Mirror tilt down on shift into reverse

[ethlar]

I would really like a feature like this, i know bmws have it, and I was wondering if anyone else knew of a module that could be added to tilt the passenger side mirror down and in a certain amount when you shift into reverse and then put it back afterwards. Im going to continur to research and maybe try to figure it out to build one myself.

[atruhondagrl]

The TLs, RLs, MDXs and RDXs all have it. I don't remember if the TSX does. I know that the RSX doesn't. If someone figures this out I wanna do it.

[ethlar]

^ Cool, il try to look into the acura electronics. I also asked my roomate (Electrical Engineer) what he thought, and hes got a few ideas that we are going to attempt to test out and see what comes of it for homebrew solutions.

[GGEX]

thats f'n bad ass. im for it. keep us updated

[Nomar06]

Nice.....You can add me to the list!!!!

[CivicWithNav]

uh YEAH!

but will it come back up when it is out of reverse lol

[ethlar]

it will come back up when you shift out of reverse, the basic idea of the unit we are going to try to build is when you shift into reverse it would get a turn on signal and move the passenger mirror down for a set time to move the mirror down. when you shift out of reverse the unit would move the mirror back up the same amount of time it moved it down. so in theory it would put the mirror back exactly where you had put it.

Im sure we will discover something we missed once we actually build one and test it.

As far as i can tell the Acura electronics are based on a memory system and the car has a way of sensing where the mirror is and has a set reverse position that it moves to and it can remember your position to return to. Our mirrors lack this and are just remote controled motors from the controls.

[arisenfury]

Sorry for being ignorant, but what exactly is the point? I can't see how this is helpful in anyway... wouldn't you be looking out of your rear window when backing up?

[ethlar]

Its helpful for parallel parking mainly, yes i look out my rear window when backing up but every time i parallel park i also manually move my mirror down to see the curb, this just automates the process.

[bhoy]

better than curb feelers

[chylld]

lol @ curb feelers pic :) to think you wouldn't be able to park a miata...

i'm also interested in how your little experiment goes, it should be quite easy actually, like t-tapping the reverse light cable and running it into a relay for a timer circuit that trips another 2 relays for the up/down of the mirror...

[Mikey6p]

Originally Posted by arisenfury

Sorry for being ignorant, but what exactly is the point? I can't see how this is helpful in anyway... wouldn't you be looking out of your rear window when backing up?

Its good for making sure you dont have small children mashed under your wheels, and also making sure you get in between the lines when you are backing into a parking spot. Its a pain in the ass to adjust them every time.

[si_civic]

I like that idea in the GM's I drive everyday. It's very very helpful in the 07 Avalanches because their rear view is teh sux0r

[arisenfury]

Ahhh I see. Didn't think of it like that. :)

[vivanshah]

the way this works in the acuras is that it tilts down whichever side mirror the adjustment switch is currently set to. so you can have it tilt either the left or right mirror depending on your situation

[that kid ric]

i just came out of a TL -- thats one feature i miss .. but at the same time it's not soo bad

[jackolee]

did this ever happen?

[ethlar]

no we never got it working

[jackolee]

how about swapping the insides of one mirror with another one?

[ethlar]

that could get you the position reporting devices, but you would still need electronics in the car to understand what the reporting electronics are sending.