crooked parking
 

hello guys, i noticed with this car mainly when backing into a spot it appears through the windshield looking forward that i'm centered and think, "yes i parked almost perfectly" but then i come out and see i'm standing somewhat diagonally (check out my mspaint drawn picture as an example)...does this happen to anyone else when reversing their vehicle into a spot? i can't even tell me anymore if i'm standing straight or not

https://s27.postimg.org/8xler6nfn/Untitled.png

I just use my sideviews and aim them down now to check where I'm at.

I always look behind me to get centered and not smash into anything, but I look forward to line myself up. And I do this in any vehicle I drive, even my 335is with its downward tilting side mirror.

yes....i got that too, you are not alone.

Hello ChimpMania and welcome to posting to ye ol forum..... :clap:

I seldom "combat park", so no, it doesn't happen to me.

Why don't I back in? Because some other fool will head in front ways and steal my parking spot.


humfrz

i bought those little tiny blind spot mirrors and installed them in the bottom corners so i can see the curbs and lines but it doesn't seem to help me too much

I can park straight baking in no issue but for some reason don't park straight pulling in. Ever! Have no clue why but I am always on at least a bit of an angle. People probably think I do it on purpose but I don't.

Do you ever look forward, like I said? I usually look at something in front of me, like a line or building. Going by feel, I just make sure that point of reference across from me is perpendicular.

It is the forward parking I have an issue with! My head must be crooked or something since I park, think I am fine, walk away and look back just to see I am off by 10 or 15 degrees. Backing in straight as an arrow. I have developed some sort of angular perception disability when pulling in.

Lol great drawing.

LOL,I never back into spots,and I still park crooked.

This is the lowest to the ground car that I've ever owned,and a lot of the time,I just don't park straight because of the angle that I see the lines.

at this point i think im not sitting centered in the seat (too big for the seat alittle possibly) so that is throwing off my point of view

The laughed when I found out these little cars came with a backup camera.

I want a backup camera...I have the same problem.

I am pretty sure it is actually just because I stop so far back. I still approach at an angle that if I went 2 or 3 more feet I would be straight but then stop way back. Mine is lowered a bit and parking blocks scare the crap out of me.
Had one woman give me grief because I left 2 feet once and it made it more "difficult" to get her f150 crew cab into the next space. I politely pointed out that even with that two feet I was still shorter by about six. Her reply was "well of course since trucks are bigger". Can't fight that logic.

I "combat park" at work by using the backup camera. It gets me straight and centered in the spot every time. No angle issues for me there.

I "combat park" in the garage using the side mirror. Using the mirror lets me get within an inch of the garage cabinets to allow enough room to get a motorcycle in and out between the cars.

You throw a camo net over it, leave the doors open and keys in the ignition?

You don't?

Only when in Detroit. You would think leaving the doors open and keys in it would be bad there but I will take the quick exit route anytime. You have any idea how hard it was to find a graffitied, crumbling concrete camo net though?

I thought i was the only one who parked crocked. I guess its because the car is kinda short and a little inpit on yhe steering wheel change the angle

I took a little time to get used to parking straight with this car, but now I'm pretty consistent. I usually try to approach perpendicular to the space and cut the wheel in sharply, making small adjustments if I didn't judge quite right. Thankfully the car is so small I could totally jack it up and still have decent clearance all around as long as I'm not touching a line. I think this mostly came down to learning where the car's nose is in space since you can't see it from the cockpit unless your raise the seat enough to jam your head into the roof.

As for backing in (my go-to), I have a process I was taught by my driving instructor that works every time, with virtually any vehicle. I pull past the spot I plan to park in (it's rare for someone around here to steal a space from you when you've got a signal on and you're clearly going for it) getting my shoulder about lined up with the halfway point of the next parking space. Shift to reverse, cut the wheel to lock, and start backing up (no, I don't judge with the camera here because I have half a lifetime of experience and habit of using my eyes, neck muscles, and the rear glass), use side mirrors to make sure I'm not going to give the car next to the space any custom sideswipe paint jobs, and also check for the lines on the ground in my mirrors. Once I know I'm in, I've begun to make use of the camera to double check that I'm straight and to make sure I'm not running up on the curb or a vehcile behind me. This is the only way I can decently back into a space (not talking parallel parking, though). If I try to cheat by entering at anything less than a 90° angle or being already lined up to back straight in, I get all jacked up. But if I pull past the space slightly and cut the wheel, I usually nail it without having to make major adjustments.

