Is it possible that our cars are invisible? cloaked?
 

Three times in the past couple of weeks, cars have just pulled out in front of me. Does this happen to others here? I am now driving with my brights on during the day while I consider purchasing those 1420 lumens DRLs. I do live in an "old people" rich environment but Im curious if the shape of our car maybe makes it harder to see for some reason.. :D

No.

But my friend's black Prius C is invisible because people always cut her off.

But for real though,

Really?

Yours is white.
They all are low.
It is not easy to see.
Mine is orange.
Still low.
Much easier to spot.
Bought orange for this reason.

The first week I had the car, there were at least 3 occasions where people didn't see me and would merge in my lane while almost hitting me. Hasn't happened since..weird

Similar experience, mines Grey. First week I also had 3 people just pull out front/side and almost hit me. Dont recall it happening since then.

They still do but now you expect it and take action before it happens so don't notice anymore.

My Lexus ES300h is very large and still people try to hit it.

Moral of story: don't think it's you.

-alex

It's for situations described here that I like to think there was a legitimate benefit in picking up a loud exhaust - loud exhausts save lives :D

Getting back on topic - the car is low and rather quiet from the factory - before I changed my exhaust it used to make me nervous passing people in their blind spot as I had several close-calls where people just started to merge into me, seemingly totally unaware that the car was there, and then there is the fact that many people simply do not give proper attention to driving no matter what vehicle you're driving.

My experience is basically the same as others... Seemed to happen more frequently when I first got the car, but then I got used to it and try to anticipate / avoid situations where this might happen...

I try to make sure that i'm not suddenly in a place where people think i wasn't. Like, driving a lot faster than the flow of traffic or changing lanes quickly into an empty spot that someone else looks like they're going to merge into. that's how bikers who split lanes get cut off. a check in the mirror and it's clear. make a lane change and suddenly a bike bounces off your car.

Well, dudeslife, after driving a miata for 8 years and my FR-S for 3 years, I've gotten used to other drivers not "seeing me".

Why don't they see small cars .. ??

* like @Tcoat says ..... the are small, low and ours are white

* like @TRD-X says .... people just aren't payen attention

* like shiumai says ....."I try to make sure that i'm not suddenly in a place where people think i wasn't". Especially OLD people ..... takes them a while to process where you are ... especially if you keep making those "jerky" sports car moves.

My advice to my self is:

NEVER assume a person "sees" you, even if they are looking right at you.

ALWAYS drive my FR-S like I was riding on a motorcycle

WATCH MY SIX ..... this car can stop faster than 90% of the vehicles behind me .... so cut em some slack

Be safe!


humfrz

I didn't buy an asphalt color FRS for this reason. It's camouflaged.

On the other hand stripes help a car standout. Get some brightly colored or contrasting color stripes.

+1 loud exhaust does a good job of making people think twice about jay walking too.

The only times I get cut off, or almost hit, I watch the guy and its either someone who isnt paying attention or someones who just cutting in and out of lanes in a rush (stupid).

Anyway, no matter how low these cars are, they're still visible in a person's side mirror unless they're pointed at the damn sky. Its not you, its them, just gotta be careful.

I generally use force to feel the cars around me.

Joke aside, I drive faster then cars around me so they notice me. If I'm alone I drive pretty slow.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

In all honesty, I've had far fewer cars pull out in front of me in the last three years of ownership than in any given six months with my previous car. Of course my previous car was an Echo, so maybe they were trying to put me out of my misery. :D

Joking aside, I've never had a car with DRLs before so I suspect they do actually help.

I always assume the other drivers are not paying attention and prepare for craziness. I'm rarely disappointed.

I had a client that worked in the auto insurance industry and she mentioned that she noticed that claims for white cars were generally higher due to the brain not quickly recognizing white as easily in a mirror. I wasn't sure if there were any official studies but most of those accidents were exactly as you described; merging into a lane as if they never saw you.

I had a white RX7 that I swear must have been invisible. I would get run off the road almost daily. It had a lot to do with my style of driving. I drove that thing like an idiot. I would put myself in positions that others did not expect so I got what I deserved.
My FR-S is silver which seems to help and it's pretty loud. I don't put myself in positions that surprises others and if I think someone doesn't see me I'll rev the engine to get their attention. In other words Drive It Like A Motorcycle and check twice for cars!

