I went for second test drive last night and noticed that I can't see the front of the car beyond the windshield because the hood slopes down. For those of you with this car or another which does the same thing, did you indeed get "used to it"? If yes, how long do you estimate it took? Have you hit anything because of it?
I'm like this with my new van. Old van had a flat front, new one doesn't, but i've not hit anything either. Of course, I'm paranoid about it (because i'm still, at heart, a RHD driver, in a LLHD country) . I got some broom handles, and put them at the front corners of my car, and got some references to mark where I am. I then got some little cones from the dollar tree (you get 4 for a buck, about 6-7 inches high, made of orange plastic, used for football, sorry, soccer training) and tried to drive and stop with the front as close as possible, without going over. Works like a champ. I can now park this Town+country as precisely as I can my 88 civic.
I never noticed that, but now that I think about, yeah I see what you're saying. I have only nudged a few of those dang concrete "things" in parking space, not with the bumper, but that small plastic thing hanging down beneath it. Has not happened in a month or so since though. I would not worry about it unless your vision is not great, and in that case maybe a trip to the optometrist would be in order?
--Nicholas
Rob> I went for second test drive last night and noticed that I can't see the
It is a cab forward design similar to previous generation Chryslers. The front hood is so short that it will probably not present a problem. Most of the front end is in the dashboard depth.
I've had my '06 Civic for about a month now, and yes I've gotten used to it. For me it took about two weeks to really get a good feel for where the front end is at.
I haven't hit anything (knock on wood) due to it, but I have scraped the very bottom of the bumper on one of those concrete parking lot partitions. But I used to do that fairly often with my old car, too, so that's probably a personal quirk.
I drove an 06 today and when I took it in the parking garage at work I was able to park in my space without hitting the wall - I judged but the size of the headlight beam, but no matter how I tried to look, I could not see the hood - but with 30/40 mpg, I'll accept that! an outstanding engineering result! Rocky
Besides the front issue I am careful when taking curves (lots in Pittsburgh) due to the "A" pillar that blocks your view. But again I'll trade that off on looks and performance any day.
This is a real pet peeve of mine, more and more modern vehicles are reducing visibility in favor of "style". This is a real safety issue. I wonder how many additional small children are going to get run over because drivers didn't see them in their stylish vehicles.
I hate the visibility from my '03 Accord. There is much to like about modern Hondas, but visibility around the front pillars is not one of the things to like!
John
John Horner wrote in news:wemWf.6595$Od7.4843@trnddc06:
If you're referring to the fat A-pillar, that has nothing to do with style and everything to do with side-intrusion crash legislation.
The NHTSA's crash tests require a certain minimum intrusion into the passenger compartment in their standardized side-impact tests, and this can usually only be achieved by making the A-pillars really fat and strong. Even the automakers don't like it because of the visibilty issues, but they have little choice.
For extreme examples, check out most late-model minivans. To minimize visibility loss, automakers are forced to make the A-pillars triangular in section, with the point of the triangle pointing at the driver. Some pillars are 5" thick from outside painted surface to the inner point.
Your tax dollars at work.
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