Video testing the Lexus auto-park feature

[mustang84]

http://www.automobilemag.com/multimedia/vi...park/index.html

[chevelle454]

What a joke. I think I will stick to parking cars myself

[VenSeattle]

That was hilarious. LMAO. :rotflmao:

This needs to be on C&G front page.

[Paolino]

That was SO funny. Yup... it's going in an e-mail

[Bimmer325]

The only thing I've learned from this video is that Automobile journalists are a bunch of f@#king tools.

Cool, guys.

How about a video that doesn't involve making a mockery of this feature?

[FAPTurbo]

How about a video that doesn't involve making a mockery of this feature?

210123[/snapback]

I'd be doing something similar if I was the vehicle behind the Tool using this feature on a crowded street...

[Flybrian]

Is this really any surprise though?

[Bimmer325]

Is this really any surprise though?

210130[/snapback]

In all honesty...Yes.

I've personally seen the LS park itself, and it did so flawlessly.

Granted, it wasn't driven by a group of losers straining themselves to be funny (yet failing miserably).

[PurdueGuy]

I thought it was hilarious.

[Flybrian]

In all honesty...Yes. 

I've personally seen the LS park itself, and it did so flawlessly. 

Granted, it wasn't driven by a group of losers straining themselves to be funny (yet failing miserably).

210133[/snapback]

At some Lexus event, right? I have to wonder how it performs in the real word where there are more than champagne glass pyramids or two RX330s parked a perfect nineteen-and-a-half feet from each other. Read their blog entry to see what other problem could potentially befall this system and think about it.

By its very nature, it needs to be careful and cautious and check itself (unrelentingly) lest it wreck itself, so what does it do if it detects pressure from road debris, a light touch to the accelerator from a driver not paying attention, or someone walking between the car and the curb that its trying to park next to? Just give up? Probably. Again, it's designed to err on the side of caution whereas a human driver can simply determine that its okay to run over the road reflector or that the guy running between the cars is moving fast enough.

I can also see many less-than-ideal situations where - by fault of car or driver - the car is mispositioned and will refuse to park, thereby sitting in the middle of the road like a big pile of crap while fifteen other drivers who know what they're doing try to get around. Meanwhile, the LS driver is furiously arguing with the computer or repositioning the car because he doesn't know the turning limits or radius of his own car (something seemingly few in this country do).

Also, anyone who uses this in real life to perpendicular park is f@#king dunce and shouldn't be allowed to drive.

I know this sounds like mindless Lexus-bashing, its not - I'm saving up my malcontent for the Tampa Auto Show next week! This is something that has been tauted in various forms in Japan for years and there, regardless if it works well or not, its a necessity. Here, not so much. Even the smallest parallel parking spaces are reasonably-sized and can accomodate large vehicles. That's where I find this to be a parlor trick and nothing more, cute as it may be. I've seen 80+ year-olds somehow slip Grand Marquis and Park Avenues into parallel spaces yet people our own age can't do it with a Del Sol. We're losing an ability in this country called driving and replacing it with riding. Self-parking combined with lane-departure warning, radar cruise control, and other features are treats to drivers like us but subsitutes for real skill for the vast majority. There's a huge difference between features like a parallel park mirror that aids in a certain task and something that simply does it for you.

[toyoguy]

at least backup camera is available/standard on the LS460.

the system isn't faster than a good driver.

Edited October 30, 2006 by toyoguy

[pow]

Give me an auto-tilt passenger mirror and parking sensors and I can parallel park anywhere. Reversing cameras are only good on large SUVs and minivans, and self-parking is pretty much useless.

[VenSeattle]

Give me an auto-tilt passenger mirror and parking sensors and I can parallel park anywhere. Reversing cameras are only good on large SUVs and minivans, and self-parking is pretty much useless.

210208[/snapback]

Bingo! I have no problem parallel parking my Buick thanks to those two features.

They take all the guess-work out of parallel parking: the distance you are from the curb & the distance between you and the car sitting behind you.

[Croc]

In all honesty...Yes. 

I've personally seen the LS park itself, and it did so flawlessly. 

Granted, it wasn't driven by a group of losers straining themselves to be funny (yet failing miserably).

210133[/snapback]

I'm with you on this one Bimmer...they definitely weren't trying to test the feature...they already had their own vision of the outcome in mind when they were doing it...and being really obnoxious spazzes wasn't helping either.

