Friday, February 21, 2003

We have 4 drivers, of all different sizes and sightlines. One of my daughters asked if the mirror positions could be set the same way the radio buttons are, so that you could just punch the button for yourself when you get in the car. It wouldn't surprise me if high-end cars had this sort of feature. I started thinking about the fussy sensors and servos and what can go wrong, and I suspect it might be more trouble than it is worth. The exterior rear view mirrors get hit more often than they ought to (often enough that Plymouth ones are designed to pivot), road spray will get inside the housing, and after the servo tries to shove the mirror against ice a few times it may not be as reliable as it used to be. One car I had would raise the antenna when you turned on the radio. Cute, but it stripped its gears when somebody turned on the radio without scraping off the heavy layer of ice one morning...

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