Lets talk side mirrors!

[5KWattson]

there is a lot more to the Cd than just the number... it matters where that drag is used.

rx8 = .31
f430 f1 = .34

the rx8 in stock body form. that is, not lowered, not kitted, no lip, etc. gets really floaty above 140mph. too much air gets underneath it.

the f430 on the other hand, is designed so a lot of that drag is used as downforce to keep the car planted. a higher Cd does not mean much unless you understand the entire picture. look at that spoiler on the race corvette above. its one gigantic red mark. it adds huge amounts of drag. but its extremely beneficial to keeping the car planted at high speeds.

if it looks like a brick..

sir im going to say your past post was null in void for the pure fact that every rx8 driver here has a giant tampon up their ass. im writing RX8's off all together

[j0oftheworld]

Ya, that corvette pictured above has "gapless" windows/panels etc, flared fenders, and the body is "massaged" to funnel air over/under it in all the right places.
Not a fair comparison to a road going E30 chassis but I was using it to prove how any flat protruding surface is going to be red.

I'm going to try to find and aftermarket mirror that bolts up and see how mush weight/area it saves. Just surprised there isn't more people chiming in w. aftermarket mirrors in here?

[nando]

i'd be really surprised if there was a significant weight saving. maybe 1 lb or so. but 5-7 lbs? no way. aerodynamically, sure - the E30 mirrors are wide and flat.

[325ix]

i'd be really surprised if there was a significant weight saving. maybe 1 lb or so. but 5-7 lbs? no way. aerodynamically, sure - the E30 mirrors are wide and flat.

The stock mirrors weigh very little to begin with. Any gains would be aerodynamically.

[j0oftheworld]

Anyone have one laying around? Mine are power.. so motors, wire/switch, + mirror itself.
I've seen aftermarket mirrors that are <1lbs ea. Not very useful but if you're fast.. :)

[McGyver]

that is actually kinda surprising i always just assumed we literally drove bricks

i dont drive a volvo?

[nando]

Anyone have one laying around? Mine are power.. so motors, wire/switch, + mirror itself.
I've seen aftermarket mirrors that are <1lbs ea. Not very useful but if you're fast.. :)

I've taken them off before, the motor doesn't weigh much.

[SA E30]

I took the ones apart on the race car, and honestly I didn't even see a need to take the motor out it was that light.

[SA E30]

Def looking for a more aerodynamic solution.

[rThor432]

i dont drive a volvo?

Check out the cd of older Volvos, you might be surprised..

[E30Nova]

I have ALWAYS been curious about how mirrors like these would look on an E30.

Never seen those on an E30 but I've seen them on a lot of jap cars like Skylines and such.

I think they'd look better than those fugly ass DTM mirrors and ACS mirrors. Those things look absolutely retarded.

Matt

[speedblind]

Removing the mirrrors or folding them in is probably the easiest solution. As someone else mentioned, you're saving wind resitane, not weight. The resistance caused by the mirrors can be significant.

And coefficient of drag is just that - a coefficient. It takes into consideration the entire frontal area of the car. Drag is the force created by air swiring around the back of the car - it essentially pulls it backwards. So cD isn't a great measure of how "aerodynamic" a car is - most people when talking aerodynamics are thinking about resistance. In that respect, our cars absolutely are bricks.

Also, most race cars have horrible Cd. I think F1 cars are like 1.0 or larger. Obviously, there's a reason for it.

[AlarmedBread]

They make mirror delete plates. Or just use some pieces of plastic and cut/bolt to fit. With a wide rear view you don't really use the side mirrors anyway.

[Gadea]

Personally, I don´t think the rearview mirror can replace the side mirrors, particularly in order to eliminate blind spots. How wide/curved should it be in order to do that? But I might be wrong. I got my side mirrors really well adjusted so there are no blind spots and therefore no need to turn your head to watch for incoming traffic. Anyways, my scale is not exactly accurate (it´s just a bath scale, not even digital), but according to it, the stock power mirror weighs around 2lbs., (each one) and these aftermarket units (powered also) about 1.5lb each. You can see in the pics how the shapes are really different, apparently the aftermarket ones should put a lot less resistance, although that wasn´t the reason to buy them. I won´t be hitting 100+mph anytime soon unless I fall off a cliff.:P

http://e30sport.com/board/picture.php?albumid=562&pictureid=3888

http://e30sport.com/board/picture.php?albumid=562&pictureid=3889

[AlarmedBread]

Sure they can and do.

http://www.allviewmirror.com/

Bit expensive, but very high quality with minimal distortion.

http://store.bimmerworld.com/longacre-full-view-convex-rearview-mirror-p943.aspx

Longacre is much cheaper, but has distortion and distance perception issues at first. Although it does serve the purpose of letting you see that something is behind you.

I use the longacre 17" and do not look at my side mirrory anymore. You can see Bpillar to Bpillar easily. I can see the front of cars that are driving next to my door.

It's easy to mount to a 'normal' plastic mirror, just drill a couple holes.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v345/AlarmedBread/doppelganger/mirrorb.jpg