Rear visibility and other questions

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Protege5 2003
Test drove a 2015 Mazda 3 hatch this weekend. Mostly I liked it but I couldn't see out the back adequately. On my quickly fading away 2003 Civic Hybrid with the rear view mirror adjusted so that the left edge shows straight back and the right edge looks out the back side window I can see both behind me and into the "blind spot". That does not work on the 3, where the front passenger headrest almost completely blocked the view out the right side, and the rear passenger headrest blocked some of the view out of the back. Or at least that rear headrest would have blocked the view except I couldn't see out of that window even when I turned around and looked directly. The car had a tinted rear window which combined with my sunglasses resulted in a nearly black hole where the view outside the car should have been. I could see the outlines of the cars through it, but that was about it. At least I could see out the back right window by turning my head, but with the mirrors, forget it.

Is the Sedan any better? It looks to me like the passenger side headrest is still going to block the side view, but the back window is larger and a bit taller. (And hopefully not tinted.)

As I understand it the 2015 3 Touring models all have blind spot warning. I didn't learn that until after the test drive though, so couldn't test it. Works well? Because if I buy a 3, I'm really going to need it.

Is there a way to turn on the rear camera without putting the car in reverse? I could care less about the radio information that screen was showing. I literally would never look at that screen when the car was in motion, and the camera's view out the back was far better than the rear view mirror's.

Our recent cars have been older Honda sedans, a Protege5, and a Subaru Legacy Wagon, and coming from that the rear visibility on modern hatchback cars is really a shock. I have tested the 3, a Prius, and a Volt and they were all pretty terrible in this regard. The Volt was just awful, with the 3 not far behind, while the Prius was merely very bad. Forward visibility is not as good as on the older cars either, but the loss is not nearly as extreme. In my opinion the 3 had the best forward visibility, with the Prius close behind but losing points for the high dashboard. (Hood, what hood?) The Volt A pillars are like tree trunks, the sales guy stepped out to make a phone call when I first sat in the car and he completely disappeared behind the driver's side A pillar, even though he was no more than 15 ft. away.

With the back seat down, what is the largest rectangle that can be placed into the 3 to lie flat? The interior bulges for the wheel wells seemed much closer together on the 3 than on the Prius, which is odd give that their external dimensions are so similar. Is that the same on the Sedan, or does the trunk opening limit the width further?

Thanks.
 
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I never conducted the same testing you did regarding rear visibility but almost certainly, the sedan is better in this regard. When I compared the hatch to sedan I didn't think that the added height of the hatch was that significant. I can measure the width opening, tonight; I took the MX5 in to work today, so I can't do any measuring until later.

The blind spot monitoring is my favorite safety feature. It is very effective at letting you know if any cars or pedestrians are anywhere near the back of the vehicle. My second favorite tech feature is the cruise control that allows you to set the number of car lengths behind the car in front of you when CC is engaged. I am also a big fan of the heads-up display. I had it in my 01 Corvette and really like it in the 3.
 
Have a 2018 hatch and with properly adjusted mirrors, I've never had a problem and the BSM is there just in case.
 
Adjust your mirrors as shown in Fig. 1, 3, and 4. It takes a bit of getting used to, but it works very well. Have had my mirrors adjusted this way for a couple of years now, and I wish I had known about this earlier.

visual-car-600x629.jpg
 
That's a great chart. Anyone of use that Road races that is the first thing we learn...HOW TO ADJUST YOUR MIRRORS CORRECTLY

I know when i try to suggest this to many people cant seem to adjust their brain to not having a visual guide of the side of their own car.

Now this chart only work if you have your SEATING POSITION CORRECTLY ADJUSTED as well. lol

How many driver you see "peeking " over the top of their steering wheel. LOL


You know I have often said that driver testing should be much more technically challenging so we get better drivers sharing the road. Vehicles manufactured now are really performance level machines and the need for better driving skills should be a requirement before you get a licence to drive. IMHO!!!!!!!!!!!! oh and recorded by idiots on a daily basis by my dash and rear view camera. LOL
 
I agree. I never have visibility issues and I use my mirrors almost exclusively (very little checking over my shoulders). I keep them adjusted as far towards the adjacent lane as is practical. I find a good way to adjust the mirrors is to tilt my head toward the mirror and adjust it until I can see just a sliver of the side of my car. That way, when my head is centered, I have sufficient visibility and I can still tilt my head if I need to get a gauge on the side of my car.
 
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