Backing up....

[Blue86]

I have front and back cameras on mine

[gily25]

Back-up cameras sort of tell their own story...to back-up you need to use both the mirrors and swivel your head to look out the windows as well as listen for indicators around you (people talking, the sound of other engines). If you need a back-up camera it usually means you are only capable of focusing on one thing or ability at a time...those kind of drivers scare me...so focused on their screens they forget they have to turn the wheel.

When I learned to drive my dad put down a bunch of empty mcdonalds cups and had me drive and drive until I could do it without crushing the cup (race schools use the small cones but the cups are easier to get/cheaper). If you're having the need for a back-up cam...get some cups and learn how to control your vehicle...back-up cam is just a band-aid for the problem.

[Rayme]

Originally Posted by gily25

Back-up cameras sort of tell their own story...to back-up you need to use both the mirrors and swivel your head to look out the windows as well as listen for indicators around you (people talking, the sound of other engines). If you need a back-up camera it usually means you are only capable of focusing on one thing or ability at a time...those kind of drivers scare me...so focused on their screens they forget they have to turn the wheel.

When I learned to drive my dad put down a bunch of empty mcdonalds cups and had me drive and drive until I could do it without crushing the cup (race schools use the small cones but the cups are easier to get/cheaper). If you're having the need for a back-up cam...get some cups and learn how to control your vehicle...back-up cam is just a band-aid for the problem.

Well that sounds good in a perfect world. Sometime there's crap you don't control, even to the best of your ability. Maybe the OP has a bad back and can't turn his head? Who knows? Or maybe you have to park in a tight spot and could use every inch of space available when backing up? A camera has it's uses.

I have zero problem backing up, having a camera would only make me better as it's just one more bit of information available to me. I doesn't need to be used as a "replacement" for driving ability and mirrors.

[Razz]

Originally Posted by jarviz

All I know is everytime I think backup I get paranoid and worried that I'm about to hit the bumper, I get out and check to see at least another 15'' of space...

15" is good. You don't need to get that close unless your in a garage and even then most garages have enough space where you don't have to be that close.

Keep practicing until you get to 6".

[Supermassive]

What i don't get is people generalizing those of us who are paranoid about our cars and not wanting to screw them up. I am no where near a one track minded driver, trust me i have eyes in the back of my head that got there through riding a crotch rocket in SoCal for 12 years. When backing up my car the risk of rashing my brand new GramLights or crushing my under diffuser on an unseen curb is not worth trusting my spatial awareness. If I could find a way to install back up sensors without it looking stupid as hell, I would do it too.

The point is some of us regardless of skill, attention span, or cluelessness (according to our Pro Drivers) we value our car enough to want to ensure that we don't harm it needlessly. It's a valuable addition to any car IMHO and far less idiotic than slapping a gigantic CF wing on a car that will hardly ever reach speeds where that wing would even generate down force or aerodynamic effects at all.

For those of you too cool to spend the cash for a back up camera good on you, may you have the best of luck, for those of us who want an added layer of protection, what's so wrong about that? Why do you "purists" (I use that term loosely here) feel the need to attack any idea contrary to your own. I can understand disagreeing with the notion, but to personally attack and call into question someone's driving skill based on their question about a camera? The OP could be a veritable genius behind the wheel of a car at a racetrack, but due to visibility restrictions is uncomfortable backing up.

Also the cup analogy was cute...but which race school have you attended that instructs you on how to properly back into a parking spot...Skip Barber doesn't, neither does Bondurant out here at Firebird raceway...just curious is all.

[Jayde]

Originally Posted by dori.

well if you have the BRZ, you can just add the camera from any other subaru that has the camera since it's compatible with the navigation unit.

I do know someone with an FR-S with one but his is an aftermarket Pioneer setup

Link to DIY? Was thinking of doing this myself. At night time, backing up with tinted windows is a PITA. Sure, I could just open the doors/windows, but the bonus of having eyes back there is wonderful.

Originally Posted by Bonburner

I scratched my rims backing up :/
biggest mistake of my life lol

Biggest mistake huh? You must have a very carefree life.

[Sportsguy83]

Originally Posted by Jayde

Link to DIY? Was thinking of doing this myself. At night time, backing up with tinted windows is a PITA. Sure, I could just open the doors/windows, but the bonus of having eyes back there is wonderful.

I installed a Rydeen duo from this DIY

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17020

Not hard at all!

[NOHOME]

You have to admit that this car has terrible rear visibility. Spatial awareness does not allow you to see through the cars structure if there is something invading your spatial envelope.

I live two doors down from a public school. At the time I am leaving for work, there is a parade of munchkins walking to school. Most of them being about 4 foot tall and dumber than their lunch pails.

Just this morning I was backing out of the driveway when a kid stops besides the drive. He makes eye contact and I motion to him to go ahead. He starts to wave to me that he is good and I can go. Wrong. He was motioning to his little brother to go ahead and cross my driveway because I was stopped. That was close. No WAY I would have seen that kid had he already been behind the car and I was going for a gap in car traffic.

[gunmetal5]

Originally Posted by mrlewistan

i was thinking about getting a back up cam except mounting it up front behind the grill mesh. the rear is easy enough to see and guess but those concrete parking blocks are hard to see. Ive scraped the underneath of my front lip on one already.

I learned the hard way with my S2000... After scrunching up the front bumper on a parking block, I've learned a good approach if I am unsure of how far up to go. Park your car so the side mirrors line up with the adjacent car's door handles and you are good to go.

[gunmetal5]

Originally Posted by gily25

When I learned to drive my dad put down a bunch of empty mcdonalds cups and had me drive and drive until I could do it without crushing the cup (race schools use the small cones but the cups are easier to get/cheaper). If you're having the need for a back-up cam...get some cups and learn how to control your vehicle...back-up cam is just a band-aid for the problem.

This is a great approach, thanks!

[TuxedoCartman]

For everyone coming down hard on the people here who seem hostile towards the OP because he wants a backup camera, I have to ask: did you read the original post, before he edited it?! His original post didn't even mention a backup camera; somebody else suggested it to him. And while I'm afraid nobody grabbed a quote of it before it was edited, trust me... his original post made him sound like he really didn't know how to drive a car at all, to the degree that I wouldn't want to be on the same public roads as him.

The OP seriously abused the edit function for his original post.

[Tt3Sheppard]

I work in insurance and one of my insureds said she used a reflection on a window to back up her car. She ended up slamming into a parked vehicle. Scary when you think about it. I can't wait for self driving cars...we will have the roads to ourselves!

[switchlanez]

For parallel parking I use the convex mirrors I attached to my side view mirrors. I can completely see where the wheel is in relation to the curb.

[Accurate Race Shop]

I like back up cameras for parking lot islands and other crap in parking lots. I parallel park all the time so that isn't an issue but here in phoenix people love to leave those little metal hand baskets from the grocery store in the parking lot. And a lot of the islands are diamonds and hard to spot in the mirror if right behind you. I have gotten use to it and know to look for them before I get in but if I had a kid or my wife using the car a lot I would get one.