Given that we’ve just finished a three-part series on the art of parking, we’d like to hear how you park your JNC. Do you seek out the least ding-prone spot in the lot, or is it a garage-only, “point A-back-to-point A” scenario, or do you hard park it like a yak? Do you always back in, Japanese style, or do you pull in, nose first like some kind of barbarian? We want to know.
How do you park your JNC?
What say you, dear reader? As always, the most entertaining comment by next Monday will receive a prize. Scroll down to see the winner of last week’s QotW, “Which concept from the Tokyo Motor Show should be built?”
There were many great cars to choose from at the Tokyo Motor Show this year, so it was not an easy question. While the Mazda RX Vision is a clear favorite amongst the JNC staff, for some reason its supporters of are not the most talkative people. That is, except for boyee and his attempt to bribe the staff (we are totally going to take you up on that offer, by the way).
Ahja made a solid case for the Lexus LF-FC, while mrbill and Ant even advocated for the Toyota Kikai. Then there was banpei who opted for the Daihatsu NoriOri for the whole, you know, good for society thing, but the winner this week was ya_boy_yeti for his inspiring plans for his Toyota S-FR:
Toyota S-FR holy crap can you imagine tearing up in the California canyons? Taking it in to a small shop, drop a turbo, tune it a little, drop it maybe an inch, place a chin spoiler, add a duckbill spoiler, titanium tomei exhaust, ( idk manaray turbina s rims? will that look good? bc i want something 13″) nah… Ill go with Basset Racing Inertia Advantage 13×8. (provided that its 4×100) ILL WAIT FOR YOU MY LOVE.
Omedetou, your comment has earned you a set of decals from the JNC Shop!
I always (always!) park on the downward side of a “cart corral” if I’m in a big-box store parking lot. That way any wayward, rolling carts will run into the cart corral instead of your door. And, with only one vehicle next to you there’s only one chance of a door ding from some bonehead.
And, of course, I back in to parking spots 100% of the time (not knowing that it was referred to as “Japanese style”) if there isn’t the perfect pull-through spot available.
Ha, “.. nose first like some kind of barbarian”, that’s good stuff!
Shopping, I never back in or pull through; it’s a pain to get your stuff in the cargo space… Saw a guy at Sam’s club once – “cool” guy did that with his Jeep, and a FULL-size van parked behind him. Took him a minute to figure out those big packages weren’t getting in through the 2-foot space he had to open the door.
I laughed. Couldn’t help myself. Didn’t care.
More important than where to me is shutting off the ac a few blocks before my destination while leaving the blower motor on of course to blow off any condensation or anything. If you’ve ever had to do under dash ac stuff before you’ll be willing to be hot for a few blocks for the rest of your life never to do it again.
AWESOME thank you guys so much ?.
I’m lucky enough to have a garage, so my Eunos Roadster spends most of its time hidden away in there. Typically with the car in gear, rather than on the handbrake, since the rear calipers seize easily on MX-5s.
That’s not that interesting really, is it? I do enjoy how small the car is compared to the more modern cars I drive though – there’s something hugely satisfying about swinging into the garage with whole inches to spare either side of the door mirrors, rather than carefully inching in to the tune of incessant parking sensor beeps.
Almost same by me. My Daihatsu is utilising rear break calipers from Mazda Familia/323 BG, they are almost identical to those on MX-5, so i use the handbrake wiseley too 😉
Garage allows me to keep Him safe from mud, rotten leafs and snow mixed with sand and (the worst) salt.
When i bring my buddy out, i park reverse whereever it’s pluasible. Because it’s sooo JDM. And it’s actualy easier and safier 😉
I also like to park on exposed spots, like in front of buldings that are important and visited by lot’s of people. Just to show off my narsisstic nature 😉
For most of the year….on chassis stands LOL
I park like a dog. I don’t drive like one, luckily, but I totally park my car the way a dog parks itself in the Texas summer heat. With no tint and 100*+ summer temps the norm, my Corolla wagon sprints from shade to shade, resting only under trees, awnings, or shadows cast by buildings. I can almost hear it panting sometimes. Not an exasperated pant like a fat kid who just ran down the block to catch the ice-cream truck, but that wide smiled, tongue lolling out, damn-it’s-good-to-be-a-dog kind of pant.
I wish I could be so noble as to say I’m doing it to protect the interior, which sports a surprisingly uncracked dash and original uncut door cards. But it’s my daily, and receives abuse accordingly such as hauling furniture and drunk friends. I wish I could say it’s to protect the original paint, which too suffers the indignity of grime and rock chips hauling me to and from school. No, really, the reason I park like a dog is because my girlfriend loves short-shorts. I mean I’m not complaining, but my vinyl seats, when heated by the south Texas sun, do not get along with those shorts.
Unless I’m careful, every time she gets in my car it’s about three seconds flat before she’s doing this weird Elvis Presley style pelvic thrusting, trying to get her legs off the hot vinyl long enough to put something inbetween her and the seat. I love the gal, but almost three years on and she still hasn’t learned that vinyl seat + no tint + sun = hot haha! So I do my due diligence for her sake, and I park like a dog.
Park by feel, just careen into curbs like a boat hitting the docks. Just kidding. …or am I?
Oops, botched where my reply was supposed to be. Your Elvis thing made me lol though Spud.
Cheap-o fleece seat covers! Maybe just one – for YOUR seat. 🙂
I remember doing the same thing in mom’s Pinto, with the black, woven-pattern, vinyl seats. It’s why I stopped wearing shorts.
In my garage at home, under a nice, cozy polar fleece cover. If out, it’s usually point A back to point A after a meet or show, but if I do take it somewhere else, then always backed in to show off it’s beautiful little face and always away from others(but not too far away that it’s out of sight).
i park wherever my hilux can fit. i even parked it on top of a block of flats once, but i had to blow the block up to get my truck back
Don’t have a Nostalgic; parked outside. Got so-far, I think, 5 coats of wax/sealant on it, and hoping to blast 1 or 2 more on before the weather rolls in and it gets too cold to do more.
The ones in my fantasy, however, are in a climate-controlled warehouse/showroom, with potted trees around the place; kinda looks like a MUCH larger first-gen Lexus or Infiniti showroom.
Nose-in in the dry months. Nose-out in winter because that makes blasting out of the snow left by the passing plow a little easier.
Nervously. Point A to A driving only.
Having a roof made out of fabric doesn’t inspire a lot of confidence, especially when you only have a car port visible from the street available for it, and with the knowledge that its been broken into multiple times according to previous owners.
Thus, it resides under a car cover, with a twist. Ive used cardboard to change the shape to the appearance of a wagon, and not the Silvia that dwells beneath.
Side by side.
Cool rides. Wagon’s more my style.
Park into the wind unless a car adjacent has suicide doors…
Never even thought of that! Great advice to ANY driver…
Now I can annoy my occasional passenger(s) even more… “Hang on; gotta see which way the wind’s blowing.”
Would be much easier if they still put the antenna on the fender!
Park in a garage when at home. Out and about, just depends on where and who is parked there. The hako is comparatively small next to other cars, so I usually don’t have issue parking next to someone. I’d rather have it closer and in a busier area rather than standing out all by itself acting as a target for some nonsense.
Here in Indonesia, when you park your car at home it is usually a “nose in first” affair. But when you are in a public parking lot then backing in is usually mandatory (enforced as we often have dedicated parking assistants -a full time job- provided at most commercial buildings and shopping malls), perhaps to facilitate easier evacuation in case of emergency.