How tight a space can the LS460 squeeze itself into. Of course, you wouldn't ever want to park your $75000 luxury car in a tight space to begin with but I'm curious about the minimum space requirements for the LS460 to park itself.

 

i think i read in a review that for parallel parking, you need 2 feet space in front and behind the car. can't remember exactly, getting old

 

i dont think it has limitation - as tight as possible... it is only reccomended that you save 4ft of space for safety reasons.

 

Well, yeah...it isn't you, it's the idiot in the '89 Ford Taurus parked in front of you who backs into your bumper because he can't judge distances properly. I would have to say parallel parking an 85K car in a tight space remains not recommended, regardless of the technological assist Lexus can give you. It's the other guy you can't trust.

 

Damn Right

the LS will be my ONLY car, so I have to take it to the supermarket etc. The only thing I can do is park it FAR away from other cars. During the Winter in New York, that will be hard, but if you do not want dings and scratches, then walk you must.

 

I like to park far away but when I come back to my car someone is all ways parked right next to me. Funny thing is, there is usually alot spaces available.

 

I find the same thing here. I always park away from all cars or try to get a parking spot in a corner so that at least one side is protected. When I park well away from anything else, just like you noted, there is almost always a vehicle parked right next to me on return.

It is as if some people need another car as a reference point to park. Why don't they look at the lines painted in the lot?

 

You must promise to park and walk, as the LS460 does NOT (at least not on my LS460L) have side protection/rub strips on the doors! I just realized that and made my wife promise to engage in safe parking...

 

umm, i don't know, no matter how you put it, it's computers and machines after all, there are always uncertainties. you give it a space with too tight of a space, at some point the system won't be able to work anymore

 

I used to park away from everyone when I got my Mercedes. One day this guy pulled up beside me and parked his car. I looked at him and he said that he parked next to me because he knew I would not bang his door and that I would take care when pulling out.

i guess it makes sense. If you see a nice car, you automatically think the person will take care of it.

I read about the No Protection thing on the side of the car. I wonder if there will be any after market solutions. More important it will have to look pretty good if you are going to put something on the already magnificent car. I don't want some yokell putting crazy glue on the side of my car.

 

I'm hoping that Lexus will offer something that looks nice and matches the standards on the rest of the car. Also, most trim these days is held on with adhesive tape, which can be removed fairly easily if someone goofs up...

 

If it needs 4ft of space then that is a wasted feature, with that room why would you need a car to park for you?

 

I still think its a nice feature to have when parking at night or during downpours.

I wonder what would happen if a person runs between cars when LS is on this autopark feature? This happens to me almost everytime i park in the city; I've lost count of how many people I've bumped over the years. Would the car sense someone is there or would it just crush them?

This is a bit of topic but i really like the "hold" feature on the steering wheel. I was able to see how it works this past Saturday in Belmont, very nice feature to have in stop and go traffic.

 

You are still braking, the car is only steering the wheel, so you would have to brake if someone jumped in the way.

I read somewhere it needed something like one and a half car lengths to park itself...

 

The car will attempt any size space. The champagne glass TV commercial shows it parking with about 1 foot behind and in front. Nice commercial.