'Clarkson' Parking

andy700 said:
I am not sure about that, uness you include modern "micro" cars such as the GeeWizz and others.

https://www.carthrottle.com/post/10-images-that-show-just-how-fat-cars-have-become/

As Phil said, safety (crumple zones, interior trim, bumpers) has added to the size, and the interiors are more plush with better soundproofing.
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If that is the case, why as the size of cars increase. do manufacturers then replace them with another similar sized small car. Take the Fiesta in your link, it has grown over the last 40 years, yet 20yrs ago they brought out the Ka, which was similar in size to the Mk1 Fiesta. The next generation Fiesta due out end of this year will be bigger than the current Fiesta, probably closer to the Mk1 Focus. Ford have already brought out a Ka+ to fill the gap between the Ka and the new Fiesta.
I worked on press tools for car panels for over 30yrs, there has been lots of changes in the shapes of the pressings which can add strength and safety to a car shell without the need to increase the car's size.
 
joxby said:
.ehem..like on the street opposite my flippin drive
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I have a brain dead half-wit living opposite me, 3 cars 1 works van, drive easily takes 3 cars.
(The people that lived there before managed it) but he prefers to park in the street, sometimes 1 on the drive, other times he's just a twatt.
I keep telling the local councillor, ( when we get "what can we do to improve this area flyers) he lives a couple of streets away.

My reply is always double yellow line the roads, and in force it! Its tight enough as it is, they eventually double lined the ( blind) bends as people were parking on those too.
 
Hugh Jarse said:
I never got my 1983 Jeep CJ8 Scrambler into a parking space in US outdoor parking lots in towns. No problem at out of town malls [emoji5]

Cars are growing all the time. I was in my youngest's 66 plate Kuga this afternoon (Titanium + Sport model) and we parked next to a Focus Estate outside the gym. ehe Focus wss timy in comparison. I mentioned it to the gym Mansger and he said that the car park at the B&Q store hew manages has been repainted to provide wider and longer spaces for cars. More to come elsewhere?
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Both the Focus and Kuga are based on the same floorpan. The Focus Estate is actually longer than the Kuga, but 67mm (less than 3" ) narrower than the Kuga and obviously not as high, so other than it's height, the Kuga isn't really that much bigger in the space it requires to park.
 
joxby said:
That's pretty naff for a garage then
I mean, an Astra estate should fit in an average garage, its not like its a Roller or a RRover or anything ridiculous is it.
An Astra estate will fit in my garage, its a new house so there are housebuilders corner cutting factors to consider, but it still fits fine, I wouldn't like to try an A8 or anything in it but I'm not likely to have an A8 and live in a house like this.
Its fair to say that not everyone living in an average house will have a garage big enough for an average car though.
Garage to room.....hmm......I'm not even gonna go there
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It's a pretty small garage but it doesn't bother me too much as I never intended to use t for the car anyway.
 
Garages themselves have changed. My dad's house was built circa 1930s and the garage was large enough to house two cars parked in a single file (though practicality meant that half the garage was used for storage of tools etc). His 1980s Merc would fit in fine but his 2000-era Toyota Avensis was too wide for him to open and get out.

My own 1950s house has a garage that might fit an old style Mini but would struggle to house anything larger.

I've seen modern builds where the garage isn't much larger than a wardrobe.
 
nilagin said:
If that is the case, why as the size of cars increase. do manufacturers then replace them with another similar sized small car. Take the Fiesta in your link, it has grown over the last 40 years, yet 20yrs ago they brought out the Ka, which was similar in size to the Mk1 Fiesta. The next generation Fiesta due out end of this year will be bigger than the current Fiesta, probably closer to the Mk1 Focus. Ford have already brought out a Ka+ to fill the gap between the Ka and the new Fiesta.
I worked on press tools for car panels for over 30yrs, there has been lots of changes in the shapes of the pressings which can add strength and safety to a car shell without the need to increase the car's size.
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So, you did not bother to look at the link regarding car sizes - bats the ball over to your side of the net - awaiting your return.
 
andy700 said:
So, you did not bother to look at the link regarding car sizes - bats the ball over to your side of the net - awaiting your return.
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If I didn't bother to look at the link, how would I have known the Fiesta was in it? As for the cars like the Porsche 911, the modern car will be a lot more powerful needing wider wheels and tyres and more space to help keep the engine cool.
 
