Ergonomics

[JCSB]

Ok, so I drove my GT around this morning and noticed several points of interests that I plan on changing. Before going my rout I wanted to see what others have to say and did.

First, while I really like the McIntosh system where it is located makes it almost imposible to change things once in motion. The controls are really obscure and hard to reach. Then the problem with no cd changer or at least sat. radio. What have others done about this? :confused

Second, zip, zero, nada, none, nil, storage space inside. Thus making it a problem caring anything even small (cd cases). I noticed the center console compartment mod. Does it make a noticiable difference in storage?

Third, big blind spots (especially on drivers side). Now before I get the guy who will say "stay ahead and you don't need to worry about blind spots", I was wondering if there are any mirror mods to help with this problem? I remember when I had a corvette there was a company that made complete mirror inserts that had a concave section in the insert (no add on mirror). It was very clean. Any thoughts?

Other than these the ride was great.

John

 

[STORMCAT]

Ok, so I drove my GT around this morning and noticed several points of interests that I plan on changing. Before going my rout I wanted to see what others have to say and did.

First, while I really like the McIntosh system where it is located makes it almost imposible to change things once in motion. The controls are really obscure and hard to reach. Then the problem with no cd changer or at least sat. radio. What have others done about this? :confused

Second, zip, zero, nada, none, nil, storage space inside. Thus making it a problem caring anything even small (cd cases). I noticed the center console compartment mod. Does it make a noticiable difference in storage?

Third, big blind spots (especially on drivers side). Now before I get the guy who will say "stay ahead and you don't need to worry about blind spots", I was wondering if there are any mirror mods to help with this problem? I remember when I had a corvette there was a company that made complete mirror inserts that had a concave section in the insert (no add on mirror). It was very clean. Any thoughts?

Other than these the ride was great.

John

I replaced my driver's side mirror glass with a passenger side glass.. There is an old post with the details.. If you can't find it thru the search feature. I can look it up later,,

 

[Empty Pockets]

Are you aware of the "cargo net" (of sorts!) located on the lower front of both seats? (You won't see 'em unless you actually get your head down there & look for 'em.) You can put small items in there. There is also a small storage pocket on the passenger side of the console (most keep their owner's manual there).

There's a Mac "woofer" relocation kit you can get to place the 'speaker behind the pass. seat. You can then put the std storage box between the seats.

But, aside from that, the GT isn't designed much for storage! It was designed to "haul" other things:biggrin



Oh. A few Owners have installed "backup" cameras to aid in the reward vision dept. Maybe wunna them will chime in here on that. (There are posts/threads here on The 'Forum re: same.)

 

[JCSB]

Thanks for the info. Did putting the passenger side on the driver side mirror solve the blind spot problem? I found this site that will custom make you the mirrors.
http://www.safetymirrorsonline.com/

This one is really weird.

http://www.blindspotsystems.com/

John

 

[Howard]

John, your side view mirrors should be adjusted so that you cannot see any of your own car in the mirrors when you are in the normal driving position. This goes for all cars, not just our GT's. That eliminates almost all of the side blind spot, but is no substitute for caution.

Howard

 

[JCSB]

John, your side view mirrors should be adjusted so that you cannot see any of your own car in the mirrors when you are in the normal driving position. This goes for all cars, not just our GT's. That eliminates almost all of the side blind spot, but is no substitute for caution.

Howard

Howard,
I appreciate the thought, but I've been driving for over 40 years and am fairly familiar with mirror adjustment. The car has a definate blind spot. I'm really looking for those who have addressed the problem with additions to the car such as the one about using the passenger mirror for the drivers or such.

John

 

[dbk]

Between the nets in front and behind the seat, a forward driving position, the trunk, and the fact I don't have a mac, I can fit a decent amount of stuff in there. I would move your Mac because it will sound better anyways.

 

[JCSB]

Between the nets in front and behind the seat, a forward driving position, the trunk, and the fact I don't have a mac, I can fit a decent amount of stuff in there. I would move your Mac because it will sound better anyways.

I must admit the nets in front I didn't know about till empty pockets told me. I think I'm going to move the owners manual to one of the nets behind the seats since I really won't be using it often. I assume you mean move the Mac that you mean the subwoofer? If I do that is there a storage unit available for the freed space?

John

 

[GTED]

As for blind spot on the driver side, the very first time I turned left in the car at an intersection, 1/3 into the turn it scared the crap out of me because all in a sudden I realized I couldn't see the oncoming traffic!! After that, I just do what I do when I'm on the track- stick my face further forward and look ahead. You'll get use to it soon enough.

GTED

Ok, so I drove my GT around this morning and noticed several points of interests that I plan on changing. Before going my rout I wanted to see what others have to say and did.

First, while I really like the McIntosh system where it is located makes it almost imposible to change things once in motion. The controls are really obscure and hard to reach. Then the problem with no cd changer or at least sat. radio. What have others done about this? :confused

Second, zip, zero, nada, none, nil, storage space inside. Thus making it a problem caring anything even small (cd cases). I noticed the center console compartment mod. Does it make a noticiable difference in storage?

