Judging nose length while driving

[Donut]

Hello people,

this may not be a problem of many, but I am having trouble with properly estimating the length of my Mirage while driving.

I cannot see the actual front of the car and have therefore to reverse a couple of times more than I guess would be required. No problem so far, because the parking spots in my lot are huge. I will, however, soon move to a very dense urban territory, where every inch is valuable and needs to be used in parking situations and narrow streets.

I would welcome any advice. What is your trick?

All the best

[Charlie]

Not saying I'm a tight parking space pro, but my method is to visualize where the front wheel well is, and from there I pretty much know how much more space there is till the front.

-Charlie-

[Canoehead]

I sometimes use the bumpers. Seriously, though, I expect it will come with experience. Maybe find a soft surface like one of those rubber-covered loading docks and slowly put the nose in enough times until you get the sense of how far you can go. Or you could try hanging a ball from a string and practicing on that.

[IchabodCrane]

If it's really that much trouble for you, you may benefit from the experience gained by attending driving school.
Barring that, try backing into parking spaces.

[Donut]

thx guys for these tips.
I was used to driving a much larger car, where the high seat provided perfect vision.

I will continue to practice parallel parking.

What is the policy in the US?
In Europe, I've seen people quite often gently touch the front and rear car in with their bumpers while parking...

[MysticMirage]

thx guys for these tips.
I was used to driving a much larger car, where the high seat provided perfect vision.

I will continue to practice parallel parking.

What is the policy in the US?
In Europe, I've seen people quite often gently touch the front and rear car in with their bumpers while parking...

In the US we shoot people for even touching our cars.

They've gotten rid of most parallel parking in the US, so you're pretty much safe.

[R01k]

In the US we shoot people for even touching our cars.

They've gotten rid of most parallel parking in the US, so you're pretty much safe.

Right!?

Donut, my method has been just to park and go out to see how accurate my estimation was. Also, parallel park everytime I can.

[Ares]

In my previous cars, I learned the right distance by accidentally bumping something LoL. What can I say, I learn from experience?

With that said, try to get a cone or something soft to bump and visualize. Once you've done that, I bet you'll know the limits of the car.