Parking

[Chet]

I cannot seem to learn just where the nose of the MS is by sighting over the frunk; try as I might, I always stop short of the intended spot or a bit too close. Low obstructions are not detected by the front sensor.


However, I found a solution. Do this:


- Sitting in your normal driving posture, sight down to the ground at the acute angle formed by the left mirror bracket and the window sill.
- This will identify a spot on the ground. Remember the spot (or perhaps with the help of an assistant, wife mark the spot).
- Exit the car and estimate the distance of the spot with respect to the nose. It may be a few inches back of or in front of the nose.
- Remember this distance and use it to estimate the position of the nose next time you park.

 

[DriverOne]

Good tip, Chet. Also see this camera addition thread: Front-rear camera touchscreen parking protection switch kit reservations. I'm going to give the camera a try.

I'm curious what happens if you actually hit the curb at low speed with that bottom bumper. Does it bend & return, or snap, or what?

 

[Chet]

The underside plastic (?) appears to be shaped so that the MS would ride over the obstruction. Fortunately, I have not tested this.

 

[caddieo]

I cannot seem to learn just where the nose of the MS is by sighting over the frunk; try as I might, I always stop short of the intended spot or a bit too close. Low obstructions are not detected by the front sensor.


However, I found a solution. Do this:


- Sitting in your normal driving posture, sight down to the ground at the acute angle formed by the left mirror bracket and the window sill.
- This will identify a spot on the ground. Remember the spot (or perhaps with the help of an assistant, wife mark the spot).
- Exit the car and estimate the distance of the spot with respect to the nose. It may be a few inches back of or in front of the nose.
- Remember this distance and use it to estimate the position of the nose next time you park.

Nice but seems limited to parking in the same slot all the time. What do you do when parking elsewhere with no marked spot on the ground?

 

[kendallpb]

Nice but seems limited to parking in the same slot all the time. What do you do when parking elsewhere with no marked spot on the ground?

I do something similar, and did in my last car, too . . . but I pull up to a wall and get close and see how much wall I can see under the outside mirror. Basically, I can see a little bit and remember that amount. (I think I got out when figuring this out, and pulled up a bit so I was close-without-hitting, to get a good idea of just how close I could get.) I don't need to park in the same spot--even if there's no wall, I know about how close I can get to almost anything in front of me, as long as I can see something useful slightly to the left/front of my car that shows up just under the outside mirror and as long as I know where that something is. A line at the edge of the spot, one of those concrete bars, other cars if there's a row of them, etc. I don't trust myself to always sit exactly the same way, though, so I usually don't pull up quite as much as I can. If I can't see anything on that side, I just try to guesstimate. This usually happens if I'm parking in a busy spot.

I love reversing into a spot, though, since I know just how close I can get to anything, thanks to the rear camera! I'm sure the cameras aren't exactly the same on all cars, so I recommend figuring this out for your own car. But for me, when I get close enough that the bottom edge of my garage door is just touching (or just about to touch) the bottom edge of the rear camera display . . . I stop. Then I'm veeeeeery close to it. ;-) Very.

So in a busy pull-in spot, if I can't see to the side/front, I use the backup cam to guesstimate how far I can go. If the spots are shallow, this can be dangerous! ;-) But usually I pull in enough (if my normal pull-in trick won't work due to obstructions) so that I can just see the ends of the lines behind me (the lines on either side of the parking spot I'm pulling into). Obviously this can have limitations, too--no lines, lines obscured by snow or dirt, etc. But usually this works fine for me, and most spots are deep enough to pull a Model S into so that even if I can't see to the left/in front, looking at the backup cam at least lets me know when I'm safely into the spot. (I prefer pulling in more than just enough, of course...I'm just saying, if I'm not sure how much space I have in front....)

This is kinda rambling and I'm not sure it's clear what I mean, sorry.

 

[stevezzzz]

Nice but seems limited to parking in the same slot all the time. What do you do when parking elsewhere with no marked spot on the ground?

The marked spot is a one-time aid to figuring out where the nose of the car is relative to that spot on the ground. Since you'll use the same sightline (don't mess with your driver profile!) every time, you'll know how far it is from where the sightline intersects the ground to the nose of the car: no marked spot required.

 

[caddieo]

The marked spot is a one-time aid to figuring out where the nose of the car is relative to that spot on the ground. Since you'll use the same sightline (don't mess with your driver profile!) every time, you'll know how far it is from where the sightline intersects the ground to the nose of the car: no marked spot required.

Gotcha! Thanks.

 

[Robert.Boston]

The simplest solution: back into parking spots. The rear camera is very good for identifying obstructions, and there's no risk of running your bumper over the curb.

If you DO park head-in and run over a curbstone, you won't do much damage underneath on your way in. Backing out, however, you might rip off your front bumper. If you have air suspension, you can save yourself in that situation by raising to Very High before backing out.

 

[Chet]

Yes, I have found the rear camera very accurate.

 

[AudubonB]

For one's own garage only - I've found an inconspicuous method is to mark (black Sharpie line worked for me) a line on the floor whose presence in my rear camera lets me know I've come in to the correct pre-determined amount.

 

[Chet]

I like this idea. I'll try it.