Ditto!theseeker411 wrote:
Park This POS
Most people cant back in, which is why they choose not to. And when they do..you can tell that they dont often. I dont think I have pulled into a space in 4 years. The funny thing about backing in though is when people want to copy you. You get a row of spaces to yourself, and when you get back, everyone on the row is backed in too. I also park miles away from the front of places. I guess average just isnt my thing 
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spinedocab
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I agree on the "doing it well" statement. I guess my rant is derived from the countless times I have been inordinately detained by an incompetent attempt at the maneuver.I back in or drive in depending on my mood or the situation. I don't care how others park as long as they do it well.
And I love this. I am a big fan of proper retribution.
carry on.Years ago I had some clown do this while I was backing my truck into a spot... bastard zipped right in. I told him of his wrong doing, he laughed, saying "you snooze, you lose". I just smiled at him and he walked away. I then took out my tow strap and dragged his car out of the spot, left it in the aisle and informed the university parking office that a car had been abandoned and they towed it away.
Andrew.
I like this one better.RobbieR wrote:
That's not even "parallel parking". It's backing into a space. What do the editors of Automobile Magazine expect?
Try this instead: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lc6U7JTkMXw
Or this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qlHOJ6J ... ed&search=
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C.R. Krieger
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Re: Park This POS
Two words: Power headrests.DMNaskale wrote:I find their new 8 speed automatic self parking sled to be the crowning achievement of uselessly extravagant engineering brought to the better than common man.
Spoken like a person who's never driven an M6. Trust me on this one. The nose of an M6 is so low and so far out in front of where you sit, it's impossible to judge accurately how close you are to hitting a kerb with it. The only option is to stop well short of any obstacle to not even risk it. This places the very fragile rear bumper mounts at risk of being hit. Something which actually happened to me in fact and I can assure you that restraightening the rear bumper brackets to get an even gap is no fun at all.spinedocab wrote:Well, I can't speak to the ease of parking a large pickup or SUV, since I don't drive one. But I still disagree. No-one says one must pull up so far as to crunch the airdam. That is generally cockpit error IMO.
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spinedocab
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And none taken. I'm just saying that even if reversing into a tight spot is more difficult for you than driving in forwards for whatever reason, the inconvenience of doing so is still massively less than removing the front bumper and getting it resprayed. I know this to be a fact because mine is scratched right now and I've been putting it off for about 6 months and counting so far.spinedocab wrote:Well, actually I have driven an M6, although not a great deal. But point taken. It is a long low nose. And by using the phrase "cockpit error" I wasn't implying incompetence. Just inattention or a lapse in perception. No offense.
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spinedocab
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No worries, mate. But I think you misunderstood me. It's not difficult for me. It simply doesn't compute, logically, to me. I still maintain that it's easier to back OUT of a tight space than INTO one, especially for the oldsters that I see being unable to rotate their necks around or properly use their mirrors to discern their position.
Anyway, that's about it.
Andrew.
Anyway, that's about it.
Andrew.
It does actually require more room to back out of a spot than drive forwards out of one, because the front overhang swings out as soon as you turn the steering wheel. The same thing does not happen as quickly or as significantly with the rear overhang because of the dampening effect of the body length.
While driving forwards out of a space you can use the full available steering lock almost immediately without sideswiping the car alongside. While reversing out of a spot you have to be conservative on the steering until your front corners are clear of the car alongside before you can fully crank the steering.
That said, you were comparing reversing into with reversing out of a parking space. The same reasoning applies though. When reversing in, you aren't constained in how much steering lock you can use by other cars alongside. While reversing out, you are.
I don't think anyone argues that reversing is more difficult than driving forwards. That's a given. Cars are set up to go forwards most of the time. The seats face that way for starters. But in the case of parking into a blind spot, reversing is required at least once. Since that more difficult manoever has to be completed at least once, doesn't it make sense to make it as easy as possible by giving yourself the best chance and room for error by doing it in the direction where you have the most available steering movement for the longest duration?
