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How tall are you? I'm 6'5" and don't have the issues you describe with the B pillars and I sit back pretty far. The Model 3 ended up being a breath of fresh ai

How tall are you? I'm 6'5" and don't have the issues you describe with the B pillars and I sit back pretty far. The Model 3 ended up being a breath of fresh air for me in terms of visibility overall, it has dramatically better visibility compared to the Leaf, Accord, and Corolla I had been accustomed to driving. I should note the Leaf has absolutely atrocious visibility and stands out as the worst I've encountered in a car.

madengr 7y ago
I’m the same height. Do you mean elevation or azimuth visibility? My Leaf is awesome for elevation as I’m not staring into the visor like I am with all other vehicles. In the Leaf, I’m looking several inches below the visor.
- cptskippy 7y ago
  My biggest complaints with the Leaf are obstructions in the horizontal field of view. The A Pillars are literally A shaped triangles that are just massive obstructions and the large side mirrors protrude upward and outward further obstructing my forward view. The center rear view mirror always manages to be obstructing my view of signs or traffic lights, especially when cresting hills, and I find myself bobbing and weaving to look around it. In the Leaf I have the seat all the way back and bottomed out as low as it goes. At that position I can see forward just fine though at some traffic lights I do have to lean forward and lookup. However at that position my shoulder is still forward of the B pillar so when look left I have an obstructed over the shoulder view. Looking right isn't much better as the rear passenger window tapers upward so I can only see up and out, not down. If the A pillars were narrow and not triangular, the side mirrors smaller and lower, and the rear windows didn't taper up but were just horizontal then it wouldn't bother me so much. As it stands, I just find myself bobbing and weaving a lot like I'm trying to find something I dropped under the kitchen table trying to look around a dozen chair legs. Contrast that with the Model 3 where I also have the seat mostly back and bottomed out. The low hood and high ceiling give great elevation view and the narrower A pillars and smaller lower side mirrors offer much less obstruction. That combined with the glass roof gives a very open air feel to the car. In the Model 3 my shoulder sits behind the B pillar so when I look left the pillar is in the middle of my FOV so my left eye can look out the rear driver side window. This is how it was in the last 3 Accords I owned and my partner's Corolla. When I look right out the passenger side the low window line that's mostly horizontal affords excellent visibility out the rear passenger window over my shoulder. In the Leaf I'm occasionally surprised by cars, something I've not experienced with any other car or even truck that I've driven.
rconti 7y ago
5'10" with short legs. It's possible sitting further back w/r/t the B pillar helps 'solve' the problem. Although you should absolutely have issues with the side mirror not adjusting out far enough. I've not driven a Leaf or current Accord or Corolla. I find the rear 3/4 visibility out of the 3 to be TERRIBLE (rear deck is too high), same for rearward visibility in the mirror (can't even see the headlights of the car behind you). However, the forward visibility is AWESOME. I love the low dash.

madengr 7y ago

I’m the same height. Do you mean elevation or azimuth visibility? My Leaf is awesome for elevation as I’m not staring into the visor like I am with all other vehicles. In the Leaf, I’m looking several inches below the visor.

cptskippy 7y ago
My biggest complaints with the Leaf are obstructions in the horizontal field of view. The A Pillars are literally A shaped triangles that are just massive obstructions and the large side mirrors protrude upward and outward further obstructing my forward view. The center rear view mirror always manages to be obstructing my view of signs or traffic lights, especially when cresting hills, and I find myself bobbing and weaving to look around it. In the Leaf I have the seat all the way back and bottomed out as low as it goes. At that position I can see forward just fine though at some traffic lights I do have to lean forward and lookup. However at that position my shoulder is still forward of the B pillar so when look left I have an obstructed over the shoulder view. Looking right isn't much better as the rear passenger window tapers upward so I can only see up and out, not down. If the A pillars were narrow and not triangular, the side mirrors smaller and lower, and the rear windows didn't taper up but were just horizontal then it wouldn't bother me so much. As it stands, I just find myself bobbing and weaving a lot like I'm trying to find something I dropped under the kitchen table trying to look around a dozen chair legs. Contrast that with the Model 3 where I also have the seat mostly back and bottomed out. The low hood and high ceiling give great elevation view and the narrower A pillars and smaller lower side mirrors offer much less obstruction. That combined with the glass roof gives a very open air feel to the car. In the Model 3 my shoulder sits behind the B pillar so when I look left the pillar is in the middle of my FOV so my left eye can look out the rear driver side window. This is how it was in the last 3 Accords I owned and my partner's Corolla. When I look right out the passenger side the low window line that's mostly horizontal affords excellent visibility out the rear passenger window over my shoulder. In the Leaf I'm occasionally surprised by cars, something I've not experienced with any other car or even truck that I've driven.

rconti 7y ago

5'10" with short legs. It's possible sitting further back w/r/t the B pillar helps 'solve' the problem. Although you should absolutely have issues with the side mirror not adjusting out far enough. I've not driven a Leaf or current Accord or Corolla. I find the rear 3/4 visibility out of the 3 to be TERRIBLE (rear deck is too high), same for rearward visibility in the mirror (can't even see the headlights of the car behind you). However, the forward visibility is AWESOME. I love the low dash.