4-6 inches is a lot. I’ve parked in spaces with less than that on a regular basis. This is Boston… Where you park by sound. Back up till you hear something, then go forward, ditto.
Yes, that was why it was relatively easy to accomplish without even touching the other cars. But since my car was turned crosswise (my bumpers to the other cars sides) I had to walk my car sideways farther than if working out of hemmed in parallel parking. All in all a good workout without power steering and a pretty good joke.
4-6 inches is a lot. I've parked in spaces with less than that on a regular basis. This is Boston... Where you park by sound. Back up till you hear something, then go forward, ditto.
Unfortunately in Boston…that’s so true. That’s why I never drive in Boston.
The good news is the tires will wear out more quickly and you can then buy the ones you like.
"Back up till you hear something, then go forward"
Many years ago, I knew somebody who described his parking technique as, “Back up until you hear glass”.
Needless to say, I never loaned my car to that guy.
It’s a fact of life in Boston. Every car I have traded in had both bumpers totally full of scratches and dents.
here is a typical photo. But now that cars no longer have bumpers, it will be a lot worse. Oh, for the good old days when the government mandated bumpers. I never did understand why that was dropped.
b
here is another photo, different car… but only a few years old.
To clarify, 90% of those scratches occurred from other cars in front or back while I was not present.
“Oh, for the good old days when the government mandated bumpers. I never did understand why that was dropped.”
I don’t mean to sound snarky . . .
Those newer cars you seem to think have no bumpers, do in fact have bumpers. The plastic is just that . . . plastic. The actual bumpers are underneath
Cars are literally getting more streamlined. The seams are getting smaller, and the fenders/quarter panels transition smoothly into the bumper skin, unlike cars from the 1970s, for example
db4690: re bumpers… new cars don’t have one that I can see, specially on the front. see photo. And, a bumper should not be damaged with a simple 2 MPH hit, instead of thousands of dollars damage.
@BillRussell I guarantee you 100% that burgundy Toyota in the picture has bumpers front and rear
The fact that you can’t see them means just that . . . you can’t see them
But rest assured, they exist, underneath the plastic
"a bumper should not be damaged with a simple 2 MPH hit . . . "
In those pictures you showed earlier . . . the Volkswagens, I mean . . . it was the cosmetic bumper skins that were scratched and dinged, NOT the actual bumpers themselves
My steering wheel won't go 360 degrees. Maybe 270.
Just 1.5 turns lock-to-lock? Impossible.
But I don’t see how you could hit the Toyota and not do thousands of dollars of damage. Perhaps I just need to see a visible bumper…
In fact I was thinking of investigating how much it would cost to add bumpers to my forester. It already has 4 “tow hook attachment points” at the 4 corners. These are threaded bolt holes for a half inch bolt where a hook could be attached.
b
Actually the plastic bumper covers are relatively cheap and only need to be replaced when they are torn or cracked. Otherwise, its just re-paint them to look like new. I must have re-done my son’s Acura front bumper at least five times including popping a huge dent out, repairing gouges, and refinishing. The car just seemed to attract other cars and he was never even near the car when it was hit. Its actually a skill that I would encourage people to learn. If you can do a little body work and refinishing, you can keep your cars looking a lot nicer.
“I was thinking of investigating how much it would cost to add bumpers to my forester.”
You have bumpers, as I’ve already explained
Pat yourself on the back, because I’m not going to argue with you anymore
If you consider that a victory, fine
" I was thinking of adding bumpers to my Forester "
Statements like that make me wonder why I quit drinking.
hey, sorry I offended you, db and volvo.
^
I don’t think that they were offended, @BillRussell.
Instead, I think that they–like me–are astounded that you think that cars no longer have bumpers.
look at new cars, like this one, and tell me where the bumper is. A bumper is a strip of material across the front (or back) of a car that protects the car from minor bumps from parking. (my definition).
Wikipedia: bumper is usually a metal bar or beam, attached the vehicle’s front-most and rear-most ends, designed to absorb impact in a collision.
b
^
Exactly!
That beam is present, underneath the plastic cover.
The beam, in conjunction with heavy plastic foam, does absorb the impact of a low-speed hit.
The biggest problem with this practice of turning without moving as I keep reminding other driver(s) in our family, is if you have studded snow tires. On dry pavement or concrete it can raise heck with the road surface and just has to be hard on the studs…
The other problem would be a very heavily loaded car or truck. You can literally see the rubber rub off onto pavement if I do this with my tractor with a load in the bucket. That tells me any car that has more weight on it might wear tires more when turning this way.