For once...

I HAVE THE ANSWER!!

I had the same trouble when I first got this car; for months, I could swear I was pulling in straight (or backing in straight), then get out of the car only to discover that I was parked diagonally again. Drove me crazy. As you've probably all guessed by now, I'm a little OCD, and parking poorly is something I don't tolerate well, especially when I'm the one doing the poor parking.

You know what it was, at least for me, and I'm guessing for many of you? This car's door is swept up at a fairly severe angle front to back along the slot into which the window retracts. Most cars are either level, or slightly raked upwards. The FR-S/BRZ takes that "slightly raked upwards" to an extreme. If you rely on the sight picture out of your driver and passenger windows to confirm whether or not you're parked straight, that angle will mess with you big time.

The second I realized that's what it was, my parking straightened out.

Check it out...

Barry

I just poke my head out and line myself up parallel to the parking lines..personally I've always felt due to the size and decent visibility this has been one of the easiest cars to park backwards, so I backup nearly every time I'm parking.

huh.. I always thought I was just shitty at parking..

I get this all the time. Get out, look at it, then re-park.
Helps that the twins are so small that it usually doesn't matter.

God-level parallel parking skills though. Even in a Grand Caravan.
Some people never will be capable though. Such is life.

DANG! ........ 24 posts and counting, on how to park a car straight ......:confused0068:


humfrz

Leave it like that and it gets left alonr cuz they think it's a bait car

Looking forward helps alot, assuming the spaces are even on both sides lol

OT was slow cuz everyone came out here I guess

Also in the crooked parking club :(

I'm a parallel parking commando but I can't back into a space for shit. Glad it's not just me.

I'm going to try @MuseChaser's theory. I also figured it had to have something to do with the lines of the car.
@Anthony, looking forward definitely helps.

I have to use the mirrors and line them up with the stripes on the ground. Of course I always park as far away as possible and park next to a berm or grass or massive concrete spacer, etc.

I always back in because the rear of the car is high enough that the concrete stoppers don't rub on it. The fancy ass STi plastic hunk of crap on the front of my car is beat up pretty badly even though I don't pull straight in. This car just seems too low all the way around, which is crazy.

Hahaha! Thought it was just me parking crooked while backing into a stall. Never had issues until I got this car. Parking straight ahead in a stall is worse for me. Got new Rexpeed mirrors which helps a lil when backing in.

well, in your case...

I am Asian after all...

lol

I thought I was the only one! Glad we have a nice support group here.

The other thing is that our car has such a booty that I'm always afraid of scraping any curbs behind the car (I had a faux-diffuser and protruding exhaust tips on mine).
This is one car where a back up camera would be a huge boon.

FT86ers: we can corner like a boss, but can't park to save our lives

Sent from my SM-G930W8 using Tapatalk

Two pages and nobody commented on ol' @Tcoat getting his head screwed on straight. Y'all are slipping and I'm disappointed :slap:

Meh, no motivation to state the obvious.

That should be the least of @Tcoats worries ..... :sigh:


humfrz

i think this is the coolest thing I've ever seen haha. I wish the 86 had it

It does.. it's just the manual version. The plus side is you have more control over the viewing angle. On the minus side, you've gotta plan ahead a bit or you'll hold up traffic (if there is any), and you've gotta remember to put the mirror back to its regular driving position before you leave the parking spot.

Ever since I test drove a BMW w/ that feature, I've been doing it w/ the lever on my FR-S. Great tool.

Manual all the way! lol

i used to do that before i bought blind spot mirrors...i can at least see the curbs, lines, and my rear tires now but the mirrors are so tiny and have a parabolic effect so it makes things somewhat tricky (it makes you seem closer to the curb or line that you really are for example)

like another person said...we can corner fast and can't park for crap haha