Hello all,
I was thoroughly humilated yesterday when trying to park outside SWMBO's mother's house. She lives on a street where there's no off-road parking. I tend to avoid such things to prevent alloy to kerb contact, but this time there was no excuse as I was driving SWMBO's steel wheel clad Almera. What made it worse was that SWMBO's mother (SWMBOEMS? (Even More So)) was in the passenger seat.
After nine shuffles, I managed to get into the space. The road had cars parked on either side and space for only one-way traffic. What should I have done? I don't remember parallel parking in my L test (it was in '85) and I've never had the need to practice it... until yesterday.
Any tips/helpful advice anyone? SWMBO may just have to do all the driving next time we visit SWMBOEMS, unless I can a) perfect my technique, or b) invent a "Beam me up, Scotty" device.
All the best
CV
|
Try and find a copy of the Reginald Molehusband public info film. Taught me all I know about parallel parking!
That said, some cars are easier than others - my previous 306 was a swine because the steering lock was quite poor for the size of car, whereas my current Focus is easy peasy.
|
|
I must admit that I said "If anyone says 'Well done Reginald Molehusband' after I've parked, I'll strop off" !!!
|
|
|
|
practice practice and er practice..........and its still easy to make a muckle out of it sometimes.
|
www.mousebreaker.com/games/parking/play.php
and that website mentioned on the Br does nothing for my confidence.
can't get past level 3 !
|
|
|
practice practice and er practice..........and its still easy to make a muckle out of it sometimes.
LOL, oldman.
Some cars are much easier to park than others which project all kinds of optical illusions when you're parking, but anyone can make a muckle of it any time. A question of mood, blood sugar levels and blind luck, as well as acquired skill or otherwise and general human idiocy and sluttishness. Some days, try as you may, the jalopy ends up sideways in the middle of the road with you walking away in disgust and calling it names.
|
|
|
|
|
I took my test in 1990 and only learnt to parallel park when I moved to a street with no off road parking.
I used to be pretty terrible but a mate of mine gave me the following advice.
Pull up beside the vehicle you will be parking behind. Start to reverse in a straight line and when your rear wheel is parallel with the parked car's rear wheel start to make the turn into the space. When you're front wheel is parallel with the parked car's rear wheel start to turn your wheel the opposite way so you straighten up into the space.
It does work but takes a few goes to get right.
|
|
|
As the old saying goes, practice makes perfect, but here is a brief outline:
1. Pull up so that your passengers door is parallel to the front wheel of the car in front of the space you wish to occupy.
2. Start reversing, and when your rear bumper is in line with that of the car next to you, swing some lock on. Some say about one full turn of the wheel, but it'll depend on the turning circle of your car.
3. In any case, you should try and make the nearside rear of your car head for the centre of the space (usually with your car at about 45 degrees to the kerb)
4. As soon as the front of your car is clear of the car in front, apply opposite lock. Preferably at rate which will allow you to get close to the kerb, as if you do it too quickly/much, you'll end up a mile from the kerb
5. Once parallel to the kerb (and not hitting the car behind) straighten your front wheels and pull forward so you?re central in space.
Sorry if its as clear as mud, I?m not very good at explaining things. I know, easier said than done!
|
|
Get a car with at least reversing sensors, makes it so much easier !
|
You just want a new car:
video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1667231319408741167 {Link made non clickable, as explained in "announcements" - DD}
|
Anyone else remember the Zidpark in the city in the sixties? You drove yr car onto some rollers where it rocked about as ypu got out. Then it went sideways into a compartment in an endless chain which lifted it up to a certain level and spat it out sideways onto a shelf on one side or the other.
When i drove my Bentley into it the guys told me to drive out again. I used to park it with other privileged vehicles in the (amply wide) approach road, and bung the guys a fiver a week - cheaper than the actual Zidpark wd have been.
Gone years ago of course, but a great machine.
|
This is probably a really stupid question, but why aren't we allowed to use clickable links to videos?
Cheers,
David.
|
This is probably a really stupid question, but why aren't we allowed to use clickable links to videos?
If the link is clickable, it gets redirected from this site (portalled), and in doing so can hamper things here. If a lot of people were to click on the link at the same time (it has previously happened with a popular link) then it has a noticable effect on the servers.
As well as this, it also means HJ gets to pick up the bill for the extra bandwidth used on his server.
DD.
|
|
|
|
Thanks for all the advice everyone. Seems I'll have to get practicing before the next trip.
Note to Pugugly - the car did have reversing sensors which made things even worse!!
|
|
|
|
|
Agree with the posts above about practising: also get a car with not only a good turning circle but also steering that's light at parking speeds.
I had a Renault Safrane in the 1990s which was particularly good at fitting into a space only just longer than its own length; you could twirl the steering wheel quite fast while the car was moving slowly. (It also never let me down once in 120,000 miles over 4 years.)
I hope parking sensors are standard in the new Honda Civic, as you can't see what you're reversing into. I also hope the turning circle is better than SWMBO's 04-model Type S, which is a liability in a confined space (although at least the visibility is not too bad).
|
"I had a Renault Safrane in the 1990s which was particularly good at fitting into a space only just longer than its own length"
Well, it's French......
(Anyone who has ever been to Paris knows what I mean.)
|
|
|
Not sure how much turning circle really has to do with it. My XJS had the turning circle of a planet yet it was by far the easiest of any of my cars to park. You could see the full length of the bonnet and the rear buttress thingies showed you exactly where the rear corners were - no guessing. Absolute doddle.
