Blind spot countermeasures for the Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS: Install extra side mirrors.

It's difficult to check the blind spot on the right side from a left-hand drive GT4 RS.

Now, let's get straight to the point: the Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS.

It looks great, drives fantastic, and is a truly satisfying Porsche that makes you feel more and more happy the more you drive it. However, there was one thing that made me hesitate a little when I drove this car.

That's the "blind spot on the passenger side."

Since our GT4 RS is left-hand drive, the passenger seat is on the right side, and the blind spot on that right side is really difficult to see.

It's the kind of situation where, "you can't see the car that's right beside your car, slightly to the right and behind it, even if you look in the rearview mirror, the side mirror, or even just glance out the right-hand window."

When changing lanes to the right, I would always lean forward as far as possible and look out the rear right window to check, but even then, the blind spots were so large that it was frightening to think I could not see everything properly.

Therefore, when driving the GT4 RS and making a lane change to the right, I would always check the situation using the rearview and side mirrors well in advance, and then, just to be safe, lean out to visually confirm before changing lanes.

But this is subtly stressful for me.

We always thoroughly check the situation and visually inspect every car, and we will continue to do so with the GT4 RS as well.

But, but, but, I wanted even more reassurance. Or rather, I wanted more indicators that I could use to confirm things.

so.

I looked into various options, but it seemed like finding a solution would take time and money, so I decided to head to Daiso.

Why Daiso? (lol)

Extra side mirrors made with materials from Daiso

Well, I was worried that if I replaced the side mirrors or bought mirrors to attach to them and they didn't work out well, I'd be annoyed. So, I wanted to try it out first, and since I wanted to get materials cheaply, I went to Daiso, a 100-yen store.

This is what I bought.

Do you understand this?

These are a "compact mirror" and a "car smartphone holder" sold at Daiso.

A car phone holder allows you to clip your smartphone in and then secure it by inserting it into the air vent of your car's air conditioner.

Instead of a smartphone, I've placed a mirror there.

I thought it might be loose if I just clipped it on, so I stuck some kind of anti-vibration gel pad between the mirror and the smartphone holder to secure it (also from Daiso ^^).

Oh, that's right, the mirror was the type with a cover that you flip open, but the cover was in the way, so I just brute-forced it and broke it off.

If you look closely, it's just been broken, so it's all crumbly (lol).

Well, at this point, I wasn't sure if it would work, so I was just trying it out, and for the time being, it was like this (as usual, way too haphazard) ↓

After breaking and removing the cover, you attach the single mirror to the smartphone holder using an anti-vibration gel pad, and you're done.

I didn't measure anything or anything, I just bought it on a whim, but it fit perfectly, much better than I expected, and I was quite impressed.

So, you attach this to the air vent on the passenger side right, like this.

Night after night, I would use the car next to me in the parking lot as a guide and adjust the angle so that when the car was no longer reflected in the side mirror, it would still be reflected in the Daiso mirror, and somehow it was finished.

I've roughly decided on a position (angle), but now I want to actually drive around and check it in various situations, such as when there are no cars parked next to me and I'm driving.

So, it was time for my first real-world use of the Daiso mirror.

In reality, it was extremely difficult to determine when a car entering a blind spot on a regular road would appear in the Daiso mirror.

The reason is that, although it might be misleading to say that there aren't many cars passing through blind spots on regular roads, on regular roads you often have time to check what's happening on both sides, you're driving slowly, and the car in front is close, so it's dangerous to be constantly checking the mirrors.

So, when I actually drove on the Tomei Expressway to Shizuoka Prefecture, I stayed in the driving lane the whole time, and when cars in the right lane overtook me multiple times, I repeatedly checked at what point the car disappeared from my side mirror, at what point it reappeared in the Daiso mirror, and then at what point I could see the car again from the right window.

At first, I wasn't used to quickly glancing at this Daiso mirror, and even checking the Daiso mirror was a bit difficult. But after doing it many times, I started to get a feel for the timing, or rather, I learned what to check and when, like, "Ah, the car isn't reflected in the side mirror or the right window, but part of the car is reflected only in the Daiso mirror."

Since I can't take photos from the driver's seat while driving, I only have photos taken when the car is stopped. This means I can't capture the perfect moment when the car is passing me, so I'm sorry I can't show you a good picture, but it really was like this: "The moment the car disappeared from the side mirror, only a part of the car was reflected in the Daiso mirror, and then the car became visible in the right window."

Of course, even after installing this Daiso mirror, I don't rely on it too much, and I always lean out and visually check before changing lanes to the right.

However, I think that the addition of a feature that captures areas that were probably previously blind spots has made it possible to more thoroughly check for blind spots.

Nowadays, when I check the right lane in my GT4 RS, I use the rearview mirror (yellow), check for cars ahead to the right (red), the side mirror (blue), lean out to visually check (green), and a Daiso mirror (purple) to address the blind spot on the right side.

Wow, this is really reassuring (I know I'm being repetitive, but I'm not saying we should rely solely on this).

The problem is that it looks unattractive.

And regarding this mirror, a major concern, aside from its functionality, was, "Wouldn't it look ugly if it were mounted there?" But when actually mounted and viewed from the outside, it looks like this ↓

Actually, in this situation, I just casually said nothing.I participated in a Porsche-themed girls' get-together.However, despite them thoroughly examining the car, not a single person pointed out, "What is this?"

*I also encountered some men along the way, but they didn't seem to mind at all.

I'm the one who has to say, "Look at this!" and only then do they finally say, "Huh, what's this?"

I think most people don't really pay attention to such small details on other people's cars (lol), and safety comes first over appearance, so if anyone else is having the same problem, why not give it a try?

...I guess I'm the only one who would turn something like this, which is basically a Daiso product, into a Porsche (lol).

Sorry, but I'm kind of lazy about these things, so I end up thinking, "Oh, this is good enough!" ^^

That was my super casual 300 yen DIY project!

*I know I'm being persistent, but if you're going to install the mirror, please try being overtaken on the highway multiple times and carefully check what you see and where before using it. It will be difficult to get a feel for it at first just by looking at it, so please drive safely. Also, remember that this is merely "an additional mirror that allows you to check blind spots," and you shouldn't rely on it too much.