M2-1028 side view mirrors
Long have I lusted after these mirrors. They came on an M2 Corporation car in Japan. The 1028 model. Roadster fans know exactly what I’m talking about. If you’re clueless, check out this post on ClubRoadster. It’ll explain everything.
Back to the review.
1028 mirror - front view with helper Uglydoll
These are replica 1028 mirrors from Rev9Autosport. That’s a little misleading… the original mirrors were just Sebring style mirrors from a company called Vitaloni. M2 made a base plate to fit the Miata door. They made 300 pairs of these mirrors. They sell for crazy money.
Instead of paying crazy money for just a mirror base, I got the replica from Rev9.
1028 mirror 1/4 view - while Jeero takes a break with an ice cream
Build quality: very good. The mirrors are tight yet offer the full range of movement. Very easy to aim. Very stable once in place. The plastic is of high quality and they weigh very little. The bases are metal.
The kit came with generic sheet metal screws, as seen in the top shot. These will not work with the Miata. Miata doors require M6x1.0 screws. I went to the local bolt store and bought some nice black socket head capscrews.
Mirrors before and after - front
Sorry these don’t line up better. They were rushed. I didn’t even clean the crap off the door after removing the stock mirror and installing the smaller ones. I just wanted to get the comparison pix shot before the light changed.
Mirrors before and after - rear
You can see the stock mounting screws in this shot. They were replaced with black socket-head screws immediately after.
This brings up one weak point of these mirrors – the rear mounting screw slot (the one closest to the driver). It is not recessed like the front screw hole, so the screw sticks out the top a bit. I considered recessing it with my dremel, but there’s just not much material there to remove. This is one big difference between the real 1028 bases and the replica ones.
Onto the pretty shots.
Installed drivers mirror - close up
Mirror front view - small and sexy
A buddy called these mirrors "lusty"
Performance: Well…. they’re small. They’re a lot smaller than the stock glass. And the passenger side is not convex, so it’s more for spotting than seeing what’s beside you. I helped this situation quite a lot with some stick-on bubble mirrors. They might be a little lame, but they work great. You’ll see it in the final shot.
When the weather warms up, I’ll give these guys a shot of paint. For now, they match pretty well with just the black plastic. Few owners in Japan ever paint these, so it won’t kill me to wait a few months.
Sunset, a long road, and a small car.
Overall: I give these mirrors a solid B. They’re very pretty, but not without a few flaws. I might keep a look out for the real 1028 bases on Yahoo Japan. Still, I’d recommend them to anyone for the price.
Update
I removed these mirrors a few months after installing them. They looked nice but failed at the task of reflecting objects around me. You know – being mirrors. I just couldn’t live with them.
I’d downgrade their rating to a D. They’re kinda cool, but also kinda worthless. Sorry. I really wanted to like them.
This was a nice post! I am looking for some related pictures. Anybody got some good ones?
http://www.hundred-one.com/m2_1028.htm
That’s not a bad link there. Some decent M2-1028 info.
Hey.. nice mirrors. I fully admit that your mirrors have more character than anything i could suggest… but have you ever looked at the APR carbon mirrors?
http://www.slickauto.com/sa-miata01.html
thats a kit… $50 more than from APR, but with plates to finish off the non-power mirror bases on an NA.
Those are slick (no pun intended) mirrors! I think they’re the same ones my buddy Meg ( http://carsxgirl.com/ ) has on hers? They were on my top 3 list for sure.
Yup! APR CF side mirrors.
We got the same style mirrors for our S2k, so it was yet another idea I stole from the hubs. (My Miata and his S2k are as close to twins as these two cars could ever get.)
Here’s a very recent picture of mine, so you can kinda see a comparison between the mirrors on the two cars: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2734/4276713715_4d4eb0708f_b.jpg
Adam — Very, very sexy mirrors.
I like how they hardly stick out at all, makes mine look funny haha.
Looks cleaner than my Vitaloni’s! Does the recessed mirror adjust?
Great idea on the bubble mirror, as i’ll have to give that a shot, but mines are a bit smaller in mirror area than yours.
If you plan to change, I think you should look into the Runabouts. I miss mines so much for their function and looks. Plus it’s blue tinted glass is just classy!
They just barely adjust. The inner mirror can angle out to be even with the black plastic. I’ve got the passenger side angled out as far as it can like this.
Vitalonis are SMALLER in the mirror area? Holy crap….
Not by much, just a smudge. The Rev9’s look cleaner, minus those hideous sheet metal screws.
I need to enable another layer of replies…
No doubt. Those screws were rather laughable. I need to take a shot of the black sockethead capscrews I used. Much prettier.
Love the M2 parts, perfect!
They do make a wide angle lens, no? I’ve always had a hankering for these. But I remember hearing about some that are wide angle.
I suspect he installed the convex mirror on the drivers side and the other mirror on the passenger side. These are intended for a RHD car. Just got my set despite the D rating, if i can flip them i will.