Question about impact distance warning

[BobInSeattle]

One of my favorite features is how I can pull into my garage and see a numeric readout telling me how far I am from colliding with the forward wall. In the old days, we used to hang a tennis ball on a string from the ceiling and position it in such a way that it would hit my windshield just when I'd reached the perfect parking location within the garage. With the Model3's little car diagram, I can actually see the number of inches before impact. For me, that number is 33, indicating that I'm perfectly parked away from the front wall, and far enough in to close the garage door behind me.

Here's the problem. The numerical readout isn't constant, it seems to arbitrarily display now and then, whenever it feels like it. So I wind up pulling in and out, in and out, over and over again until the numbers appear and I see 33.

Is there a way to make this readout constant?

Thanks for any insights or suggestions.

 

[Casmium]

No, your best off making a mark on the floor that you can see with the rearview camera(ie when the line appears im in far enough, or mark something on the wall the lines up with the rearview mirror, or use the old trusty tennis ball

 

[BobInSeattle]

No, your best off making a mark on the floor that you can see with the rearview camera(ie when the line appears im in far enough, or mark something on the wall the lines up with the rearview mirror, or use the old trusty tennis ball

That's a shame, but thanks for the prompt response. I like the idea of a line behind me on the ground. I'll check to see if I can actually see that with my backup camera and then give it a try. Thanks!

P.S. How do you upvote someone, or is that not a thing here?

 

[john5520]

Sounds like a bug they can fix OTA.

To upvote, hover over 'like' and chose an icon.

 

[stopcrazypp]

That's a shame, but thanks for the prompt response. I like the idea of a line behind me on the ground. I'll check to see if I can actually see that with my backup camera and then give it a try. Thanks!

P.S. How do you upvote someone, or is that not a thing here?

I say ditto on the line thing. My garage has a "line" from the dust on the paint caused by the border with the door and it serves as a perfect reference point for pulling into the garage and using the rear view camera to adjust distance (note you can turn on camera view even when not in reverse, by pressing the camera icon).

Also although I haven't personally tested it, the manual does note that the "park assist" screen shows up at 5 mph and when in reverse. So I would try to see if throwing it in reverse (and then back to drive if you want to see the front number) will trigger the numbers to show up.

 

[GtiMart]

I don't think the sensors can be precise enough for what you're asking. If they're dirty you might get different results too... It's a great tool, as long as you recognize its limitations.

 

[jjrandorin]

That's a shame, but thanks for the prompt response. I like the idea of a line behind me on the ground. I'll check to see if I can actually see that with my backup camera and then give it a try. Thanks!

P.S. How do you upvote someone, or is that not a thing here?

Those features appear after you have a minimum number of posts. I think its around 10 or so, but I am not sure. I (like most moderators here) am a volunteer mod, and those options are set by the site ownership.

TL ; DR -- It will appear after you post a bit more.

 

[Gasaraki]

Yeah I don't know why they don't just make the numbers pop up consistently. Sometimes it shows, sometimes it doesn't.

 

[Casmium]

Yeah I don't know why they don't just make the numbers pop up consistently. Sometimes it shows, sometimes it doesn't.

probably something to do with how stable the signal from the sensor is

 

[Shelburne]

I've become wary of the distance sensors. Several months ago I was parking my car in front of a shop. As I pulled in to the parking space, the sensors must have been reading the far larger wall of the building rather than the 6 to 10 inch tall piece of concrete curbing at the actual head of the parking space. The result: multiple white scratches on the underside of the front of the car. Of course, that makes sense if you stop and think about it: the distance sensors were being fooled by the distance to the far larger wall of the shop than the smaller piece of concrete curbing. When I heard that awful scraping noise the car still thought I had 22 inches of room.

 

[karbomusic]

You could over-engineer the crap out of it like I did for my wife (non-Tesla) using an Arduino and LED matrix.

 

[Knightshade]

I've become wary of the distance sensors. Several months ago I was parking my car in front of a shop. As I pulled in to the parking space, the sensors must have been reading the far larger wall of the building rather than the 6 to 10 inch tall piece of concrete curbing at the actual head of the parking space. The result: multiple white scratches on the underside of the front of the car. Of course, that makes sense if you stop and think about it: the distance sensors were being fooled by the distance to the far larger wall of the shop than the smaller piece of concrete curbing. When I heard that awful scraping noise the car still thought I had 22 inches of room.

Ultrasonics are also notoriously bad at seeing things that are very close and either quite low or quite high.

 

[Need]

I never noticed that there is a number in the display as I never looked at the display when I park. I look at the front of my car. For the garage, I have a wheel stop thing on the floor. I have creep enabled so just let the car creep into the garage and it will stop when it hits the wheel stop.

 

[Billee]

I installed one of these. It has a motion sensor that turns on the laser. Adjust it so that the laser beam is visible on your dashboard when the car is at the correct location. Works like a charm.

Provides interesting reactions when a guest walking thru the garage sees a red laser dot in the middle of their chest.