Ultima rearward visibility - heavy trafic?

[midblock]

OK, I have owned serveral MR cars, most have had excelent rearward visibility. However, all of them have had rear view mirrors. Do any of you guys have trouble with manuvering in heavy trafic? Have any of you fitted a minicam to rear of the car so you could see whats going on behind you. You know just like the motor homes use, with an LCD screen in the dash?

>>> Edited by midblock on Tuesday 14th January 00:59

[james]

There is basically no rearward visibility. You get a bit from the door mirrors, but nothing that would help you to park.

I saw one Ultima where the owner had fitted a rear view camera. It's something that I have considered from time to time, but then I don't use my car on the road much, and I doubt whether I'd ever drive it into the multi storey car park, so it's not a major issue,

[ultimaandy]

The Can-am has excellent visability.
The mirrors are in a different place and provide more rearward view especially with the wing on, I also have a rear view mirror which has excellent visability through the rear window.

[james]

You also don't have a damned great lump of plastic behind your head )

[jschwartz]

I'm going to mount a 5" flip down video screen in the center overhead area about where a normal rearview mirror would be. www.summitracing.com sells these for $199. And I'll have a camera out the back, which I'll pick-up locally. I'm considering it cheap insurance.

[ultimapaul]

Provided your prepared to turn your neck for an over the shoulder check, the GTR mirrors are fine. Ive done 4,500 miles and never once missed having an interior mirror.

Edited to add, if some body is along side you on the motorway and you wish to pull over, you SQUEEZE the throttle easy peasy!

Paul

>> Edited by ultimapaul on Tuesday 14th January 17:10

[ultimaandy]

I'm not having a go at the GTR, having driven one myself I never felt it was a problem.

But there are two types of cars in the range guys, James just commented on the hardtop, so I commented on the convertible.

[ultimaandy]

By the way I actually prefer the look of the GTR mirrors and would have prefered to have fitted them (and I have a few ideas on how I could).

Also there is no reason I can see why the Can-am mirrors wouldn't fit the GTR.

[350gtr]

You can actually see quite alot in the mirrors. It's just that most people (including me) are used to having a central mirror to look into. You can see the rear lip of the back section on either side. Whic is OK to judge distance once you are used to ii

The bit you can't see is what is low down beside you as the mirrors are not at the edge of the car. You also can't see low down at the back - but then you can't on a "normal" car either

[midblock]

Thanks for the info guys let me know how the camera works out.

[Sieze]

I find the best thing to do when reversing is open the door and look round as you reverse. The mirrors are quite good as they have a wide angle the only problem is it is consequently hard to judge distances.

[k wright]

Great to hear that rearward visibility is adequate in the GTR. I have feared it would be dismal after taking delivery of the rear wing.

ken

[j-k]

ultimaandy said: By the way I actually prefer the look of the GTR mirrors and would have prefered to have fitted them (and I have a few ideas on how I could). .

I would be interested to know how you are thinking of doing this as its something I am considering doing on my Canam?

Cheers
John

[daydreamer]

Would look fantastic if they could be made to work. I'm after a full screen CanAm, and can't see me ever fitting an Aero - so definitely something to consider.

[Alan 2]

Have any of you fitted a minicam to rear of the car so you could see whats going on behind you. You know just like the motor homes use, with an LCD screen in the dash?

Yes, I fitted a rear vision system to my Sports and it works very well both as a reversing aid and as a substitute interior mirror. Have a look at [url]www.visiontechniques.co.uk[/url]click on Products/MobileCCTV. I prefer the black and white system to colour, having tried both. Don't go for a wide angle lens in the camera as there is too much distortion. My system has a 6mm lens which equates to normal vision. The cameras and monitors are designed to operate in harsh environments eg inside an Ultima and I doubt that a cheap webcam system would last very long. If you're interested, I would be happy to E-mail some pictures of my set up.

oops, something went wrong with the link so you'll have to type in the url.

No you wont, it's working OK.
>> Edited by Alan 2 on Wednesday 15th January 20:25

>> Edited by Alan 2 on Wednesday 15th January 20:26

>> Edited by Alan 2 on Wednesday 15th January 20:45

[midblock]

Thanks Alan,
I was thinking of somthing a little smaller, but I guess there is plenty of room back there. Do you have yours mounted behind the mesh? Do you encounter trouble with blurry images due to vibration?

[ultimaandy]

j-k said:

ultimaandy said: By the way I actually prefer the look of the GTR mirrors and would have prefered to have fitted them (and I have a few ideas on how I could). .

I would be interested to know how you are thinking of doing this as its something I am considering doing on my Canam?

Cheers
John

Difficult to explain, easy to show... maybe if I see you at a meet I will expain how I think it would work, but obviously it would look silly with the low screen.