I don't understand the headlights

[theaveng]

Supposedly they are shaped "odd" in order to redirect air around the rearview mirrors. It seems to me a better solution would be to just eliminate the mirrors, replace them with small rearview cameras, and then keep the headlights as flat and smooth as possible to reduce all drag to minimum.

BTW my salesman was a trip. I asked about the headlights. "Cosmetics." What's this tree thing on my screen. "I don't know." How come there are two charge ports? "One for home and one for superdooper ultra charging." I want to drive the interstate. "Okay get on I-5..... Now take the next exit upahead." I JUST got ON the interstate and you want me to exit after just 1 mile?

What the difference between D and E? "D is drive and E is for extra power." :-o Oh and the window advertised "96 to 110 mile range".

 

[grommet]

Current United States safety law requires that cars have "real" physical side mirrors. This may change eventually. Ignoring that, I doubt you'd see a change this drastic on a comparatively low cost vehicle anytime soon.

 

[MrIanB]

Supposedly they are shaped "odd" in order to redirect air around the rearview mirrors. It seems to me a better solution would be to just eliminate the mirrors, replace them with small rearview cameras, and then keep the headlights as flat and smooth as possible to reduce all drag to minimum.

BTW my salesman was a trip. I asked about the headlights. "Cosmetics." What's this tree thing on my screen. "I don't know." How come there are two charge ports? "One for home and one for superdooper ultra charging." I want to drive the interstate. "Okay get on I-5..... Now take the next exit upahead." I JUST got ON the interstate and you want me to exit after just 1 mile?

What the difference between D and E? "D is drive and E is for extra power." :-o Oh and the window advertised "96 to 110 mile range".

Congrats. D is for zippy driving and full power upon pressing pedal but, regen braking is less. Put it in E for ECO mode, your initial acceleration is slower when pressing the pedal but, your range is increased and regen braking is stronger. Look at your GOM/miles left gauge and you will notice a difference in your range when you switch between D and E.

Now go out there and drive this thing.

Ian B

 

[Nubo]

The concept model of the Tesla Model X has rearview cameras instead of mirrors. It will be interesting to see if these make it into production. I like the look and of course the aerodynamics can't be beat. But I'd worry about them being targets for vandals.

I seem to recall the initial prototype of LEAF had much smaller, more aerodynamic mirrors. I wonder if the US DOT mandated the play-skool mirrors, which in turn led to the need for the Jai-alai headlamp covers?

 

[eclecticflower]

@theaveng: Did you finally buy or were you just testing a newbie salesman :?: :?:

 

[waitingforaleaf]

Congrats. D is for zippy driving and full power upon pressing pedal but, regen braking is less. Put it in E for ECO mode, your initial acceleration is slower when pressing the pedal but, your range is increased and regen braking is stronger. Look at your GOM/miles left gauge and you will notice a difference in your range when you switch between D and E.

Now go out there and drive this thing.

Ian B

Congrats for what??? For his having to deal with a salesperson that's extremely misinformed and spreading out totally incorrect information? While the Nissan dealership near me had an exceptional "Leaf specialist" when I was purchasing the vehicle, this seems to be the rare case. I recently recommended a friend test drive the Leaf from the same dealership, and she also got a heavy dose of misinformation about the car (e.g. realistic driving range of the vehicle and information regarding charging). This abundance of inexperienced and uncaring sales staff at Nissan dealerships can ultimately be detrimental to people's satisfaction with the vehicle (particularly problematic is their misrepresentation of the "up to 100 miles" per charge). It's a bit sad when the paid, professional "expert" is significantly less knowledgeable than the standard Leaf owner...

 

[eclecticflower]

@waitingforaleaf:

I believe this thread was opened to stir the pot. This person (theaveng) doesn't own a leaf and professed to not wanting one quite adamently in another thread. His commentary and behavior was rather extreme in that thread. I believe there's a term for that kind of "contributor"...

 

[thankyouOB]

the post is another parody from this MNL personality.
he has a parody buy date for the leaf on his profile, as well as a parody hometown.

did he even go to a dealership?
this is probably a parody salesperson with a parody salestalk.

 

[eclecticflower]

Parody??

Nah, TROLL!

 

[MrIanB]

Congrats. D is for zippy driving and full power upon pressing pedal but, regen braking is less. Put it in E for ECO mode, your initial acceleration is slower when pressing the pedal but, your range is increased and regen braking is stronger. Look at your GOM/miles left gauge and you will notice a difference in your range when you switch between D and E.

Now go out there and drive this thing.

Ian B

Congrats for what??? For his having to deal with a salesperson that's extremely misinformed and spreading out totally incorrect information? While the Nissan dealership near me had an exceptional "Leaf specialist" when I was purchasing the vehicle, this seems to be the rare case. I recently recommended a friend test drive the Leaf from the same dealership, and she also got a heavy dose of misinformation about the car (e.g. realistic driving range of the vehicle and information regarding charging). This abundance of inexperienced and uncaring sales staff at Nissan dealerships can ultimately be detrimental to people's satisfaction with the vehicle (particularly problematic is their misrepresentation of the "up to 100 miles" per charge). It's a bit sad when the paid, professional "expert" is significantly less knowledgeable than the standard Leaf owner...

