Hi all,

Can anyone help me :

1/ How much is the natty little rear view mirror with compass as an after market purchase?

2/ Would anyone be willing to help me purchase and freight one to Australia?


Naturally I'll pay for all the bits and freighting charges, it's just really hard getting a U.S. dealer to even reply to my emails.

A west coast forum member would probably be the cheapest.

Oh...and while I'm at it, what about one of those "car Bra's"?

Thanks

You can get the mirror for about $200 and the half bra is $52 and the full bra is $114. You can go to http://www.handaaccessories.com/civic06.html to check on prices. You might want to email then since they are pretty quick about getting back to you on things.

I hear the mirror isn't all that difficult to install. Just need some confidence in the included instructions. I had the dealership install mine.. so I hate the overcharge.

Now.. compass wise. You may have issues with the compass in Australia. Ask the shop selling the compass if it works down there!

After installing the compass you need to set the 'zone' for the compass for it to work properly. My dealer set the wrong zone, so the direction was all goofed up. Once I changed the zone, it calibrated after a while and worked accurately.

The booklet I got with the mirror did -not- include a zone chart for the southern hemisphere. If it did, then we'd know that it supported it. It is possible there is a southern hemisphere version.

I'll take another peek at the compass and booklet and see if there are any additional zones that may cover you 'down under'.

Regarding the 'Bra'. I was looking at one myself.. but the half-version. The full version is sort of ugly to me. Now.. realize it may change the vehicles aerodynamic properties and affect fuel efficiency. Even if only slightly.

-Gary.

In most places magnetic north deviates from true north, so you have to make a correction. In San Francisco the deviation is about +15 degrees and in New York it's about -15 degrees. So a compass calibrated for New York would be 30 degrees off in San Francisco.

Here is a web page that shows magnetic deviation everywhere, including Australia.
http://www.geo-orbit.org/sizepgs/mag...l#anchor606384
The compass will work. It's only a matter of finding the correct calibration. Or you could calibrate it to zero and make the adjustment for true north in your head based on your location. That's what sailors do all the time with respect to the magnetic compass on their boats.

2006 HCH Alabaster Silver w/Navi
2003 Honda Accord LX

Thanks Gary. Not sure about that northern and southern hemisphere thing. I know we miss out on a lot of things in Australia - Electricity, refridgerators, microwave ovens etc. but magnetism? Still, the water does go down the toilet the other way!

But seriously, I appreciate your post and others on this issue.

Any further feedback would be great.

Thanks.

Hey thanks for that Elan. I just replied to gary and missed your post...the carrier pigeon was late again!

I really had no idea about this. Maybe I could just nail a compass to the dash!

I hope everyone is enjoying their HCH-II as much me! This is a fun car...and I really put my foot down the other day...wow...it's no slouch!!

Stay happy!