|
thecremeegg
371 posts
73 months
|
Bill said: Why's the car in the pic LHD?  I have mine low down and central as I'm tall and the only thing it obscures is a small part of the bonnet. Ditto!
|
|
|
Quietlybonkers
3,458 posts
14 months
|
Our old ML270 Merc 4x4 came with a 3 inch round flat black plastic thing stuck on in the dead centre (left to right) of the dash, above the radio and air vents etc, i.e. on the bit that is nearly flat before you get to the de-misting vents. I wondered what the hell it was, but my wife realised immediately what it was - you stick the suction mount onto it, and it is therefore not on the windscreen at all. You then raise the circular ring towards you and insert your sat nav. Sorry, cannot photo it, she's got the car 200 miles away at the moment
|
|
|
4rephill
1,434 posts
48 months
|
liner33 said: I've seen police shows with sat navs in the middle of the screen albeit on the pass side  Mine is clipped on a small mount on the dash And if you need to look at it for any reason, your eyes have to wander a lot further away from the view ahead than if it was mounted at the bottom of the screen in front of the centre air vents. In fact, I suspect to see it properly, you have to physically move you head away from the straight ahead position. If that's the case then you've dramatically reduced the amount of road that is in your peripheral vision. If it were mounted above your centre vents, at the base of the windscreen, all you have to do is move your eyes to view it and much more of the road would remain in your peripheral vision. As for the device blocking the view of the road ahead when mounted in this position at the base of the screen, in My experience, all it tends to block is a bit of the bonnet, and I'm not really concentrating on My bonnet when I'm driving, it's the things ahead of the bonnet that are far more important.
|
|
|
Martin_Hx
1,929 posts
68 months
|
I stick mine to the right of the rear view mirror so can glance up at it. I guess similar to a second rear view in a police car ?
|
|
|
liner33
3,716 posts
72 months
|
4rephill said: And if you need to look at it for any reason, your eyes have to wander a lot further away from the view ahead than if it was mounted at the bottom of the screen in front of the centre air vents.
In fact, I suspect to see it properly, you have to physically move you head away from the straight ahead position. If that's the case then you've dramatically reduced the amount of road that is in your peripheral vision.
If it were mounted above your centre vents, at the base of the windscreen, all you have to do is move your eyes to view it and much more of the road would remain in your peripheral vision.
As for the device blocking the view of the road ahead when mounted in this position at the base of the screen, in My experience, all it tends to block is a bit of the bonnet, and I'm not really concentrating on My bonnet when I'm driving, it's the things ahead of the bonnet that are far more important. Exactly the same if you need to adjust the climate control , or change the station on the radio I really dont find it an issue . Its not possible to focus on the sat nav and the road ahead wherever you put it
|
Advertisement
|
|
|
TheProfessor
60 posts
15 months
|
I've never been able to get on with the Sat Nav screen suction mounts.
They always seen to fall off after a couple of hours, and a car specific mount would be costly as I've a habit of changing my cars a little too often (well the domestic management says so anyway).
For a couple of years I've just left the nav on the passenger seat, and just follow the verbal instructions, so no more distracting IMHO than having a passenger in the car giving me directions.
|
|
|
Happy Chappy
Original Poster
18 posts
12 months
|
bigjobbo said: The test carried out is drivers view of the road, seated in the drivers seat I look outwards looking for obstructions of the road. Tax disc? Not in the way at all. If somebody had left their satnav cradle on the screen, personally I would remove it and place it on the seat, failing on that is feasible but harsh. If some one has cut their wipers down I would fail it on insufficient coverage.  So that implies a certain amount of personal judgement on behalf of the MOT Inspector and not following DFT rules to the letter? That's interesting but surely unfair when one person sees things differently to another ... does the same apply to CO2 emissions or brake efficiency, slightly out of spec and the car might still pass?
|
|
|
bigjobbo
86 posts
80 months
|
Happy Chappy said: bigjobbo said: The test carried out is drivers view of the road, seated in the drivers seat I look outwards looking for obstructions of the road. Tax disc? Not in the way at all. If somebody had left their satnav cradle on the screen, personally I would remove it and place it on the seat, failing on that is feasible but harsh. If some one has cut their wipers down I would fail it on insufficient coverage. So that implies a certain amount of personal judgement on behalf of the MOT Inspector and not following DFT rules to the letter? That's interesting but surely unfair when one person sees things differently to another ... does the same apply to CO2 emissions or brake efficiency, slightly out of spec and the car might still pass? It is always the testers interpretation of the law and how its written, so yes it is unfair in a way, but we do our best. For instance, a chip in the screen in zone A is 10.1mm, can I honestly say without any doubt that the chip is over 10mm? Probably not, but the next tester might... Emissions and brakes are straight forward, they either pass or fail, if brakes are unroadworthy, then they simply are.