I bought A RED Frs hoping people could see the car and not cut me off.. But apparently the RED is still not bright enough for people to see

It's not about car height, or color, or anything like that. It's about people who are distracted, oblivious, don't use their mirrors, or steering wheel, or accelerator.


I drive a car that is small, but relatively tall, it's red, and has lights always on (DLRs that cannot be tuned off or automatic headlights). People still cut me off. They drift into my lane, especially on curves or when there are two turn lanes through an intersection, they are just unable to use the steering wheel to stay between two painted lines on the pavement. They pull in front of me from side roads, which is fine, sometimes you have to do it with the traffic density we have here, but once you do it, floor it so I don't have to brake. When they change lanes, they first start moving their car, then they use the blinker (if at all), and only then they will (maybe) check their mirror.


It's just stupid people everywhere.

they don't see me they hear me though :)

Yeah thats true, People seem to notice I'm there more now that I have the UEL header installed .. lol the exhaust note is quite a bit louder now

That is how my wife finds me when we are meeting in a parking lot and how my cats know I will be home in a couple of minutes and I don't even have a header just a cat back.

I had a 70ish yr old grandpa in a mini van reverse into me at a stop light at night and sped off. When I finally got him to pull over after 10mins of stalking him to his destination (dropping his wife at a hospice). He claimed he didn't see my car......Obviously he didn't hear my horn, use any his mirrors and is probably too senile to drive. He was driving erratically before the stop light.

I should've never confronted him and just file a hit and run report...since I had the dash cam running. Luckily he only mangled the crap out of my front license plate holder....PHEW

This is part of the reason why disabling the drl's on this car are a bad idea...

That's the way I drive all the time ....... :popcorn:

:iono:


humfrz

Not that I haven't had my own moments of stupidity....,but,.....

I have noticed the same thing, i have the release series so its a pretty bright car lol

I had to buy a dashcam because of how this car is apparently invisible.
I have enough clips to make snowcat a few new videos lol.
Even after owning a fiero (black), na miata (white), and a corvette (silver/black), even being bright red, this car is missed the most.
I've noticed however, the only people ever close to hit me, are people in newer cars themselves.

yes, my wife and I both noticed that our DGM BRZ seems to be invisible to other drivers. I guess the low profile and dark gray color make it hard to see.


Also noticed that women drivers seem to smile and often wave me on when they do see me to let me go ahead.

At least your car is white. Mine is asphalt and is truly invisible. Around the DC area, people think the left lane is for texting. In their massive Ford Annihilator SUV's. They can't see us because we don't show in their sideview mirrors. Which they don't use anyway...

I drive with insanely bright DRL's and had two really loud Hella horns installed. I still have to drive like everyone is actively trying to kill me.

It's true. Factory default is set for partial invisibility - there's a separate pedal dance to go into full cloak. A few models also have ablative armor...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

But ....... if you go into full cloak, you cannot enter warp speed and your 0-60 times will suffer....... :(


humfrz

This^. At least somebody here is honest with themselves.
I almost creamed a guy the other day because I popped out of a lane and didn't see him. We all mess up every now and then no matter how perfect we think we are. If you think you have never caused a near miss then you are either lying to yourself or totally oblivious. That "stupid" driver that accidently cut you off or whatever may not have screwed up in years but you see that one instance and figure it is something they do all the time. Probably not true.

I remember being in a car with my grandfather and grandmother(probably 20 years ago, they are both long gone now, but were still in a pretty good shape then), and her shouting at him about a driving mistake he supposedly made. Even if he did, it was very minor. While they were busy arguing, he almost get us into a serious accident twice, and they did not even notice :D

I had the problem a few times back in Germany that SUV drivers wouldn't notice the 86, even though our DRL are crazy bright. When I came to the US I was wondering how you (or a Miata driver) must feel between full-size SUVs and trucks.

And then I noticed that people tend to do anything in the car, but driving! Especially on the daily commute. I think that's the reason why speed limits (or speed recommendations before twisty turns) are so crazy low here.

I mean 15mph on one of those nice clover-leaf interchanges, hey, even the Edge goes around at 40 w/o any tyre squealing.

Ah, I've always been wondering; so that's why it's called cat back!!


Sorry, couldn't resist - too obvious??

My cats probably call it a "people back".