Replacement mirrors

[alex16]

I know my mirage currently has no major modifications for mpg, that will come soon after my last dealership oil change (under body aero).

But I was looking into changing my Mirrors, seeing how I have not found anyone that has done this yet. The factory Mirage power mirrors are likely a bit heavy for a mirror and very large, I am not as hard core as some on ecomodder and would like to still have external mirrors... just smaller.

I found these on ebay.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-CARBON-F...90d7fb&vxp=mtr

[MetroMPG]

Outside mirrors increase both drag (by about cd 0.015) and frontal area, so going to smaller ones will help a little bit. Though the savings probably won't pay for the cost if they're expensive.

I measured the effect of removing the passenger mirror entirely, plus folding back the driver's mirror. Saw a 2% improvement in MPG at 55 mph / 88 kph. That was with my 1.0L, 3-cylinder Firefly/Metro.

[alex16]

2% is enough to pay for them over a 3 year period, with gas at 2.80 a gallon. I figured a low rough estimate of .4 mpg gain, about .25 cents a fill up savings, $12 a year average. But the unfortunate thing is they will likely need to be replaced after 3 years.. cheap Chinese quality doesn't last.

But I always see increased mpg as less stress on the drive train, more efficient, less wear and tear.

[Cani Lupine]

On my Aspire, I had actually swapped in Geo Metro style mirrors. I can't remember which particular year/model they were from to get the proper fit, but they significantly reduced wind noise.

[alex16]

Nice! I got my mirrors in a day ahead of ETA on ebay, excited! Going to put them on tomorrow after I get back from the dealership alignment/check.

I went with these exact ones

http://www.ebay.com/itm/151641226504...S:1123&vxp=mtr

The plastic mold isn't perfect but they do swivel and rotate to make for good adjust ability . I went with the black because the CF did emphasize the light weight (they are maybe 1.5 lbs together) but it was a little too racy/ricer on a economy car for my taste.