I think it's an unnecessary feature...but I won't mock it until I see some more objective magazines...and certainly one of a higher caliber than Automobile...come to similar conclusions.

[Intrepidation]

I can parallel park my car with nothing but the wheel, the pedals and my eye. It's pretty funny...it also shows the the technology, while coo,, is pointless. How friggin' lazy do you have to be to not park the car yourself, which would take far less time, even if the system was working "flawlessly"

[Croc]

OK...read Dan Neil's review on cars.com...yea he panned it so I'll defer to the majority on this...but man those Automobile guys were obnoxious...

[toyoguy]

In all honesty...Yes. 

I've personally seen the LS park itself, and it did so flawlessly. 

Granted, it wasn't driven by a group of losers straining themselves to be funny (yet failing miserably).

210133[/snapback]

Technically automobile mag likes the car.

The new LS460 is not just the peer of the leading trio, it provides a new benchmark for the category

but the feature is there more for advertising then actual use, that and journalists are the last people to figure out how to work any form of technology.

[balthazar]

I've parallel parked 18-foot vehicles all my life with no gimmicks like auto-tilt mirrors or parking sonar. It's a fundamental basic of learning to drive- if you can't do it, you shouldn't be driving.

Fly is dead-right: this overwrought technical coddling of drivers is creating a pool of worse & worse drivers overall, and it "raises the (perception) bar" as far as the competition having to match this in the near future because it's "better"... until you can't buy a new car without all this electronic bullsh!t on it.

[the_yellow_dart]

I still don't really know what to think of this feature. Can't see the video, just commenting on the LS in general.

On one hand, I agree that it is an essential skill. For me, I like to be connected to the road and know I have the skill to drive properly, which is part of the reason why I drive a manual. However, I also understand those who drive automatics - and how that ideal could be extended to want this feature.

Also, as for the, "If you can't do this, you shouldn't be driving!" comment - I bet people in the past looked at prepared food and thought it was a travesty...

"If you can't churn your own butter and kill your own cow, you shouldn't be eating!!"

[Intrepidation]

I think i'd be a great feature for larger vehicles or ones with poor outward visibility...still I prefer to do it mysel...I'm not too fond of entrusting the car to do it.

[pow]

I've parallel parked 18-foot vehicles all my life with no gimmicks like auto-tilt mirrors or parking sonar. It's a fundamental basic of learning to drive- if you can't do it, you shouldn't be driving.

210290[/snapback]

I wouldn't call them gimmicks... they genuinely aid visibility, and they're useful in the same way towing mirrors are to large trucks. Parking radar and auto-tilt mirrors don't replace the driver, but they make reversing safer.

[Drew Dowdell]

Give me a big freakin car with actual edges and a sharp turning radius. I could park my '85 Continental in spaces that would make Focus drivers jealous. Mostly because I could see the edges of the car because it wasn't a big jelly bean and because the front wheels could turn at such a sharp angle that you'd think they were going to fall off.

[pow]

I finally went ahead and saw the video, btw... and it reminded me of Jeremy Clarkson trying to use the voice command on the old S-class.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htgtVucUHPg

Edited October 30, 2006 by empowah

[Polish_Kris]

This is a pretty dumb feature, and kind of point-less, it is not working the way it is designed. I understand the idea of the back-up camera, but this backing system is useless

[Mr.Krinkle]

..

Edited November 27, 2006 by Mr.Krinkle

[FAPTurbo]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/classified/a...ack=1&cset=true

220457[/snapback]

Sorry, Krink, but I need to register for the Chicago Tribune to access it.

[ocnblu]

I am sure this video is not the first time the Automobile guys tried to use this feature. It had to prove its uselessness before they decided to illustrate it with the video. This video is a public service, and a damn funny one. Lexus is not the only luxury car maker seemingly commited to useless technology overkill. Mercedes and BMW are also culprits. To me, a luxury car should be about taking care of the driver in useful, tangible ways, not about confusing and befuddling the driver.

[caddycruiser]

That's a terrible video, and though parking like that is one feature it can do, parallel parking is the more likely scenario and it really is quick & easy to command as seen in other earlier videos.

This was more of a spoof than anything. For larger cars that are hard to fully see out of (i.e. like my Fleetwood which I still don't think can humanly be parallel parked...), it would be a god send. Pull up, stop, and just slide the "digital spot" where you want to go, and let it take it away.

