jimmuller

I'm posting this because it came up briefly in a different thread. It isn't GT<anything>, just a plain ol' daily-driver thing.

If your Cayman doesn't have LCA here is a simple, non-destructive alternative for seeing what is in your right-side blind spot. This is an inexpensive borescope from Depstech which I found online for under $15. The wire runs down between the passenger seat and the center console, then up to my smart phone; my phone a Galaxy S7 but the camera has an Apple plug too. The wire is stiff enough to hold the camera steady, and it can be unhooked from the back of the seat easily.



Depstech makes a WiFi version, easier to connect to a phone, but you'd have to find a way to recharge its battery. You'd probably have to remove it from the car whereas the USB type runs off the phone's battery. Depstech also makes versions with a short focal length whereas this one nominally goes to infinity. There are other brands which would seemingly work well too.

The tricky part for me was finding a way to support the phone up front. A windshield suction cup phone holder would require a long arm from that nice sloping windshield., and I don't like the idea of blocking the view. I tried a cup holder phone mount, didn't like it, didn't like putting even more weight on the cup holder. My phone lives in an Otterbox Defender so I eventually I settled on hooking its belt hook over the cup holder. If any of you have a better solution I'd like to hear it.




In the meantime this provides a nice visual for what is over my right shoulder. For many trips it isn't necessary. But for my commutes, on a speedway in the morning and a parking lot on the way home, it can be really helpful.

verstraete

This post has me concerned. I am currently on my third Porsche, a 994 and two 991s, all coupes. With mirrors correctly adjusted, there was no blind spot on either right or left sides for any of them. A car on either side was always visible in either the rear mirror, a side mirror, or looking directly through the passenger side or driver's side window, without turning my head and looking over my shoulder.
If this is not possible in a Boxster, is it due to the convertible top? Maybe because the coverage of the rear mirror limited by the size of the rear window? If there truly is an unavoidable blind spot in a Boxster, a Boxster would not be an option for me and I would like to be aware of it.
A quick mirror and window check, and lane changes were go for every car I have owned for the past almost 60 years. British roadsters and convertibles did have front fender mounted Desmo Boomerang parabolic mirrors.

GregWormald

In Australia the standard mirrors are convex on the passenger side and multi-convex on the drivers side. I don't notice any blind spots in my Boxster.

jimmuller

Don't be concerned. Firstly, I was describing my 718 Cayman, though a Boxster would likely be similar. The right side mirror, though convex, does provide vision into the right-side blind spot. And I did say my little camera arrangement wasn't necessary, just a neat convenience for commuting.

I set up that camera for several reasons. In the old days I could just glance over my shoulder. Now I'm not quite a flexible as I used to be so it's more work. I wear glasses and when I glance sideways enough my vision reaches around past the side of the lens so I don't focus as quickly. It's okay but not great, so recognizing how far a car is or how fast it is going takes more than, say, a quarter of a second. My other car is a fully-windowed Caravan for carrying music gear so I've gotten used to simply being able to see out the right side, while needing the right side mirror to be pointed backwards for the times when backwards vision is obscured by the van's contents. (You can't see through a bass fiddle.) My previous sports cars have all had pretty good lines of sight.

In contrast, in the Cayman the passenger seat's head restraint and the large C pillar leave much smaller openings to glance through. I'm sitting lower so everything outside looks different. Small cars can be hidden by larger ones. Other drivers are also less likely to see me, and more likely to be aggressive around me.

I ended up angling the right side mirror further out and getting used to its different purpose of seeing the next lane over. I can do that because the inside rear view mirror is never blocked in the Cayman the way it is in my Caravan. But the camera is still a nice convenience at times. If there was nothing to be improved, manufacturers wouldn't offer LCA and no one would buy it. One of mu co-workers recently bought a sported-up Honda Civic that has little cameras in the door mirror frames. I had occasion to ride with him and see how they worked. When he flipped his turn signal that side's camera would show up on the display. Very informative even if a bit gimmicky. Frankly, I'd rather trust what I can see than whatever a radar-detection algorithm thinks is happening. So if Porsche can provide a backup camera over the license plate, why not something similar for the blind spot? That little $12 camera is a lot cheaper than LCA!