Reversing lens / A pillar obscuration

[Horse]

Hi All,

Family car is an Altea. Lovely car, suits our needs . . . except for the A pillar - not only wide (wipers park, airbags) but at a shallow angle too.

So for junctions it really is a case of "look once, look twice, think car", and look either side of the pillar - and on tight right bends look through the side window!

A while back I saw an ad. for a company selling 'strips' like the fresnel lens reversing aids - but I can't find it now

Anyone have any ideas who/what/where?

[Renny]

I haven't seen those. Many SEATs seem to be bad for obstructive pillars. I looked at a Leon a couple of years ago and very quickly dismissed it as there was a very large blind-spot for me. Similarly, I think the Fiat Grande Punto is very poor for visibility. As for the Toyota iQ with an adult passenger in the chair "in front" of the driver, a sewrious and in my mind negligent design flaw.

[Horse]

Actually, from the 'safety' perspective, there are other things I don't like about it.

Examples include:

Location of hazards switch: low on centre console - not easy and quick to reach. My Astra's is top centre on the dash.
Reversing light: very low (below bumper), very poor spread of light, particularly since it's angled 'left'.
No lights on door interior when open, only reflectors (previous old shape Leon had them)
Small, 'teardrop shaped', mirrors, presumably smaller for aerodynamics (and so fuel consumption), narrow with poor view of rear corners of car, and dfficult to use a standard ice scraper

[TripleS]

Actually, from the 'safety' perspective, there are other things I don't like about it.

Examples include:

Location of hazards switch: low on centre console - not easy and quick to reach. My Astra's is top centre on the dash.
Reversing light: very low (below bumper), very poor spread of light, particularly since it's angled 'left'.
No lights on door interior when open, only reflectors (previous old shape Leon had them)
Small, 'teardrop shaped', mirrors, presumably smaller for aerodynamics (and so fuel consumption), narrow with poor view of rear corners of car, and dfficult to use a standard ice scraper

I notice that quite a few of the smaller cars seem to have only one reversing light, and I don't think that is adequate. Even on some cars with twin reversing lights - like our 406 - they do not seem to be very effective. It seems to me ridiculous that after all these decades of car design and development, some of the basic features can now be inferior to what we had 50 years ago! I blame this on 'stylists' ruling the roost, rather than having practical people running the show.

Best wishes all,
Dave.

[Horse]

Actually, from the 'safety' perspective, there are other things I don't like about it.
Reversing light: very low (below bumper), very poor spread of light, particularly since it's angled 'left'.

I blame this on 'stylists' ruling the roost, rather than having practical people running the show.

I don't, I blame accountants. But ultimately the blame then lies with us wanting a good deal.

Have a single reversing light and a single fog means that for different (LHD/RHD) markets they simply swap the lens colour and wiring.

Having a matched pair of each - which I'd prefer - would mean having twice as much kit fitted.

I'm sure a mate had a car where on side they didn't fit a bulb to one fog light even though there were a pair of positions (possibly also not the socket either). Might not sound much, but make 40,000 cars at 25p per bulb, and that's money in their pocket or a cheaper car for us.

Like I said about the door lights . . .

[Porker]

I'm sure a mate had a car where on side they didn't fit a bulb to one fog light even though there were a pair of positions (possibly also not the socket either). Might not sound much, but make 40,000 cars at 25p per bulb, and that's money in their pocket or a cheaper car for us.

The mid 90s BMW 3 Series (E36?) definitely had this "feature" in the rear fog light(s). For a car costing £20K+ at the time for a middling variant, I thought this was incredibly mean.

regards
P.

[TripleS]

Actually, from the 'safety' perspective, there are other things I don't like about it.
Reversing light: very low (below bumper), very poor spread of light, particularly since it's angled 'left'.

I blame this on 'stylists' ruling the roost, rather than having practical people running the show.

I don't, I blame accountants. But ultimately the blame then lies with us wanting a good deal.

Have a single reversing light and a single fog means that for different (LHD/RHD) markets they simply swap the lens colour and wiring.

Having a matched pair of each - which I'd prefer - would mean having twice as much kit fitted.

I'm sure a mate had a car where on side they didn't fit a bulb to one fog light even though there were a pair of positions (possibly also not the socket either). Might not sound much, but make 40,000 cars at 25p per bulb, and that's money in their pocket or a cheaper car for us.

Aye, a car that's 25 p cheaper, maybe....

OK, blame the accountants too, if you wish. Our 406 has twin reversing lights as built, but there was a rear fog light at the RH side only, even though the bulb holder and lamp assembly as the LH side was all ready to accommodate one. All it lacked was a bulb and a bit of wire. I had that remedied very soon after I bought the car!