|
|
|
Happy Chappy
Original Poster
18 posts
12 months
|
liner33 said: I've seen police shows with sat navs in the middle of the screen albeit on the pass side Mine is clipped on a small mount on the dash Thats a nice install but if the airbag goes off in an accident your sat-nav will probably hurtle towards you at a speed of knots? I wonder if an MOT inspector would consider that? I know its all pedantic to a certain extent and I cant see an MOT inspector getting a tape measure out to make sure nothing encroaches the 10mm and 40mm borders in the swept wiper area but having looked at many cars on a long trip out yesterday, there are so many that are (in theory) breaking the law and what I would really like to know is why Plod doesnt seem to take any notice. Taking things another step forward, if you Google 'iPad windscreen' you'll find more reasons to question the legality of mobile devices retrofitted in vehicles and as stated in another post, how does Plod get away with sat-navs, video cameras and ANPR cameras fitted within the swept wiper area? Do the same rules not apply to Plod and what happens when a police car goes in for MOT, do they remove all these devices then refit them afterwards?
|
|
|
mrmr96
12,050 posts
74 months
|
|
|
Pints
14,759 posts
64 months
|
Happy Chappy said: Pints said: I have my phone holder as far to the bottom right of my windscreen (when inside the car) as possible. Black Ice trees and the like, swinging from the rearview mirror, are probably guilty of being well within zone B. Pints, even a sat-nav on a suction mount at the bottom of the windscreen will normally be in the red area and thats why I wanted to get the views of others. Interestingly, the MOT Test procedure includes a clause saying that the vehicle presenter should be given the opportunity to remove an obstruction but I've read elsewhere that cars have been failed on this point. I checked it this morning and I'm just within the 40mm area of zone B. Phew.
|
|
|
Ranger 6
4,272 posts
119 months
|
TheAlfaMale said: The best way, of course, is to use Brodit's ProClip mounts for everything... My TomTom is mounted on the central air vent, well below the level of the windscreen and my phone is mounted on the passenger side of the transmission tunnel/dash. All without the use of screws and as solid as a rock, with device-specific, snugly fitting secure mounts. None of this generic stuff that springs open at every pot-hole or suction cups which fall off in cold weather. This - both nav and phone are mounted close enough to reach, but not far enough out of the field of vision to be difficult. After all they're fitted where a factory nav screen would be.
|
|
|
C.A.R.
1,290 posts
58 months
|
The Brodit clip for my Focus is £9.99 - I can live with that.
The TomTom mount for the clip is then £24.99!! That seems a bit extreme?
|
|
|
swerni
20,101 posts
80 months
|
Happy Chappy said: That's just stupid! Why would anyone think, mounting a satnav directly Infront of you would be a good idea?
|
|
|
Mutley
2,137 posts
129 months
|
OP, I raised a similar question a while back Thread here
|
|
|
TheAlfaMale
408 posts
18 months
|
C.A.R. said: The Brodit clip for my Focus is £9.99 - I can live with that.
The TomTom mount for the clip is then £24.99!! That seems a bit extreme? Most of that is thanks to the proprietary connector which Tomtom uses, the funky magnets which hold your device in place and a nice, big lump of profit!
|
|
|
oldsoak
5,587 posts
72 months
|
I must be the only one who has his Sat-nav mounted on the drivers door quarter-light area....
|
|
|
blugnu
1,229 posts
111 months
|
oldsoak said: I must be the only one who has his Sat-nav mounted on the drivers door quarter-light area.... I used to, but it doesn't work on the current car - was an excellent place on the old one.
|
|
|
henrycrun
1,407 posts
110 months
|
TheProfessor said: For a couple of years I've just left the nav on the passenger seat, and just follow the verbal instructions, so no more distracting IMHO than having a passenger in the car giving me directions. +1
|
|
|
KrazyIvan
2,520 posts
45 months
|
swerni said: Happy Chappy said: That's just stupid! Why would anyone think, mounting a satnav directly Infront of you would be a good idea? Yet you see it all the time on the M25, just above the dash right in view. Personal fav of mine is the spat of people mounting the Ipads to the screen, looks frigging ridiculous. Mine sits in the bottom right corner of the screen, so is probably in the wrong place according to the guide lines, but I haven't killed a child carrying a basket of puppies yet so I'll leave it where it is.
|
|