Only thing I still question is the whole break thing, because one would think if it can control the steering and sensors all by itself, also having control over the brake and speed of parking would be something better done automatically, all as one system and not a mixture.

[ToniCipriani]

but the feature is there more for advertising then actual use, that and journalists are the last people to figure out how to work any form of technology.

210245[/snapback]

They should make a delete option... no wait, that was their plan to rip more money off the idiots by tacking more useless things as standard!

Edited December 2, 2006 by ToniCipriani

[Mr.Krinkle]

That should work. It doesnt. They are a clever bunch over there.

The original video was somewhat funny but not exactly clear if it was just the jackasses behind the wheel or what but heres another instance when you probably wouldnt want to be parking in between 2 crystal champagne glass waterfalls. Its not as easy or wonderful a feature which is no surprise, and basically if you need a park assist

you should be taking a taxi.

TV makes it look so easy.

You've seen the spot in which the 2007 Lexus LS460 sedan parks on its own between two stacks of champagne glasses in about a millisecond without sending any of the glasses tumbling to the floor.

Suspect several dozen glasses gave their lives in rehearsal.

In January Lexus used the Detroit Auto Show to stun the assembled media by boasting its next-generation flagship LS sedan would be able to park itself.

Finally, a sedan to solve the car-age old problem of slipping between two other cars without 12 attempts and ending up on the sidewalk or, worse, tattooing the fenders and trunk lids of those other two cars.

The Lexus LS460 does that, along with posting a zero- to-60 m.p.h. acceleration in 5.4 seconds thanks to its beefier 4.6-liter, 380-horsepower V-8.

Ironic that a car that can go so fast draws more attention when it attempts to stand still.

The LS460 comes in regular and extended-length L versions. We tested the L, which is 4.8 inches longer than the regular model with all 4.8 inches devoted to the back seat for limo-like proportion.

But with either version, $700 buys you the advance parking guidance system, though first you must purchase intuitive park assist for $500, in which sonar sensors in front and rear bumpers set off beeps when getting to close to an object front or rear.

The advance parking guidance system makes your car the ultimate valet. Or so we thought. On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 the easiest, we'd give automatic parking a 2, sky diving 3 and bullfighting 4.

For starters, the system works only when backing up, vertically or horizontally, between two vehicles. So you can't use it when pulling into the space in the mall lot front-end first.

When the gearshift is in reverse, touch the navi screen to choose vertical or horizontal parking. A backup camera shows what's behind or along the side on the screen.

But you don't just let go of the wheel and have the car park itself. You have to pull the car into position as if parking manually, make sure the steering wheel is straight and adjust the green parking target box on the screen.

We tried the vertical move first. A series of arrows appears on the screen to position the green box between the cars.

The arrows don't show unless the steering wheel is straight and you're at the correct angle to back between the cars. So others in the lot have to wait for you to perform the required tasks.

That done, the screen advises you to let go of the wheel but keep a foot on the brake. The car and steering wheel then move to park between the cars.

But take foot off the brake and the car backs up too fast, the automatic assist stops and you're on your own to steer and/or call your insurance agent.

Simple, if you pulled the car into proper position in the first place and adjusted the green box perfectly. If not, the car goes where the box tells it. You'll miss the other cars, but you also may miss the curb by several feet.

Actually, backing up was relatively easy, but getting up the courage to let go of the wheel requires a few words to the Almighty. (Oprah was out of town.)

Horizontal, or parallel, parking is trickier. Pull alongside the car ahead, fiddle with the arrows to adjust the box, then let go of the wheel.

First try we hit the green box perfectly, only the box was positioned so the car ended up about 3 feet from the curb. The system requires lots of practice--and patience.

The system first requires you purchase park assist for $500, sonar sensor in the front and rear bumpers that set off beeps in the cabin when backing from the drive or parking and getting too close to an object ahead or behind.

And how often do you back into a parking spot or parallel park? Three attempts to parallel park is embarrassing, but no more so than parking on the first attempt 3 feet from the curb.

If you can't back into a parking space or parallel park without doing damage to yourself or those around you, you should be taking cabs or buses.

Thats only the part that deals with the parking. Needless to say but they were less than thrilled.

Edited November 27, 2006 by Mr.Krinkle

[MyerShift]

That was hilarious.

Without an owner's manual, I guarantee that I would probably be using more four letter words than that.

What a great video!