Wink Mirror for Daily

So a family member of mine asked me if they should install a wink mirror in her car. I don't know anything about them. 

Why get one?

Do they really help in daily driver use?

My impression is they may help with some rearward visibility. However, nighttime headlight glare would be bad. 

Phycologically, won't they give a false impression that the driver doesn't have to turn their head?

The Civic came with one installed when I bought it. I hate it. It's in my vision too much. It vibrates like mad. It's mounts rattle loose all the time. I hate it.

I suppose you might get used to it, but I find them to be a terrible sensory overload. Three or four different lenses all showing the same set of lights...or is that just one set of lights?

In reply to Streetwiseguy :

It's just one set of lights. The panels are angled to give a panoramic view. I can see out of the rear side windows and the entire back window.

I like them, but the cheap universal mounts rarely work as well as making a set that mounts it far enough forward and high enough to be truly effective and without vibration.

the fab work is pretty simple with some cardboard or Manila folders to rough out the shape.

For the track they are excellent, for the street they work well with the caveat that the visors don’t work and that can be annoying for passengers.

I hate them. Even on track. A panoramic curved mirror is a thousand times better. 

At night they suck. 

I really don't have any issues specific to night driving. I hate not having visors though. My main issue is how far down it is. I almost have to duck to look under it in normal driving. But that's more a function of my height and my specific car. And yes, it's touching the roof at the top of the windshield.

In my limited experience, things that are helpful for track driving are almost always the opposite of helpful on the street.

Funny this came up. I saw a ratty old Civic with a fart can and a wink mirror this morning on the way to a job. That would be annoying as hell for daily driving. I don't particularly like them on a race track. 

I couldn't rag on him much though, he wasn't texting while driving, unlike the asshat in the M5 that was behind him. 

dculberson said:

I hate them. Even on track. A panoramic curved mirror is a thousand times better. 

This right here.  In one race car we even mounted the pano mirror to the stock mirror for easy adjustment and proper spacing. 

I guess I have a hard time picturing needing more than the factory mirrors. In every car I have driven minus the Ford Edge, I could see everything around me fine. 

If I help my family member do this I will point out the visor concern. I assume I will be making the more rigid mounts.

Wink mirrors blow. Get a Broadway mirror instead. I’ve had one in all of my vehicles for the last 10 years or so. 

Yeah I would never run one on the street due to the glare multiplication alone...and that's if you've got the shakey mounts sorted out.

Spoolpigeon said:

Wink mirrors blow. Get a Broadway mirror instead. I’ve had one in all of my vehicles for the last 10 years or so. 

Most intriguing.....

Am I the only one who has no idea what a wink mirror is?

There is a reason a Ralley/Wink 5 panel mirror is only $20. They are and have always been constructed very poorly. After a few summers they start to melt and sag. As said they rattle and shake and sacrifice your visors. I have been around them since 85 or so. 

But, if you can get your head far enough away from them (don't try it in a Fiat microcar ) I do quite enjoy the view. I will be trying the curved panoramic mirror style next.

Advan046 said:

Spoolpigeon said:

Wink mirrors blow. Get a Broadway mirror instead. I’ve had one in all of my vehicles for the last 10 years or so. 

Most intriguing.....

I did some googling as well. I need to go back to the junk yard to try and find a factory mirror and visors. I didn't see an option for a Broadway mirror that didn't clip on to an existing mirror or a roll bar. 

There's a large amount of personal preference involved in this.  I do think one should consider the compromises fi they're thinking about this. 

Personally, I don't like curved mirrors, I'm not typically bothered by headlight glare, I don't use sunvisors and the only time I've used a Wink mirror on the street is in my race car with license plates and that's so noisy that I can't hear it rattle.  I would totally run a Wink mirror in a street car if I had one that I thought it would help visibility in. 

I don't know who makes them but I've driven some race cars that have a better quality Wink style mirror in them and that may be an even better choice.

I think in most cars, if the mirror on the windshield AND the two on the doors are adjusted properly, you shouldn't have issues with blind spots to the rear.  In particular, most people adjust the door mirrors in too close - if you can see the sides of your car when looking at them, adjust them out.

stuart in mn said:

I think in most cars, if the mirror on the windshield AND the two on the doors are adjusted properly, you shouldn't have issues with blind spots to the rear.  In particular, most people adjust the door mirrors in too close - if you can see the sides of your car when looking at them, adjust them out.

^^^This

One of the reasons I don't like when other people drive my car; takes a while to get the mirrors adjusted so that I can watch cars transition from the door mirrors to the interior mirror without a gap.

FRS's are a bitch to drive in traffic if your mirrors are not perfect.

Well as is usual I was asked my thoughts. I suggested against the wink mirror and maybe to look at the wider rear view mirror attachments. The response was telling me that they already ordered a rather large $20 wink mirror. So not sure if I will get sucked in to try and install the thing. 

The reason they want the thing is nebulous to me. I drove their car before and had zero problem adjusting mirrors for me to see everything around me. I guess it is just what they want regardless of if it adds value. 

NOHOME said:

stuart in mn said:

I think in most cars, if the mirror on the windshield AND the two on the doors are adjusted properly, you shouldn't have issues with blind spots to the rear.  In particular, most people adjust the door mirrors in too close - if you can see the sides of your car when looking at them, adjust them out.

^^^This

One of the reasons I don't like when other people drive my car; takes a while to get the mirrors adjusted so that I can watch cars transition from the door mirrors to the interior mirror without a gap.

FRS's are a bitch to drive in traffic if your mirrors are not perfect.

Yeah I follow the ancient SAE suggested adjustments from my second car on and never have had an issue (again except for the Ford Edge.) I only once almost had a side swipe but it was because I was in a new town and didn't realize a car could join the road I was on at speed from a mall parking lot. I saw them in the mirror at one point and just thought they were going to be stuck in the lot with a curb between us. Then as I went right for the mall entrance they were also in that lane. 

I went back around that way a day later and noticed no merge signs so just surprise!