nilagin said:
Both the Focus and Kuga are based on the same floorpan. The Focus Estate is actually longer than the Kuga, but 67mm (less than 3" ) narrower than the Kuga and obviously not as high, so other than it's height, the Kuga isn't really that much bigger in the space it requires to park.
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I checked this morning (the next door neighbour bas a Focus eststle) and the Kuga is wider. The floor pan may be the same but the Titanium + Sport seems to have bulked out wheel arches over the Kuga Zetec basic model. The floor pan is used on a number of models according to the sales person that tried to flog him a C Max..... I am not really a Ford buyer (excepting my fun15 months with a Sierra XR 4X4) so it was a surprise he went for the Kuga but it has presence. I think I will go for a Hyundai i10 to drag behind my motorhome when I resume my Irish coast photograaphy adventure in a few months time. That needs at least 6 parking spaces [emoji5]

Steve
 
Hugh Jarse said:
I checked this morning (the next door neighbour bas a Focus eststle) and the Kuga is wider. The floor pan may be the same but the Titanium + Sport seems to have bulked out wheel arches over the Kuga Zetec basic model.

Steve
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If your neighbour has a mk3 Focus the difference in width is only 67mm, less than 3". The floorpan is pretty much carried over from the Mk2 Focus so not likely to be much difference in width their either. All Kuga models have the same dimensions, the Sport models just have an addition to the front bumper and side skirts, the width of the vehicles is the same throughout the range.
 
nilagin said:
If your neighbour has a mk3 Focus the difference in width is only 67mm, less than 3". The floorpan is pretty much carried over from the Mk2 Focus so not likely to be much difference in width their either. All Kuga models have the same dimensions, the Sport models just have an addition to the front bumper and side skirts, the width of the vehicles is the same throughout the range.
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Not sure about the Focus. I always had larger vehicles. I am at the hospital tomorrow so will try ad get my son to park next to Focus, not to challenge you, but out of my own curiosity. As said in an earlier pos, I am likely to go for the i10 to act as my runabout. I guess the Citroen C4 Cactus makes some sense in supermarket car parks.
 
Cobra said:
I have a brain dead half-wit living opposite me, 3 cars 1 works van, drive easily takes 3 cars.
(The people that lived there before managed it) but he prefers to park in the street, sometimes 1 on the drive, other times he's just a twatt.
I keep telling the local councillor, ( when we get "what can we do to improve this area flyers) he lives a couple of streets away.

My reply is always double yellow line the roads, and in force it! Its tight enough as it is, they eventually double lined the ( blind) bends as people were parking on those too.
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Around my way they have started double yellow lining one side of the road, forcing all parked cars to one side, which works, sort of... It's just when you get some young wise guy in his 10 year old 3 series come down the road and not think about how the two of you are going to pass. One did it a few weeks ago, went past 2 spaces where he could have pulled in (the obstructions are on his side) and the started waving his hands around when we met. I just turned my engine off and sat there until he reversed......
 
I was told by a dealer, the reason why people do this is if they have leased a car and then after the 2/3 years it comes back with dents and scratches, they get penalized for it and therefore reduces the trade in value.
As for the rot box in the picture....why bother!!
 
I have an old E46 but it's in good nick and I want to keep it that way for resale.

Personally I wouldn't park like this as I reckon you are more likely to sustain damage then parking normally.

I usually park as far away from anybody else possible, in the back far corner where nobody goes. You can always be sure somebody will be next to me when I come out though, despite the 3k other spaces they could have had!
 
noneforit said:
You can always be sure somebody will be next to me when I come out though,
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Yep I'd noticed that too.
Its called the herding instinct, they don't want their car to get lonely while they are away from it :D
 
noneforit said:
I usually park as far away from anybody else possible, in the back far corner where nobody goes. You can always be sure somebody will be next to me when I come out though, despite the 3k other spaces they could have had!
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Yep, I do the same (on the very odd occasions I actually use car parks)

It's usually dippy no-tails who struggle to park & need to use another vehicle as a guide to park correctly. :rolleyes:
 
I was in a hire car on the Isle of Mull once in a backwater waiting to go on a Sea Eagle guided watch. As I arrived there was a layby that could take 30 cars easily end on, one car already at far end and I parked at the other end, most distant from the gate into the reserve. 5 minutes later in drives some doddery old fart, parks right next to me, opens his drivers door and bangs it into my car. FFS.
why.jpg
 
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Steep said:
Car park isn't that busy and if I owned that car I'd park it that way too. Those look like Tesco miserly spaces, too much chance of Mrs Fiat Junker denting my car with her drivers door.
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And I would park next to you using one of your half spaces and half of the space next to it!


Steve.
 
omens said:
Garages themselves have changed. My dad's house was built circa 1930s and the garage was large enough to house two cars parked in a single file (though practicality meant that half the garage was used for storage of tools etc). His 1980s Merc would fit in fine but his 2000-era Toyota Avensis was too wide for him to open and get out.

