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2020 Corvette of the Year Finalist (track prepared)
C3 of Year Winner (track prepared) 2019
Top out with tinted windows = blacked out mirror
Has anyone else noticed this? When I have the top off/out my auto dimming rear-view mirror will go nearly completely dark due to my 20% tinted rear window. The glare of direct sunshine coupled with the stage 3 aero makes it nearly impossible to see out the back when driving down the road on a bright day.
I'll have to take a photo this weekend. I wish there was a way to turn off the auto dim as I do not need it with my window tint.
Has anyone else noticed this? When I have the top off/out my auto dimming rear-view mirror will go nearly completely dark due to my 20% tinted rear window. The glare of direct sunshine coupled with the stage 3 aero makes it nearly impossible to see out the back when driving down the road on a bright day.
I'll have to take a photo this weekend. I wish there was a way to turn off the auto dim as I do not need it with my window tint.
How about getting a clip-on mirror that fits over your existing mirror? Amazon shows a pile of them if you search for "rear view mirror".
If you taped over it, wouldn't the system think it was dark out and therefore dim the mirror?
Maybe tape a small LED emitter over it so it thinks it's daytime and therefore disable dimming?
The way I believe it works is when lights from a vehicle behind shine on it, it tells the system to dim the mirror. If this is the case, a shield over whatever sensor is present should prevent the mirror from dimming.
I don't know this for certain...just basing this on my assumption of the way the world works.
How about removing power from the mirror altogether? There's really nothing of value there if the auto-dimming doesn't work correctly, or isn't needed.
The way I believe it works is when lights from a vehicle behind shine on it, it tells the system to dim the mirror. If this is the case, a shield over whatever sensor is present should prevent the mirror from dimming.
That's good thinking. And it made me do a web search. According to this link apparently the sensors do both -- they wait for a cue that it is dark so they will be activated to turn on the auto-dimming when they spot a bright light. The same sensors doing two jobs seemed a little fishy, so I did a bit more reading. Non-definitively, this quote from a 1989 Straight Dope column says:
'The folks at GM tell me that on Cadillacs you can now get a high-tech "electrochromic" mirror that dims at night automatically, without having to flip a switch. The Caddy mirror has only one reflective surface, but there's a special film in front of it that gradually darkens at night through the magic of electronics.'
so I guess the choices are to spend a lot more time looking for a better explanation on the internet or to try a piece of tape on the mirror sensor one of these nights. (Still waiting for my soon-to-be-built C7 so I can't look for where the mirror sensor is on that, but my Lexus definitely has it at the bottom of the glass.
Originally Posted by UsernameProtected
How about removing power from the mirror altogether? There's really nothing of value there if the auto-dimming doesn't work correctly, or isn't needed.
Then again, your idea of just disconnecting the power saves a lot of hassle, testing, reading or otherwise. Excellent idea.
2020 Corvette of the Year Finalist (track prepared)
C3 of Year Winner (track prepared) 2019
As an update/FYI, this is what I was referring to. Don't drive the car enough for it to be a huge deal but this was in the late evening but as you can see in the photos, still a good bit of light outside. This was with the top out at about 8:30pm.
It is incredibly difficult to see cars behind me at times, especially if they don't have their headlights on
I don't care much about the side view mirror but you can see it is fully dark as well.
Anyone have more insight here? Driving again tonight my middle rear view and drivers side mirror are totally blacked out. Another finding is it looks like the passenger side mirror doesn't dim.
If I shine a light on the back of the center mirror (windshield directed sensor) I can get them to brighten up. It's as if that forward sensor thinks it's darker outside than it really is.
Last edited by spearfish25; 06-21-2016 at 09:26 PM.
Who needs mirrors? Just drive faster than everyone else!
Seriously, it really hasn't been a issue with me as a daily driver, but I don't take the top out very often and when I do I do drive faster than everyone else...
05-12-2016, 02:28 PM
Top out with tinted windows = blacked out mirror
