I am currently lusting over the 8 and driving a 98 honda civic. My civic is devoid of blind spots, but my wife's Honda Element (we like hondas) is full of them. While driving her car if I try to look over my left shoulder to see if a car is there most of my vision is blocked by the overly thick b-pillar and her a-pilllar is huge as well in order to compensate, i assume, for the freestyle opening doors. since the 8 has a similar design in terms of its doors i was wondering how bad it is with regards to blind spots for those of you who drive them daily. Is it that bad? do you have a convex mirror on your side mirrors to make up for it? how is the 3/4 rear view?
Thanks

 

just set the side mirrors correctly and use them and you should be fine. i have never had a problem w/blind spots while driving. i dont really use the rearview that much. backing up kinda sucks though

 

It's not that bad. I look in the rear view mirror all the time, but i also turn my head to look to the sides. True there is a blindspot, but looking through rear view mirrors, side mirrors, and turning your head should make it fine. I agree with buzzardsluck that there is kind of a hard time backing up. I just always move... very... slowly.

 

Get an AutoBahn mirror. Works great for that spot over your left shoulder! Best mounting is with the stalk pointing to the left and slightly up, off the gauge cluster surround. The mirror is an oblong taper, so you'll only be using the "big" end, with the narrow end pointing down. (I actually mounted with the stalk pointing up, but the mirror needs to be a bit higher.)

 

When I first started to drive the Rx8 I was a bit nervous because of the reduced driver visibility. But once I got used to it, I haven't had any problems where I haven't seen anything.

As long as you turn your head, check rear view/ side mirrors you can see everything around your rear, there are no blind spots.

If you try to rely on just your side mirror or rearview, then you will run into problems.

 

If you want blind spots try driving the 350 Z that car is dangerous specially when changing lanes .

The RX8 is nowhere near as restricted in the blind spots compared to other sports cars .

cheers
michael

 

I would agree the blind spots can be significant, especially on the passenger side (naturally). Everyone else is right -- you need to get used to driving the car and you won't have any problem. Hope you decide to get an 8!

 

The rear 3/4's are tough depending on what you've driven before. Keep the side mirrors canted out more than usual and you'll be fine. The tiny back window cuts out the view as well. It makes parking lots exciting.

 

Damn. Mike got to the 350Z before I did.

Besides, the worst blind spot award goes to the Lamborghini Countach.

Anyway, the RX-8's blind spots aren't that bad. I prefer to angle out my mirrors so I can see approaching cars in other lanes.

 

set your side mirror the whole way out to the left and you wont have a blind spot. Most people set it so it looks right back the car line but there is no point to that because you can see the same thing through your rear view mirror. So if you set it to the left by the time the car coming up on your left leaves the rear view it is in the side view....hence, no blind spot. Its kinda weird to get used to but its pointless to set all three mirrors so u see the same thing.

 

What he said. Make the same type of adjustment on the right, and you're fine.

 

I can see most of my back of the car with rear view mirror
even cruising around, I constantly look at rear view mirror to see if there are any cars around me, if not, I just switch lane without even looking over my shoulder.
If there are some cars around, I check my side mirror if they are next to me.
Besides being a low and small car, the visions are not that bad

 

Well if you like Honda's you could always go for an S2000. No blind spots there with the top down.

 

No matter what you drive your mirrors should be set like this. Most people set them so you have "tunnel vision". Meaning that all you see is what is directly behind you.

The rear view mirror in the center of the windshield is for that. The side mirrors are for seeing what is in the right and left lanes so you can change lanes safely.

 

I came to the RX-8 from a car with much better visibility, and this factor concerned me a bit. But I did what the other people said and set my outside mirrors so that I see just a sliver of the side of my car. I also stay aware of where other cars are, and glance back. When in doubt, I don't change lanes. Haven't had any problems.

OTOH, a jerk in a pickup truck damn near ran me off the road the other day changing lanes.

 

the only time the blind spot is bad is is you are parked in between two bigger vehicles and you are backing out.. you can't see **** till you are halfway out. But it's like this in many small cars.

 

If you think the visibility in the RX-8 is bad, go and test drive a Z.

 

Exactly right! That's the way it's supposed to be done. Most folks have it looking straight back (you see the same thing in the rear mirrors. DaveRX8's also right...it takes some getting used to as you see more motion than you're used for a while.

Ideally, you can watch a headlight on a car next to you transition from the right mirror, to the rear mirror as you overtake them.

 

alright. that makes sense. as always, i probably have more to fear regarding other drivers really. no matter how safe you are and how many precautions you take there'll be an idiot out there that can smash into you. I'm careful right now about checking my mirrors so nothing should change in that regard. I was just worried the 8 contains some kind of huge blind spot that cannot be fixed with a mirror.

 

[QUOTE=samsong]Exactly right! That's the way it's supposed to be done.QUOTE]
I do that, too. Always full "out" on the sideviews. Which is why I like the AutoBahn mirror. It really let's you know when you might need to do a full head crank to the left. I'm a lot more relaxed with it, than before.

 

If you adjust your mirrors well there shouldn't be much of a blind spot. I've fiddled with my mirrors so much that I doubt a tricycle could sneak up on me (joking!). But seriously, I can see virtually everything behind and beside me. The only blind spot I detected is if a small vehicle (motorbike) is roughly around the rear door area ... but at this point you should be able to see the person in your peripheral vision (if not direct vision) and will be able to detect their rear bumper/wheel.

Here's a link I found helpful.

http://www.smartmotorist.com/mir/mir.htm