My own 1950s house has a garage that might fit an old style Mini but would struggle to house anything larger.

I've seen modern builds where the garage isn't much larger than a wardrobe.
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We bought a new build 18 months ago and the garage plans were not available when we exchanged, it simply said it had a garage and drive.

We expected it to be tiny.....turns out it was 25 foot long and about 12 foot wide.

Pleasantly surprised.

Garden is about the size of an A5 bit of paper but you can't have it all!
 
noneforit said:
you can't have it all!
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I've seen some new builds around where I live and they're the same - double garage but little to no garden at all.

We bought our first house two years ago. I'm hoping to move to our "forever" house in a few years. I'd be looking for a double garage (or space to build one) and a decent sized garden for the kids to play in.
 
noneforit said:
We bought a new build 18 months ago and the garage plans were not available when we exchanged, it simply said it had a garage and drive.

We expected it to be tiny.....turns out it was 25 foot long and about 12 foot wide.

Pleasantly surprised.

Garden is about the size of an A5 bit of paper but you can't have it all!
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Well I dunno what your house is but its all about footprint usually.
Developers are building a lot of 3 story semis and town houses in which integral garages are not subject to the same size constraints 2 story or bungalows are.
It also means you get a bit of a garden too, if you can live with the stairs, 3 story houses are proper roomy..:)
 
DorsetDude said:
I was in a hire car on the Isle of Mull once in a backwater waiting to go on a Sea Eagle guided watch. As I arrived there was a layby that could take 30 cars easily end on, one car already at far end and I parked at the other end, most distant from the gate into the reserve. 5 minutes later in drives some doddery old fart, parks right next to me, opens his drivers door and bangs it into my car. FFS.
View attachment 95895
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I was in the local Tesco fuel station with my son early this am... 9 fueling points..... We were on our own.... A guy in a nice 4 series BMW was occupying a fuel point on it's own...... old Honda Jazz arrives behind him and ran straight into the rear of the BMW! Old lady got out and wakked into the shop (the supermarket had hot yet opened) leaving her car metal on metal with the BMW.

My son went over and gave the guy his card while the guy photographed the damage. we could not stay as my son was playing in a football match an hour away but my last view was the old lady in the shop with a bottle of milk at the cashdesk.

My son's comment as we left was "now you know my I carry a folding spade...."

I know I am no spring chicken but I think when you see events like this then a stricter approach to determining 'fit to drive' should be adopted. Yes I know poor driving can be demonstrated by drivers of all ages. I thought the BMW driver held his temper quite well.
 
FWIW, I have a colleague who lives in fear of the Honda Jazz... or rather those that drive them.
 
Monday evening I saw when an old lady was clearly having difficulty getting out, a car comes by and asks the old lady to close the door so she can park in the bay. This is not how to treat an elderly person! Show some respect, wait or park elsewhere. The amount of entitlement people feel towards parking spaces is astonishing.


mark4183 said:
nothing wrong with taking up 2 spaces if theres plenty, I do it as much as possible.

I even got a thankyou off a woman the other week as she had room to open her back doors fully to put stuff in... if you don't like it, tut and move on
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There's NO excuse for parking badly. This includes taking up 2 spaces.

If you need the space, don't want the dents. Park off to a quiet corner, even then you should be parking within the lines. If the lines are too tight, complain to the authorities like the excellent human being in the above link.
 
Cobra said:
I have a brain dead half-wit living opposite me, 3 cars 1 works van, drive easily takes 3 cars.
(The people that lived there before managed it) but he prefers to park in the street, sometimes 1 on the drive, other times he's just a twatt.
I keep telling the local councillor, ( when we get "what can we do to improve this area flyers) he lives a couple of streets away.

My reply is always double yellow line the roads, and in force it! Its tight enough as it is, they eventually double lined the ( blind) bends as people were parking on those too.
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I'd second that. Roads are already narrow enough as they are, people with driveways should not park on the road just to save them 2 minutes to move the car.

I live in a small close, 9 houses all have driveways, 4 have single car drives, 2 have 2 car drives and 3 have 3 car drives. In front of my house there looks like a parking space, closest to all houses, but when a car is parked there it makes the road too narrow to reverse park into my and my nextdoor neighbour's driveway. Most neighbours respect this and don't park there. The only 2 rented houses and their guests doesn't, parking there and even stop directly in front of my drive, spending 30min a time "to quickly pick up the kids", loud diesel engine idling. Both of the rented houses have 3 car driveways, often they only put 1 car in the driveway.

I've been asking the council to put in parking restrictions. As a single car, double driveway household, I feel access is most important. Understandably the single driveway neighbours doesn't support parking restrictions. :(
 
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