This 406 - can?t see the boot, can?t see the bonnet unless I press my head against the ceiling.
|
My Dad's Leganza was a doddle to park. 99% guesswork, but it never went wrong.
The trick was to park thinking you had plenty of space. Then you'd get out and discover about an inch between you and the car behind.
I thought the accepted method of parking is to use the other cars as reference points - ie, go back until you gently nudge the car behind, forwards until you hit the one in front, and then back to the middle. Simple as that. :P
|
|
And when they are stupidly parked so as not to leave you quite enough room, you can sometimes overwhelm their handbrakes and shove them along a bit. Wouldn't work so well with autos of course. And not every driver takes kindly to the sight of his or her pride and joy being shunted about in a parking bay. Still, I have quite often done it, the other day to my wife's car outside the house (it wasn't stupidly parked, but I needed a few more inches).
|
|
Given same wheelbase, FWD cars are likely to have bigger turning circles than RWD equivalents. I recall that driving in a car park with a 1994 Primera and a 2001 Volvo S80 made me feel like I was in charge of a bus. They were simply awful.
|
|
|
And not every driver takes kindly to the sight of his or her pride and joy being shunted about in a parking bay.
That's an understatement if ever I read one. I'm pretty sure any driver would take offence to their car being shunted by someone who couldn't give a toss about their own motor. If I ever caught anyone doing that to mine, I would shunt them around the car park with my size 11 steel toe cap boots.
|
|
Come come DD. I am sure you wouldn't park in the middle of a two car slot anyway. But I'm not talking about slamming into them, just easing up and pushing them a bit. It doesn't leave marks or do damage.
|
But I'm not talking about slamming into them, just easing up and pushing them a bit. It doesn't leave marks or do damage.
Yeah, right. Perhaps you haven't seen how soft and fragile modern bumpers are. The slightest knock or bump can easily knock them off their plastic mounting clips. And as modern bumpers are often part of the front or rear wing, it doesn't take much to change the panel gap between the two. Not to mention if the bumpers are colour coded - which are also easily scratched.
|
Yeah, right. Perhaps you haven't seen how soft and fragile modern bumpers are. The slightest knock or bump can easily knock them off their plastic mounting clips.
There are some cars even I wouldn't nudge, because as you rightly point out they haven't got bumpers, just ridiculously complex, fragile and expensive ornamental panels at the ends of the car. Have Ford Focuses got bumpers yet?
The bumpers on my early 90s Escort are soft but not fragile, ideal for this kind of work.
I would recommend people to buy cars with bumpers, not silly ornamental panels.
|
I would recommend people to buy cars with bumpers, not silly ornamental panels.
Unfortunately 99% of the modern cars on the market don't have proper bumpers anymore. They're all designed to be passenger and pedestrian friendly now.
|
Unfortunately 99% of the modern cars on the market don't have proper bumpers anymore. They're all designed to be passenger and pedestrian friendly now.
Slight topic drift DD, but are these clip-on panels any more pedestrian-friendly than softish plastic bumpers with some sort of internal reinforcement and fairly smooth and shovel-like nose? Since they are fragile, and clipped (in the case of the Focus anyway) to a quite jagged and nasty-looking under-panel, the whole thing costing a small fortune as well, I wd have thought there was a case for saying they were less pedestrian-friendly than well-designed proper bumpers, however smooth and harmless they may look on the outside.
|
|
|
|
I hope parking sensors are standard in the new Honda Civic, as you can't see what you're reversing into. I also hope the turning circle is better than SWMBO's 04-model Type S, which is a liability in a confined space (although at least the visibility is not too bad).
My parent's have just bought a new Civic ES, but surprisingly reversing sensors were an expensive extra despite having numerous other electronic gadgets.
--
Roger
I read frequently, but only post when I have something useful to say.
|
Have any of you tried parking in a Primera with the TV in the rear number plate housing? What was that like?
And have any other manufacturers copied this idea?
It seemed a good idea to me, but then I've never tried to park one.
Dan
|
|
No need for all these gadgets. You get used to a car's length quite quickly. I have heard people complain about the Megane's lack of rear visibility but I can place that big bum within an inch of where I want it.
|
Passed my test in the morning and out making deliveries in a transit van in the afternoon.
Learn to use door and interior mirrors for parralel parking (as you have too in a windowless van). If your mirrors a set correctly you can see both the kerb and your rear wheel position in relation to it.
|
|
|
|
Yep, I got one of them.
It's brilliant. Since passing my test, I have NEVER been able to parallel park and usually took the option to park somewhere else and walk rather than try.
Since getting the Primera with the rear view tv,I can get into the smallest of gaps.
Now I just need to learn how to get out of them......
|
Well, scratching balding head, we did learn parallel parking at BSM but I can not remember if I had to demonstrate during my test in 1969. Certainly remember reversing around a corner a manoeuvre which I did last week , much to someone else's alarm.
Most people seem to U turn in road junctions nowadays.
--
I wasna fu but just had plenty.
|
|
In 1984 I had to "pull up near the Kerb", no reversing to parallel park.
|
|
I find I either get it right first time (even in very tight spaces that are actually hard to get out of again) or it turns into a complete nightmare - there doesn't seem to be any middle ground!
|
Agree with BP
8 times out of 10 its a perfectly coreographed work of art that ends with a glow of pride and smugness.
2 times in the 10 it goes wrong from the moment i look at the gap, and turns into a complete nightmare and deep embarrasment..
------------------------------
TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
