Asymmetrical side view mirrors [long]

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Jun 9, 1999 | 03:14 PM

Rudolf von K

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Asymmetrical side view mirrors [long]

The several replies to the gentleman who inquired as to why--in pre-1999 A4's--the passenger side-view mirror is smaller than that on the driver's side, neglected the obvious answer: automobile engineers, like most of the rest of us, must justify their existence. Thus, it is hard for engineers to resist tampering with a design, no matter how good that design may be. Some of you may be old enough to remember, for instance, when Chrysler "reinvented the wheel" by introducing steering wheels that were a bit squared off and not quite circular. (A mistake later repeated by Leyland.) I'm sure the engineers who thought this up had plenty of sophisticated explanations to rationalize what was simply a silly design.<br> By the way, someone mentioned the narrow alleys of Europe as a factor. That may be so. In Japan, many autos are fitted with "power mirrors" -- not just motors to adjust the mirrors (a world-wide feature nowadays, of course), but also motors to FOLD the mirrors inward toward the body. This proves useful when two autos meet on a very narrow street: drawing the mirrors in creates a few centimeters of space, which may be all that is needed to permit the autos to pass.<p>RUDOLF