - let alone another car or heaven forbid - a motorcycle!

It is in my estimation that the best positioning of side mirrors is as far forward of the driver as a car's a-pillar and other circumstances allow, and - as close to the aforementioned side of the vehicle as is possible without hindering the option to fold mirrors for tight quarters, or limiting mechanical room for manual/electrical pivoting adjustment thereof. Driving position is only secondary to this design goal; this visibility should and can be achieved for drivers form 5 feet to 6-foot 6inches tall. Of all the cars I've driven the Ford Contour came as close to this ideal as could be expected with regards to the side mirrors.

My question - finally - is:
I would like to refit my 2006-2010 era Kia Optima with mirrors whose inner reflective edge extends to within 1 inch of the a-pillar/sideglass. I would like to preserve electrical adjustment of them, but folding is something I'm willing to give up. How financially and mechanically possible/practical would this be to accomplish?

The issue is not the size of reflective area of side-view mirrors but rather their positioning - that can mean the difference between a nasty sideswipe(or as I experienced, "losing a vehicle") and an ordinary lane change or on-ramp merge.

**Mods: If you feel this belongs specifically in the Kia section or elsewhere please relocate as necessary** Thanks!

The easy, inexpensive, solution would be to add one of those small stick on mirrors, either an angled mirror or a round convex mirror, to each of the side mirrors.

My 2011 Taurus SHO has the BLind spot Information System (BLIS) which works surprisingly well. It illuminates an amber LED in the side mirror to let me know when there is something in my blind spot. It even works with motorcycles and bicycles, but I haven't found it falsing yet either. I'm not sure a similar system is available yet for retrofit. It wouldn't be a simple retrofit either since it would require sensors at each of the rear corners.

-Rod

The easy, inexpensive, solution would be to add one of those small stick on mirrors, either an angled mirror or a round convex mirror, to each of the side mirrors.

My 2011 Taurus SHO has the BLind spot Information System (BLIS) which works surprisingly well. It illuminates an amber LED in the side mirror to let me know when there is something in my blind spot. It even works with motorcycles and bicycles, but I haven't found it falsing yet either. I'm not sure a similar system is available yet for retrofit. It wouldn't be a simple retrofit either since it would require sensors at each of the rear corners.

-Rod

My solution is primitive by comparison, but I'm sure a mirror of similar proportions but closer to the glass could be fit in that area, right?

The principle of the matter is properly designed and set mirrors should eliminate so-called "blind spots".

The principle of the matter is properly designed and set mirrors should eliminate so-called "blind spots".

You raise some interesting points, especially about Mirror placement.


I've always found the modern convex mirrors work best when you can just see the back corner of your car in the edge of the mirror.
That reduces any blind spots.

But your right about moving them forward.
A lot of the old English and Japanese cars used to mount the mirrors on the front fenders, well forward of the driver.
I think safety standards and style have moved them back onto the A pillar.

You raise some interesting points, especially about Mirror placement.


I've always found the modern convex mirrors work best when you can just see the back corner of your car in the edge of the mirror.
That reduces any blind spots.

But your right about moving them forward.
A lot of the old English and Japanese cars used to mount the mirrors on the front fenders, well forward of the driver.
I think safety standards and style have moved them back onto the A pillar.

Exactly!! Nothing at all wrong with having them on the a-pillar, assuming they are of a thin enough profile(from surface of glass back through the aero shroud you grab to fold the mirror).

Look at some late-70s early-80s domestics. I once owned a '81 Buick where the (left only) mirror was so aft of the A-pillar I had to turn my head just to look in that side mirror. LOL. I suspect that was a holdover from the side-vent days where it would have been impossible to a-pillar mount mirrors, although the 78 & later Century did not have vent windows.

Thankfully most cars of the last decade have standardized placement in line with the A-pillar. What I'm against is the trend to position them further out from the side of the body on pods.

Additionally, the rearview mirror should be large enough to "overscan" by about 5-10%. That is, the entire back window - and then some - is visible in that mirror. This would ensure that even if you did turn or move your head you could still see all of the back window view in the RV mirror.

Domestic(and foreign!) engineers - are you lurking here? Learning something? :banghead:

Next thing you can do is de-boost the power steering a tad(electric or conventional) on current and upcoming models, and return some feedback to our driving experience. LOL!
On a side note: I would luuuv to see this research that supports the claim that most drivers actually "prefer" mushy steering. :shakehead