Congrats was for his purchase. I did not address the redneck dumbass salesperson as it is not worth my time. A call to Nissan customer service and a talk to store manager before leaving would help a long way.

Ian B

 

[LTLFTcomposite]

The concept model of the Tesla Model X has rearview cameras instead of mirrors.

So did Aptera. Now there's one you don't hear much about any more :lol:

 

[TEG]

The concept model of the Tesla Model X has rearview cameras instead of mirrors. It will be interesting to see if these make it into production...

It seems they already revised the prototype/concept car to have mirrors, not cameras.

 

[Deleted member 3147]

The concept model of the Tesla Model X has rearview cameras instead of mirrors. It will be interesting to see if these make it into production...

It seems they already revised the prototype/concept car to have mirrors, not cameras.

The thing about mirrors is that if you move your head, you can see more. Not with a camera/screen.

 

[theaveng]

People sure are hyperdefensive? I'm not a little green goblin under a bridge (a troll). I'm a person expressing my opinion about the Leaf that I testdrove & the lousy saleman. (BTW this is par for the course. These people don't understand anything they sell... not even the normal gasoline cars.) And also my idea of replacing mirrors with cameras. I know one insight driver who did that..... inserted little USB cameras that project onto a small LCD monitor.

 

[HoustonFlier]

It's a bit sad when the paid, professional "expert" is significantly less knowledgeable than the standard Leaf owner...

Seen a lot of salesman who never study up on product they sell, spew lies, to sell you something (not just EV).

 

[mkjayakumar]

is it true that the Beetle runs on Diesel ?

 

[TLeaf]

I still don't buy the "funky headlights because of the side mirrors" tagline.. In my opinion, they're more likely the result of Nissan letting one of their designers run wild with an idea, something that I think Nissan has to occasionally do in order to differentiate itself from its bigger Japanese siblings. Just take a look at the Juke and you can see that the bug-eyed headlight is not just an aerodynamic assist, but a design element that they'd like to see spread across their product line (think Buick and their "cruiser ventiport").

Having looked at and/or owned a Nissan Titan, Toyota Tundra, and Ford F150, it was interesting to see the progression of Nissan's "leading edge" taillight from the Titan, to the Tundra, and finally to the F150. Now if only these two other companies would follow Nissan's suit and jump full-bore into EV development instead of just tip-toeing around the edge like they have been...

 

[dgpcolorado]

I still don't buy the "funky headlights because of the side mirrors" tagline.. In my opinion, they're more likely the result of Nissan letting one of their designers run wild with an idea, something that I think Nissan has to occasionally do in order to differentiate itself from its bigger Japanese siblings. Just take a look at the Juke and you can see that the bug-eyed headlight is not just an aerodynamic assist, but a design element that they'd like to see spread across their product line (think Buick and their "cruiser ventiport").

Having looked at and/or owned a Nissan Titan, Toyota Tundra, and Ford F150, it was interesting to see the progression of Nissan's "leading edge" taillight from the Titan, to the Tundra, and finally to the F150. Now if only these two other companies would follow Nissan's suit and jump full-bore into EV development instead of just tip-toeing around the edge like they have been...

I disagree. I couldn't find it last I looked, but I've seen the wind tunnel photo that showed the smoke stream parting around the mirrors due to the headlight design. I consider it a settled issue.

 

[ebill3]

I still don't buy the "funky headlights because of the side mirrors" tagline.. In my opinion, they're more likely the result of Nissan letting one of their designers run wild with an idea, something that I think Nissan has to occasionally do in order to differentiate itself from its bigger Japanese siblings. Just take a look at the Juke and you can see that the bug-eyed headlight is not just an aerodynamic assist, but a design element that they'd like to see spread across their product line (think Buick and their "cruiser ventiport").

Having looked at and/or owned a Nissan Titan, Toyota Tundra, and Ford F150, it was interesting to see the progression of Nissan's "leading edge" taillight from the Titan, to the Tundra, and finally to the F150. Now if only these two other companies would follow Nissan's suit and jump full-bore into EV development instead of just tip-toeing around the edge like they have been...

I disagree. I couldn't find it last I looked, but I've seen the wind tunnel photo that showed the smoke stream parting around the mirrors due to the headlight design. I consider it a settled issue.

http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=6836

 

[Deleted member 3147]

Engineer: I want to put these neat headlights on the Leaf.

Manager: Those are strange. Can you justify them somehow?

Engineer: OK, how about if I tweak them so they have an aerodynamic purpose?

Manager: Great! Go for it!

Just because they have a purpose doesn't mean that that's how they originated! :mrgreen: