ok. i did not know that. i just figured as involved as most of these people are, on the 5th gen forum, that they were either ordered or planning on ordering.
why should i have assumed that most of them cant afford it? the way i look at it, is that their are alot of people on the 5th gen site,and they all talk very highly of the car. and they know quite a bit about the 5th gen. so to me it looks like majority are very involved and are getting to know the car before they get it. at least thats why im here. i want to know as much about the car and things i can do to get the most power out of the car. so im here to learn before i get it. i wouldnt have ever passed jusdgement that majority can not afford the car. especially since i dont know any of you.

 

This is the over the shoulder look:


I think its going to be a pain to back out in this thing. I've owned a 2000 Camaro SS for the past few years and its not this bad.

OP, did you feel like you were semi blind while backing out?

 

why woudl you look at the pillar while backing out? you should be using the mirrors. granted its not a very large window to look out of but thats why you have mirrors . to see whats on the side of your car and behind you.

 

If you pay attention to the people here, you'll notice that the vast majority of the membership here are 20-something single guys, either in college or recently graduated.

While I gather that you are an exception to this, most 20-somethings can't handle a $500+/month car payment in addition to whatever other expenses they already have, nor do they have the cash up front necessary to get that payment down to something manageable.

 

You don't turn around and look behind you when you back out? Do you turn and look beside you when you change lanes? Do you use your turn signals when you turn or change lanes?

Maybe those are all just bad habits of mine....

 

Looking over your shoulder does not have to = looking straight at the C pillar.

Well adjusted mirrors all but eliminate blind spots. A glance over the shoulder gives you a view out your side window to see if there is anything next to you.

Is everyone else adjusting their mirrors so that a car behind you, as soon as it starts to disappear from the rear view mirror, begins to appear in the side view mirror? Then as it disappears from the side view mirror it gets into that glance over the shoulder viewing angle, where you are looking out the driver's door window. Then it's pulling even with you to the point that you can see it in your peripheral vision while looking straight ahead.

At no point in this process is staring at the C pillar necessary. If acar is behind your passenger side C pillar you should be able to see it in your passenger side view mirror. If you can't, your mirror is not adjusted correctly.

 

I'll answer to that: yes.

Here's the problem, guys:

With MOST average cars, when you turn your body around in the car to look behind you (whether it's to your left or to your right) you can get a pretty good idea of what's around you at all angles, without using your mirrors. IMO, the mirrors are there to make up for things that either you CAN'T see at a quick glance, or aren't practical to see by physically turning around in the car (ie: it's easier and safer to see who's behind you in a mirror than actually turning around to look).

Now, think about a parking lot for a second. If you're going to back out of a parking space, at what point can you see who/what is coming down the aisle at you? If you've got cars beside you, you need to back out a bit. What about the mother/child that is being blocked by that big C-pillar that you can't see? They're pretty small, and may not be visible in your mirror(s) either. And the thing is, visibility out the back is STRAIGHT out the back, as is visibility out the sides is virtually STRAIGHT out the sides. Do you get what I mean? So much of the view on an angle is blocked by the C-pillars that you don't see ANYTHING when you look in that direction. On almost ANY other car, you can see AROUND them, but still see on those angles. In the Camaro, you can't. And for those of you who recognize that a 4th-gen has a nice wrap-around rear window, and much smaller C-pillars, you'll understand that it offers much better visibility to the side/rear of the car, WITHOUT using mirrors.

SO, this is just to let the rest of the "bad drivers" like myself out there know, if you find that blind spots in a vehicle bother you, like those found even in a 4th-gen Camaro, then you WILL notice them in the 5th-gen Camaro . That's all .

It doesn't mean I hate the car, but it is an issue that most owners will have to learn to deal with.

 

I drive a convertible, I'm used to having nearly no visiblilty(when the top is up, that is) I'm actually pretty sure that the Camaro will give me better visibility than I have now, which is pretty sad now that I think about it.

 

Heck, my CTS even has quite a few blind spots.

The side mirrors block you from seeing curbs when making left turns and the rear B pillar blocks a lot of what you see backing out. Not to mention, the rear window itself is pretty small.

 

I guess I'm like Capn Pete....a bad driver who hasn't been able to adjust their mirrors correctly for the 29 or so years that I've been driving. You'd of thunk by now I'd of had at least ONE accident in that time, given that I can't adjust my mirrors properly, huh?

And I don't hate the car either. As previously stated, I have not sat in one to see for myself (though I will). I'm bettin that a few of you that are telling me how I can't adjust mirrors properly haven't sat in one either, but I digress.

Will see what happens when I get a test drive.

Bob

 

yeah i look behind me when i back out, but not in the blind spot ofthe car,especially if there is no sence in looking there if you cant see out. i look behind me and to the side. most of the time i pay attention to what is behind me before i even get in my car to leave. and yes i do look before changing lanes but again, i know where things are around me before i change and i only use my mirros to change lanes. turn signals, yes i do when other are around me. i am a very cautious driver. maybe i pay attention to the surroundings more than some do, because i dont take long to back out or change lanes. i do things pretty quickly. i have never been in any kind of accident in my entire driving career. i just have an eye for seeing my surroundings and remembering what is there.

 

How long has your driving career been???

BTW, if you haven't had an accident, while paying no attention to your blind spot.............. you will.

Thats why they call it a blind spot.

Go drive in CA or AZ, like that.................... its amazing how quickly someone can change lanes, into that blind spot.

On my Superduty, I have the huge towing mirrors. The pillars are very small, thus visibility outside the cabin is great, unless the car is very small. Yet, on my huge towing mirrors, there is a seperate blind spot mirror at the bottom, that is adjusted seperately from the huge main mirror. Because of these mirrors, I can completely drive without looking over my shoulder................ yet I still do, out of habit.

I have a feeling that the Camaro mirrors are nothing like my huge towing mirrors.

 

The way I drive...if I can't see, I don't go, regardless of what I think is or isn't there. Whatever time and effort I save by not looking is erased many times over by the hassles of going to the body shop...or worse.

Yes, the design decreases visibility. I had to back up in the Camaro when we did our road test of it, and while it wasn't as good as some cars I have driven, it wasn't as bad as I had expected it to be.

 

You are not some miserable offender Bob. Just a human being that has you own set of comfort zones.

A million years ago, when I did some road racing, I had to get my priorities adjusted to get the most from my mirror placement. In road racing you NEVER want to turn your head around as it changes your steering center. IOW, turn your head around to the left? You will be inclined to turn the wheel right. Vice-versa for looking over your shoulder to the right will incline a left turn from your hands.

Having the car you are in within the reference of the mirror is comfy, but not optimum.

A wise person told me this tidbit about mirror adjustment:

"There is zero usefullness in seeing the fenders of the car you are in. Your competitor is not going to be able to hide on your rear quarter panels. His car is too wide to do that."

There is a view we can all be comfy seeing and it usually includes a part of the car we are in. In the process you give up situational awareness for mental comfort.

Coming to grips with adjusting mirrors to a point which account for just how narrow an object needs to be to fit in that area you can't see by moving mirrors to bring what can actually be an issue into view takes some internal "discussion". Not a big step for a guy that has learned that "seeing the green light" means that you lose!

As an aside, I believe that the mirrors we put on the Traverse are fabulous. They allow one to keep a little "bad" habit and make up for it with a second view that truly brings the awareness to a new level.

A few years ago I had the opportunity to drive a car that had no reaview mirror in the usual sense. It had a rear camera that fed a screen where the internal center mounted rearview would normally be. Pure heaven, IMO.

I can speak for myself on this kind of thing. It's harder to consider changing things when you are winning than when you are losing.

I finally determined it was more important to aim the mirror to see somewhere some S.O.B. could fit rather than where they couldn't.

 

I have those little convex mirrors on my B2300 - help a lot! But just can't see putting them on something like a Camaro (or my Cobra)!

And I absolutely DO look around when I change lanes! To not do that is only inviting a big surprise one of these days.