The only point I can't argue with is the case you put about old person's flexibility, diminishing peripheral vision and consequential deteriorating spacial awareness. I agree that my comments are probably not targeted at this particular demographic.
While driving forwards out of a space you can use the full available steering lock almost immediately without sideswiping the car alongside. While reversing out of a spot you have to be conservative on the steering until your front corners are clear of the car alongside before you can fully crank the steering.
That said, you were comparing reversing into with reversing out of a parking space. The same reasoning applies though. When reversing in, you aren't constained in how much steering lock you can use by other cars alongside. While reversing out, you are.
I don't think anyone argues that reversing is more difficult than driving forwards. That's a given. Cars are set up to go forwards most of the time. The seats face that way for starters. But in the case of parking into a blind spot, reversing is required at least once. Since that more difficult manoever has to be completed at least once, doesn't it make sense to make it as easy as possible by giving yourself the best chance and room for error by doing it in the direction where you have the most available steering movement for the longest duration?
The only point I can't argue with is the case you put about old person's flexibility, diminishing peripheral vision and consequential deteriorating spacial awareness. I agree that my comments are probably not targeted at this particular demographic.
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spinedocab
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For goodness sake! All I said was that if one had to EITHER back in OR back out of a parking spot it was easier to back out into the nice, wide aisle of the parking lot than it is to carefully AIM the car between the painted lines or the other cars already in their spots . And that I have seen people make a multiple pass operation out of a simple parking job.
I am conversant with the physics/movements/actions/time and space continuum of maneuvering automobiles. I have done it many times.
All this blather about the traffic in the parking lot, the visibility whilst reversing in or out of a spot (can't follow the difference there), the front end swinging in response to yaw of the front wheels is all mighty fine stuff. But it is irrelevant to my original comment. I think we are all rather capable of backing out of a spot without sideswiping the next vehicle.
It is easier to back out of a spot than it is to back into it. I am not denigrating anyone's driving ABILITY by saying so. We can all do either. But one is less difficult that the other.
Andrew. (still pulling through when he can, and backing OUT when he can't)
I am conversant with the physics/movements/actions/time and space continuum of maneuvering automobiles. I have done it many times.
All this blather about the traffic in the parking lot, the visibility whilst reversing in or out of a spot (can't follow the difference there), the front end swinging in response to yaw of the front wheels is all mighty fine stuff. But it is irrelevant to my original comment. I think we are all rather capable of backing out of a spot without sideswiping the next vehicle.
Who among us would immediately throw the wheel hard to one side while exiting a parking spot. OF COURSE it takes proper technique to back OUT of a spot, just as it does to back INTO a spot. But it has nothing to do with the size and arrangement of the space one is attempting to put their car into.the front overhang swings out as soon as you turn the steering wheel.
It is easier to back out of a spot than it is to back into it. I am not denigrating anyone's driving ABILITY by saying so. We can all do either. But one is less difficult that the other.
Andrew. (still pulling through when he can, and backing OUT when he can't)
Okay, fair enough. You're right, but, your example is not reality in the vast majority of parking lots I've been in. Unless you are lucky enough to snag a parking space directly opposite one of the isles leading up the middle of the lot, reality is that 90% of the time you are going to be needing to turn sharply while reversing out of a parking spot in order to not have to do a further 3-point turn after you've exited. I'm talking about Australian parking lots here of course though which I assume to be very similar to US ones. Perhaps I'm wrong. Maybe US parking lots are much bigger than ours. In fact they probably are to accomodate things like Chevy Surburbans, Dodge Rams & Hummers (which thankfully we don't have in any numbers). In our parking lots at least reversing out requires just as much in the way of motorkhana garaging skills as reversing in between two parked cars, only without the aforementioned benefits of having a car positioned that way in the parking space.spinedocab wrote:For goodness sake! All I said was that if one had to EITHER back in OR back out of a parking spot it was easier to back out into the nice, wide aisle of the parking lot than it is to carefully AIM the car between the painted lines or the other cars already in their spots.