Old Library

The information here is no longer maintained.

Please go to our NEW LIBRARY where we have imported this page and added more.

[GTI-VR6 Library] [GTI-VR6 Mailing List] [Old Library]

Wink (tm) Panoramic rear view mirror

"Wink" (tm) Panoramic rear view mirror

Looking up, Sight Picture with the Wink Mirror...it's actually better than this

The Wink (that's a trademarked name) mirror is a panoramic mirror consisting of 4 or 5 mirrors, individually raked, that offers a complete sight picture of what's behind and beside you. No, it isn't elegant, but it is effective. Apparently, it has two big markets: race car and geriatric drivers!

I first saw one at Shine when I was having my SRS Lite (thanks Uwe) suspension installed. It was in the full race White Rabbit (go ask Alice, I think she'll know) VW that they prepared. One of the mechs there said you either love them or hate them....he didn't like them, but I love it. You look out you get the complete sight picture ahead; you look up, you get the complete sight picture behind and beside you. Blind spots are almost completely eliminated. I put mine in after one too many close calls with erratic/idiotic driving by drivers in my blind spots.

Now some brag about their ability to scan the rear view mirrors that come with our VWs, put together the complete picture and never miss a thing. Maybe, but this is *so* much easier and direct.....you even see things happening peripherally as they develop, which you'd have to be *very* good to pull off with the usual three disjoint mirrors. I ask you: would you try to drive your car with the forward sight picture reduced to 3 little areas of vision? If so, the Army has a place for you in tank school.
There are drawbacks, mostly that:

you have hard time seeing traffic lights when you're right up underneath them....I watch them through a little crack of vision that's left between the top of the Wink and the top of the windshield.
the sun visors no longer work well....but then the Wink fills the bill for that pretty well.

The mirror is available from custom/performance shops for around $25-$30; if they haven't got it, they can special order it. I installed the 5 mirror version, the one shown here.

I removed the OEM mirror when I put the Wink in. Here are two shots of the side that show my installation. I chose to cut a slice in the head liner and slip the angle behind the liner. You will have to drill two pilot holes for the sheet metal screws in each side, but where I did it, they are into interior sheet metal, not (ahem) going through the roof.

Stewart Dean - sdeanulster - Legalese follows:

While I made this modification carefully, I make no representation of the fitness of it for your car, using your skills and equipment. You follow these instruction at your own risk.