Anyone ever feel like beating the crap out of those people you see in dense cities with numerous scrapes on the front and rear bumpers of an otherwise decent car. It was one of those f**ckers that put a good size dent and paint scrape into my nose panel. Just about every day I see some dumb *** hitting another car when they are entering/exiting their parallel parking space.

That said, obviously I am the dumb *** for parking my car on the street in San Francisco (it's usually in a parking garage).

 

Also, I think that everyone who has a manual transmission car in San Francisco needs to know how to heel toe. If they don't, then they can simply walk and get the hell off my streets! (I think my car was parallel parked on a hill when it was hit)

Oh yeah, did I mention that I'm the dumbass for being a non rich car enthusiast in San Francisco.

 

Hey Steve, I feel your pain. I personally hate the painted bumpers that are now on every car which isn't a POS. Along with the 944 I have two VW Jettas, you know the ones with completely painted bumpers. I have resorted to owning a "beater"/city car which has black plastic bumpers...a 190e and have resigned to the fact that I can only drive this car in the city. So what area did this violation happen?

 

I've been wondering who needs the braille on drive-up ATM's......

 

i hate those people who in crowded parking lots open their door, and if they dont have enough room to get out of their car hit other people's doors and dont care that they did it <img src="graemlins/cussing.gif" border="0" alt="[grrrrrrr]" />

 

[quote]Originally posted by triscadek:
<strong>I've been wondering who needs the braille on drive-up ATM's...... </strong><hr></blockquote>

How else are the blind supposed to get there money out when they drive up to the ATM?

I like the braille signs at my school that say fire exit.

 

At the local WalMart the parking lot is so slanted that if you don't park where every one else does (close to the door) your vehicle gets smoked by a runaway cart that is going warp speed.

Say No to P-Car at Walmart.

 

I call it parking by ear. Used to live in a house with no parking, so I got really good at parallel parking on the street in spaces maybe one foot longer than my car. It was standard prodedure for that street.

Takes a little while and a few very gentle bumps, but there's no way I'd submit a Porsche to that situation. Most people really don't know how to parallel park.

 

[quote]Originally posted by Steve Lavigne:
<strong>Anyone ever feel like beating the crap out of those people you see in dense cities with numerous scrapes on the front and rear bumpers of an otherwise decent car. It was one of those f**ckers that put a good size dent and paint scrape into my nose panel. Just about every day I see some dumb *** hitting another car when they are entering/exiting their parallel parking space.

That said, obviously I am the dumb *** for parking my car on the street in San Francisco (it's usually in a parking garage).</strong><hr></blockquote>


I feel your pain brother.

Try getting a pair of tow hooks or threaded studs and put them on your car. If they get too close, they'll punch a nice hole in their own bumper cover.

 

[quote]Originally posted by chris luckett:
<strong>I feel your pain brother.</strong><hr></blockquote>

Thanks. I bet it also pisses you off when people are careless and scrape the underside of your doors on the sidewalk.

[quote]Originally posted by chris luckett:
<strong>Try getting a pair of tow hooks or threaded studs and put them on your car. If they get too close, they'll punch a nice hole in their own bumper cover.</strong><hr></blockquote>

I was just thinking the same thing. Maybe I could file down the factory tow hook so that it is a spike and thread it into the front end when I park. Too bad it is so low that it probably wouldn't do anything to a lot of vehicles. Also, I suppose an ill willed person would unscrew the spike and jam it into my header panel.

 

[quote]Originally posted by Steve Lavigne:
<strong>Also, I think that everyone who has a manual transmission car in San Francisco needs to know how to heel toe...</strong><hr></blockquote>
While heel and toe help a little, it's better to use the parking brake when starting off on a hill. A new parking brake is far cheaper than a new clutch.

Just my $0.42
-Z.

 

[quote]Originally posted by Z-man:
<strong>
While heel and toe help a little, it's better to use the parking brake when starting off on a hill. A new parking brake is far cheaper than a new clutch.

Just my $0.42</strong><hr></blockquote>

If anything the parking brake is much worse because it is much more difficult to control the amount of brake and it is only on the driven wheels (rwd cars). I'd say the drivetrain gets loaded up much more with the typical parking brake method. Also, compared to the parking brake method, heel toe is easy as pie, and is much more likely to be used on a regular basis than the parking brake method. Also, I think the vehicle that hit me may have been a Toyota truck, which likely has a pedal for the parking brake and a pull lever to release (obviously a real PITA to use the parking brake method).

The parking brake method would be a huge PITA in stop and go on a steep hill.

If you are talking about holding the car on a hill with the clutch... Those people are dirty hoars and I hope I never buy a used car from one of them.

All that said, my car makes so little torque at very low rpms that I find I have to slip the clutch more than I like when stopped going up a real steep hill. After doing this a number of times (lots of blocks with stop signs up steep hill with traffic), I sometimes start smelling the clutch. I do suspect that had I used the parking brake, it would have been worse.

 

So exactly what should I do when trying to parallel park on a hill without doing that much damage to my car while also not hitting other cars? I currently like the ebrake method. I think its a lot easier than heal and toe. Any thoughts?

 

[quote]Originally posted by stupenal:
<strong>I currently like the ebrake method. I think its a lot easier than heal and toe. Any thoughts?</strong><hr></blockquote>

Once you are proficient with the heel toe method, you will find that it requires far less effort than using the parking brake. Plus, it will make you feel special and your friends (at least non skilled ones) will look on in awe! I don't think I have used the parking brake to do this in any vehicle for 7 years, and that includes driving in hilly Seattle and San Francisco.