A few months ago I took ownership of a fun and practical family hauler, a 2014 Jeep SRT (pictured above). At some point I plan to share with you just how rewarding the Track Rated SUV is, but today I wanted to address a small ergonomic quirk that I don't fully understand.
Why does a car need a tilt mirror? Simple, it helps you park close to the curb without parking** in the curb.** This is especially helpful for those of us who want to avoid having their wheels machine-faced by Team Concrete. Says the guy who's wheels are painted in matte brake dust.
The mirrors also help ass hats (like BMW drivers) from parking 1.5 feet away from the curb, placing their precious 3-series 1.5 feet into the road. Jerk. Note: I'm a former E92 owner who parked like an ass hat
The downside of the mirror looking at the ground is that all you see is the ground. This might be OK for people who don't use their mirrors often, but when I'm in reverse and not parking I enjoy the widest field of view possible, which includes the side mirrors. Having mirrors pointed at the ground does very little for me seeing what in the hell is going on behind me and what might not be covered by the rearview camera.
This is where the What-I-Need and What-They-Gave-Me collide.
From the owners manual:
Tilt Mirror in Reverse
When this feature is selected, the outside rearview mirrors will tilt downward when the ignition switch is in the RUN position and the transmission shift lever is in the REVERSE position. The mirrors will move back to their previous position when the transmission is shifted out of REVERSE. To make your selection, press and release the SELECT button until a check-mark appears next to the feature showing the system has been activated or the check-mark is removed, showing the system has been deactivated.
If I want to use the mirrors in tilt mode I need to go through the Uconnect infotainment system to select the option. Once I'm parked I have to go back into the system to turn off tilting mirrors.
I quickly found this to be an incredibly annoying task. Why couldn't Chrysler have made this a hard button option that allows you to toggle between Tilt ON/OFF? That would have been much easier than hunting for OPTIONS on the screen and scrolling through to find Tilt Mirrors.
If you think this is petty bullshit in the grander scheme of things you are absolutely correct. But this is what it comes down to when you put a 6.4 liter V8 in an all-wheel drive SUV and fill with it with luxurious appointments.
We car people start to bitch about the smallest of issues.
Features That Frustrate: 2014 Jeep SRT's Tilt Mirrors