Third, big blind spots (especially on drivers side). Now before I get the guy who will say "stay ahead and you don't need to worry about blind spots", I was wondering if there are any mirror mods to help with this problem? I remember when I had a corvette there was a company that made complete mirror inserts that had a concave section in the insert (no add on mirror). It was very clean. Any thoughts?

Other than these the ride was great.

John

 

[JCSB]

As for blind spot on the driver side, the very first time I turned left in the car at an intersection, 1/3 into the turn it scared the crap out of me because all in a sudden I realized I couldn't see the oncoming traffic!! After that, I just do what I do when I'm on the track- stick my face further forward and look ahead. You'll get use to it soon enough.

GTED

I was really talking about the outside rearview mirrors, but yeah this car is going to take a little getting use to. I've owned many challenging cars, but I've never like any as much and as quickly as I've like the GT. I traded a Lambo Gallardo and Aston Martin V8 Vantage for it. I really like the car just trying to make it mine. The things I noted in the original post aren't complaints as much as there observations. It's going to fun to fix them. :banana

John

BTW Did anyone check out the blindspotsystems.com? This would spook me.

 

[STORMCAT]

Ok, so I drove my GT around this morning and noticed several points of interests that I plan on changing. Before going my rout I wanted to see what others have to say and did.

First, while I really like the McIntosh system where it is located makes it almost imposible to change things once in motion. The controls are really obscure and hard to reach. Then the problem with no cd changer or at least sat. radio. What have others done about this? :confused

Second, zip, zero, nada, none, nil, storage space inside. Thus making it a problem caring anything even small (cd cases). I noticed the center console compartment mod. Does it make a noticiable difference in storage?

Third, big blind spots (especially on drivers side). Now before I get the guy who will say "stay ahead and you don't need to worry about blind spots", I was wondering if there are any mirror mods to help with this problem? I remember when I had a corvette there was a company that made complete mirror inserts that had a concave section in the insert (no add on mirror). It was very clean. Any thoughts?

Other than these the ride was great.

John

Here's the mirror mod write up I did : http://www.fordgtforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8061&highlight=mirror

 

[Empty Pockets]

If I do that is there a storage unit available for the freed space?

John

Yes. The factory put one there for non Mac cars. There are CF and "std" units available thru members here (same as the Mac relocator kit). And I would ASSUME thru your local Ford dealer's parts dept - though I've never asked.

 

[STORMCAT]

I must admit the nets in front I didn't know about till empty pockets told me. I think I'm going to move the owners manual to one of the nets behind the seats since I really won't be using it often. I assume you mean move the Mac that you mean the subwoofer? If I do that is there a storage unit available for the freed space?

John

You can check out the CF center console I have available. You can see the photos in my gallery

 

[roketman]

For some extra storage;Put in Kips armrest storage unit .Do the mac removal ,put you owners manual in the trunk.Use the factory car cover bag for storage in the trunk, behind the seats and foot well. They fit rather nicely.Torrie sells car cover bags . I have 3 car cover bags I use when traveling in the GT .My wife is able to get a weeks worth of travel stuff in them .

 

[JCSB]

Great info guys. :thumbsup
Thanks,
John

 

[Specracer]

I personally do not use the stereo (it has been on maybe 5 times in the 3.5 years I have had the car) But the Mac does have an RCA line input if you want to add an iPod or a portable satellite receiver. One or 2 guys have reached it with out pulling the head unit, but most have pulled it to get to them. There is a specific OTC Rotunda tool that can be gotten from a dealer, or Torrie of course to pull the head unit.....

as for the blind spot, I have adjusted my style to really turn to look. Us especially coming on ramps, where you have not been able to acclimate your self to the traffic pattern yet.

 

[JCSB]

I personally do not use the stereo (it has been on maybe 5 times in the 3.5 years I have had the car) But the Mac does have an RCA line input if you want to add an iPod or a portable satellite receiver. One or 2 guys have reached it with out pulling the head unit, but most have pulled it to get to them. There is a specific OTC Rotunda tool that can be gotten from a dealer, or Torrie of course to pull the head unit.....

as for the blind spot, I have adjusted my style to really turn to look. Us especially coming on ramps, where you have not been able to acclimate your self to the traffic pattern yet.

Someone posted on the site that this was MX406 as stated on the McIntosh web site. The spec on the McIntosh site states that it has a fiber optic input for a cd changer, but so far I can't get this confirmed. Do you know if there are any other inputs other than the RCA input?

John

 

[SYCO GT]

The idea of a stick on mirror sounds really cheezy I know, and I was dead set against it.

But, it actually works really well. I went to all the car stores, and it took a while to find one that I liked and was of a good quality, there are some bad ones out there.

 

[BlackICE]

The idea of a stick on mirror sounds really cheezy I know, and I was dead set against it.

But, it actually works really well. I went to all the car stores, and it took a while to find one that I liked and was of a good quality, there are some bad ones out there.

Or as Brian would put it the "chicken neck" routine works and gives you neck stretching exercise while you drive.

 

[fjpikul]

JC, I returned to the Mac website, and I don't see a changer offered anymore, as you stated. I have the file saved on another computer with the info. Which I will PM you later in the week. There is NO optical connector on our radios, only RCA plugs.