to all the hucksters commenting on how big the space is, keep in mind, they were letting journalists park these things. if you were Ford, would you have made it a tiny space?
Based on the quality of electronics in the Fords I've owned, it's only a matter of months before the first "park" button malfunction sends a comically over-sized boxing glove flying out of the airbag compartment into the driver's face
@Elhigh: Sweet God in heaven read the post. The spot is way bigger than what the car can do. Ford was letting every boneheaded journalist that happened to be in Chicago do this, would you trust a journalist to operate the accelerator and brakes while the system did its job? I sure wouldn't. Both the rear bumper on the Lincoln and the front on the Fusion would have been a mess by the end of the day.
@Rock517...now mostly lurking: Yeah, it puts the car about 10 inches off the curb. The same sensors that detect and measure the space detect the curb as well.
Well, if you can't combine skill and rage like a finely aged wine and drive exactly like I do- but not on the same road at the same as me, for Christ's sake please -then you shouldn't be driving at all!! Ya buncha pansy assholes.
Well, that spot could fit a Mercedes Pullmann! I wonder how these systems (any of them) would do in London, New York, Mexico City, Tokyo, Sao Paulo, etc. Any city with tight parking spots.
What I DO love is that you have to put your hands up in the air to let the steering wheel do its work so everyone around you can see you in the universal "I surrender, I'm a helpless driver" gesture.
@Maymar has too much utility character: Well, joking aside, I've always thought that a young driver's education should include stuff like check/change oil, change tires, use jumper cables, et cetera.. real stuff. I haven't parallel-parked in 14 years, and I've never had to do a "hill stop"..
This is something which will cause a drivers parallel parking skills to atrophy.
Most so-called "drivers" never had parallel parking skills. When I took my driving test (California) at 16 they made me parallel park on an empty road. Not exactly a challenge or a reason for a new driver to pick up the skill.
This is 1 of those things that will piss me off when im waiting behind an idiot in their fancy i can park myself lincoln which wont park itself because the spot is apparently 2 small...this is the point when i say people need 2 stop being lazy and just simply learn how 2 drive or dont drive at all...this is another example of why europe gets cooler cars than us
@Stefan Upshaw: Dude, we use real English here including spelling out words, capitalization, and punctuation. Save the txt-English for your phone and your other Facebook buddies.
Does it only work if the surrounding cars were made by Ford?
Seriously, this could save your car a ding or two if you are a city dweller and someone who lives in an area where parallel parking is not needed (country, suburbs) visits your city once or twice a year and decides to park in the spot in front or right behind you...
Why does everyone drive so slow when using this system? Evey time I've driven it, I controlled the systems throttle input and could go as fast as I wanted into the space. The demo driver in the clip backs up like an old lady, admittedly that's probably the target customer.
@BurgessBrutus: Hey! I'm the old lady in that clip... or, wait, no... yes. The thing is I wasn't interested in bashing the hell out of a rather expensive Lincoln that wasn't mine.
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If you don't have the skills to park the car, maybe you shouldn't take it out in the first place.
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i hope my invisible friend Deartháir will protect me
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If you don't know how use a manual clutch, you shouldn't be driving!
If you don't know how to use a manual choke knob, you shouldn't be driving!
If you don't know how to adjust the spark advance using a little brass lever on the steering wheel, you shouldn't be driving!
If you don't know how to hand-crank an engine, you shouldn't be driving!
There! I think I covered everything.
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If you grind the gears in a '54 MG, you shouldn't be driving!
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Most so-called "drivers" never had parallel parking skills. When I took my driving test (California) at 16 they made me parallel park on an empty road. Not exactly a challenge or a reason for a new driver to pick up the skill.
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Seriously, this could save your car a ding or two if you are a city dweller and someone who lives in an area where parallel parking is not needed (country, suburbs) visits your city once or twice a year and decides to park in the spot in front or right behind you...
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