GTI Mirror Questions

[Splashalot]

Picked up the GTi last week and have a couple of quick questions.

Internal rear view mirror:
I find the auto-tinting doesn’t cut enough glare at night – following headlights still cause discomfort. If I added an additional tint to the mirror’s external surface, would it prevent the auto-tint function from working?

External drivers-side mirror:
I find this mirror quite off-putting due to the wide-angle outer edge making it difficult to judge distance to other cars when changing lanes. Can the mirror lens be replaced with a conventional one?

SS

[Tim]

I thought the rear vision mirror was quite good. It just adds a green tinge to everything but you can still see a lot of detail in it. maybe my eyes are not as sensitive as yours

i had issue with the drivers side mirror at first as well. But you do get used to it pretty quickly. I was amazed at how well it covers the traditional blind spot. I now find it quite useful. But when changing lanes u should always be doing a headcheck anyways!

[ozgriff]

I thought the auto-dimming mirror worked very well. It is no-where near dazzling, are you sure it's on and working properly?

Also, with the side mirror, it's amazing how quickly you get used to it - the side mirror has changed from judging distances to covering blind-spots and I know which one I prefer. All the small cars have big blind spots (some worse than others, ala Astra), you can see a car right up until it is next to you, which is awesome for safety.

If you can see the car in your rear-vision, and not in the immediate side mirror than it is safe to change lane.

[Tim]

one thing that will take me a little while to get used to is the poor rear vision I get out of the 3 door golf. The rear window line is quite high. Im 1 week and 500kms into ownership and im only really just starting to get comfortable behind the wheel.

[ozgriff]

Not sure about the 3dr, but I found after driving for a while I became very used to the Golf, and actually believe it to be a better set-up for all round vision. I also drive on a regular basis a Mazda 3 hatch and feel quite vulnerable around the sides due to blind spots.

[Splashalot]

Coming from an Alfa 147, visibility in the Golf is outstanding! Driving the Alfa was like peering out from a cave - reversing and lane changing were guess-and-go affairs.

Re. the mirror/glare issue - my eyes are extremely sensitive to glare, which is a real bugger. (Boy, don't I just hate SS/HSV Commodore "foglights"! )

I've checked that the internal mirror is on and it is working. I just wondered if anyone else had this issue with excess glare and had found a fix.

Will give the external driver's mirror more time to see if I become accustomed to it.

Mirror issues aside -am loving the GTI. What a car.....

SS

[dilbert_rocks]

Internal rear view mirror:
I find the auto-tinting doesn’t cut enough glare at night – following headlights still cause discomfort. If I added an additional tint to the mirror’s external surface, would it prevent the auto-tint function from working?

You could always try tinting the windows (including the rear). Makes the car cooler (temp wise and looks)!

[mikinoz]

I find that I can hardly see anything out of the 20% tint on the rear window!

[GermanwithaVdub]

you could just chop the mirror off

[Nick32]

I had a similar issue with mine, particularly during freeway driving at night. Fix: 15% tinting! Now headlight glare is never an issue! Plus it does give a meaner look to the car..

[Splashalot]

you could just chop the mirror off

Now why didn't I think of that?!

I think I'll investigate tinting the mirror, and if that doesn't work, the back window.

SS

[GermanwithaVdub]

hmmm just seems a bit strange to me that the rear view mirror bothers you... what do you do when your outside on a bright sunny day?

[Splashalot]

hmmm just seems a bit strange to me that the rear view mirror bothers you... what do you do when your outside on a bright sunny day?

Sunglasses

[broady69]

Picked up the GTi last week and have a couple of quick questions.

Internal rear view mirror:
I find the auto-tinting doesn’t cut enough glare at night – following headlights still cause discomfort. If I added an additional tint to the mirror’s external surface, would it prevent the auto-tint function from working?

SS

This may sound kinda stupid, but did you turn the anti-dazzle 'on'.
I battled the first night I drove mine and I found out there is a little button behind the mirror that turns it on and off. A small green light should come on when active.

Another thing I've noticed in both the Eos and GTi, the mirror doesn't work well at close range but if the car is at PROPER following distance it works a lot better.

Just my 2c.

[Splashalot]

Picked up the GTi last week and have a couple of quick questions.

Internal rear view mirror:
I find the auto-tinting doesn’t cut enough glare at night – following headlights still cause discomfort. If I added an additional tint to the mirror’s external surface, would it prevent the auto-tint function from working?

SS

For those interested, I've found a fix to the dazzle caused by my GTI's self-dimming rear view mirror tinting too slowly or not enough.

I simply covered the internal rear view mirror's sensor (located on the windscreen side of the mirror) with a small piece of window tint film (35%, I think) obtained from the local tint shop. This has the effect of tricking the mirror into tinting sooner and by a greater margin. It still "un-tints" fine for reversing etc., but as soon as a car appears behind at night the mirror now tints instantly, instead of waiting 20 seconds or so like before.

Now works a treat

SS