Best wishes all,
Dave.

[fungus]

Tripple S wrote,
"Aye, a car that's 25 p cheaper, maybe....

OK, blame the accountants too, if you wish. Our 406 has twin reversing lights as built, but there was a rear fog light at the RH side only, even though the bulb holder and lamp assembly as the LH side was all ready to accommodate one. All it lacked was a bulb and a bit of wire. I had that remedied very soon after I bought the car!"

The wifes 306 estate is like that. IIRC our old 405 had a pair of reversing lights and a pair of rear fog lights. To replace the light bulbs on it was simple. Open the bonnnet or boot and just unclip the simple wire clip, pull out the light custer and remove the light bulb. The whole process would only take a minute or so, as everything was easily accessible, unlike many modern cars.

Nigel ADI
IAM trainee observer

[Horse]

Aye, a car that's 25 p cheaper, maybe....

It doesn't stop there.

Part of the car - and probably most other 'consumer' things too - design process is getting rid of anything unnecessary to save money.

eg:
"Total world Wii sales close in on Xbox 360 tally
13th August 2007 08:02 GMT

Nintendo's Wii is nearing the Xbox 360's cumulative sales total, despite the year-long availability advantage enjoyed by the Microsoft games consoles. New figures put the Wii at 10.10m units sold to date worldwide, just behind the 360's 10.32m"

So save just 1p on something where you're shifting 10 million units, and it soon adds up!

And it's not just the 'content' parts, they do the same with the manufacturing process too.

It's nothing new, either. There's a bicycle and motorcycle saddle manufacturer called BROOKES.

Note on their badge plate the overlapped 'OO':



They've been going since veteran and vintage days. I was told that someone costed how much they'd save by shortening the plate; nothing on one, minimal on a hundred . . . but make those plates by the thousand and your material costs drop.

[Renny]

Actually, from the 'safety' perspective, there are other things I don't like about it.

Examples include:

Location of hazards switch: low on centre console - not easy and quick to reach. My Astra's is top centre on the dash.
Reversing light: very low (below bumper), very poor spread of light, particularly since it's angled 'left'.
No lights on door interior when open, only reflectors (previous old shape Leon had them)
Small, 'teardrop shaped', mirrors, presumably smaller for aerodynamics (and so fuel consumption), narrow with poor view of rear corners of car, and dfficult to use a standard ice scraper

Horse,

please don't take this the wrong way, but did you not consider "safety" before you chose the car? We have scored many cars off our list because of safety concerns, mostly things like; head restraints that did not adjust high enough, poor forward visibility, blind spots caused by pillars (A&B), poor lights, difficult to read instruments etc.

The Skoda is not too bad in most repects, but I do wish more manufacturers would offer heated windscreens and mirrors like the Discovery has.

[fungus]

Renny wrote,
The Skoda is not too bad in most repects, but I do wish more manufacturers would offer heated windscreens and mirrors like the Discovery has.

It is my understanding that Ford have a patent on the heated windscreen, and that's why you don't see them on many cars.

Nigel ADI
IAM trainee observer

[Porker]

I believe that's correct (re the patent on the heated screen). That said, they have had them since the days of the Sierra and as far as I know patents are only valid for a decade or so, so you might have thought they'd be appearing on other cars now.

regards
P.

[Gareth]

as far as I know patents are only valid for a decade or so

The UK Patent Office explains the rules.

[Renny]

It is my understanding that Ford have a patent on the heated windscreen, and that's why you don't see them on many cars.

Nigel ADI
IAM trainee observer

I remember that. Our last 3 Discoveries have all had heated windscreens, so that since the mid 90's. I can't recall if LR was under Ford ownership all that time.

[Horse]

Aye, a car that's 25 p cheaper, maybe....

It doesn't stop there.

Part of the car - and probably most other 'consumer' things too - design process is getting rid of anything unnecessary to save money.

eg:
"Total world Wii sales close in on Xbox 360 tally . . . Nintendo's Wii is nearing the Xbox 360's cumulative sales total . . . New figures put the Wii at 10.10m units sold to date worldwide, just behind the 360's 10.32m"

So save just 1p on something where you're shifting 10 million units, and it soon adds up!

From BBC News:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8223005.stm

Apple, which has sold 26 million iPhones and 200 million iPods to date

Yup, 200 Million . . . Now think about saving 1p (or 1cent) on each . . .

But in the context of failures - the article content - it also means that they're envisaging massive potential problems if they have to recall and replace phones which explode!