I've noticed in the "Prius C Complaints" thread that there were other people besides myself that felt the two rear seat headrests cut out a substantial portion of the view in the rear view mirror. I had a project that I was working on for my '96 Geo Metro, but never got around to finishing due to it being totalled out back in February. (Got hit when I was stopped in tunnel traffic at "55+". So much for my 83.7k mi. Geo. Still in physical therapy for my back.) The general idea was to replace the rear view mirror with something more reliable at night. To do this, the rear view mirror was swapped out with a 7" monitor with dual video inputs. It would be a normal mirror when the car didn't have power running, but it would utilize two cameras when the car was running. The first was a "rear view" camera that had a 55mm f/1.2 equivilency, and was color capable down to 0.01 lux, had built in high light compensation, and wide dynamic range. (Translation for the non-security camera geek folks: It saw things on cloudy nights like it was daylight and masked out headlights automatically.) The second was a "fisheye" camera that would be switched to when the car was put in reverse using a similar camera but a different lens with a wider view. Has anyone tried something like this yet? If not, would anyone be interested in my development notes as I went?
I could, but that'd take the fun of coming up with a ridiculously complicated tech solution! Also, that wouldn't help me in the woods at night.
+1 this solution. It's what I did. That said, a more complicated uber-tech solution could be interesting to see. You could also remove the side mirrors and add LCD's. That would amp up the tech factor and also reduce aero drag and thus improve fuel economy too.
I'm surprised to hear people are removing them.. aren't headrests there to protect your neck in the case that the vehicle is struck from behind?
I took our headrests out of the back seats the first day we owned the car. Yes, I have been interested in a camera system for the rear view camera. Get what you think is best and write it up for us. I'd like to see how it will do for you. I almost bought one a couple of months back but changed my mind. Bought the fog lights, trailer hitch, automatic headlight module, and a leather steering wheel instead. If your write up looks good and you have positive results, I will do the same. Thanks, Dan
You're only blinding yourself if there is nobody in the rear seats. They protect nothing if nobody is back there.
I don't think you can lean the rear seats back in a c. I know I often come into these threads and gloat about our low-profile headrests over in our market, but I must say I notice that on the rare occasions I have anyone in the back seats, the rear headrests get raised. Every time. Every. Single. Time. I now take more notice when I do my post-passenger tidy up (eg. making sure belts and their belts and buckles are neatly back in their home positions) to keep an eye out for the raised headrests and lower them, otherwise the next time I drive my car it drives me nuts. I must say this behaviour rather surprises me. I don't normally adjust headrests in cars - I never even think about it as I'm about average height and normally the lowest height is fine for me. Yet the rears in mine get pulled up so routinely that I'm starting to wonder if it's actually uncomfortable in their fully stowed position. I really need to try to remember to quiz my rear passengers on this next time I have any - of course I'm glad they are adjusting them to the appropriate height.
The rear seats don't "lean back" but I do think they let you bounce it left and right and let your shoulder lean.
I fold my rear seats down (forward) when not in use. Bigger problem to me was the pitiful rear window wiper didn't do much and RainX wasn't enough improvement. That 19" on an articulated wiper arm wiper really works. Niow it matters when those headrests are folded with the seatbacks. cheers.
I've seen posts about this articulated wiper arm a few times. Do you have a link to a specific manufacturer so I can do some research on this? Nothing I've seen so far mentions who makes the beast.
Don't you need to remove the headrests to do this? Or do you just leave them in limbo resting against your seat?
I removed the headrests as soon as I looked into the rear view mirror. They have not been back on. Not sure if the headrest will hit the front seats or not. dan
