Well mine's a '15 but I'll bet it's bundled in a package I didn't order because I didn't want or need.

There's no sense in me manually setting the mirror down either,I need to get myself used to operating the car as it's equipped and so far...so good.

 

Buick,

What I meant was manually moving it down using the mirror toggle switch when needed for checking a curb location, and them moving it back to normal position once vacating a parking spot.

 

Totally understood what you meant...thanks.

 

Whatever you decide, I'd really recommend doing a test drive and trying to parallel park and doing a 3 point turn (which forces you to back out into the road).

The C pillar in the coupe is very large and the rear window is very small so there are massive cockpit blindspots in the rear diagonal views.

You can decide whether you feel comfortable without the visual aids, but if you are considering dropping them, then I would not make that decision without assessing the poor driver's visibility firsthand in the car.

Like many sports cars, the F-Type is designed for forward vision :-)

Also keep in mind that this is an all aluminum body so dents and dings can be very expensive to fix.

 

But the bumpers are plastic, and very cheap to touch up, even though it should be a very rare event.

It's far more likely other cars are going to bump you leaving a parking space, and the camera and parking sensors aren't going to help you with that.

 

I could not agree with you more. Rear visibility on both the coupe and convertible is poor, and anything that helps is welcome. The camera and moving object detection do work well and at times can be invaluable. I'm sure we've all parked our cars in open and accessible spots only to come back later to find a hulking SUV on either side of you....

 

Stuff parking: In the UK you can switch the camera on while driving normally, and watch the ******** who's been tailgating disappear...

 

LOL . . . do they disppear faster in the camera than they do in the rear view mirror? Have you timed each image?

 

I completely agree that the car gadgetry is making us soft and a nation of incapable drivers -- some cars use the electric steering motors to 'nudge' the car back if you start to veer out of your lane...sure, it doesn't actually drive & stay within the lane, but it *is* steering the car. Others can brake to a full stop (Volvo).

That said, I've always had uber-high-visibility (japanese) cars and SUVs, and while I absolutely love my F-type, I'm certainly not used to sitting so deep *IN* the car with so little window sightlines. I use the 3 mirrors but the backup camera helps make up for my inexperience with low-slung low-visibility cars with corners that I cannot see.

 

Guess this goes with the new teaching in drivers education where the students
are taught to never shoulder check, use the mirrors, never turn your head, even
when backing into a parking spot. They train in Neons, pass the test in Neons,
then buy SUV's. Might as well print drivers licenses on cereal boxes.

Give them blind spot detectors, backup cameras and they'll think that they
actually are seeing everything.

Those six inches to spare lane changes while yapping on the phone are going
to become 2 inches to spare lane changes.

Think those SUV's parked next to you are close now? Wait till they all have
backup cameras with cheap plastic fish eye lenses with no depth perception.

Then someone is going to sell a bluetooth integration to tie all this into the
ever present phone. They can keep yapping while bouncing off moving
objects like a pinball game.

 

LOL...Sad but true!

 

Haha well written, although I have to respectfully differ on technology as a cause of bad driving.

Rear view cameras don't cause poor parking any more than ABS brakes cause bad braking or power steering causes poor guidance. There is a loss of depth perception with a fisheye camera, just as there is a loss of some brake control with ABS brakes. But on the whole technology makes these tasks much better, safer and more precise. The parking guides in the rear view camera allow for much more accurate parking even for good drivers, and when coupled with the distance warning etc...they more than make up for the lack of depth perception.

Poor driving is as much a cultural phenomenon as a function of laws or driving school. One just has to pull onto any freeway to see that almost nobody is driving at the speed limit, and few people obey the 2- or 4- second rules or drive with hands at the 10-and-2 position....despite all of these being in the driver's ed curriculum and some of these being legally required.

Cell phones do, on the whole, create much more distraction and that's a huge problem (which Jaguar and others are trying to ameliorate).

So, some tech causes more distraction and bad driving. Assistive driving tech doesn't necessarily do this and in many cases actually makes driving safer and more performant. This technology doesn't cause bad driving....bad drivers cause bad driving. Having a rear view camera and insistent beeping that shows you are about to back over your kid in your driveway doesn't fix bad driving or parking, but it helps reduce the risk a little.

But yeah. Bad drivers suck.

 

Agreed.

 

Bill Lear and Howard Gates developed the first radio for automobiles. The public said would never be allowed due to the distraction it would cause for the driver. Look where we are now.


Time and technology marches on. We can either change with it or be left behind.

 

Very true, of course. But, there is also a concept known as the "tipping point." Where is that? I don't know, but my instincts tell me we're getting close to it with regard to cultivating actual driver skills and instincts.

I think many may be misunderstanding what I and others have said with regard to this subject, which is not unusual on a car forum with people rapidly skimming posts.

Are parking aids and rear cameras nice, to have? Of course they are. Are they necessary? No they are not if you have a certain level of skill as a "driver."

 

And that's where I think you're taking things off tangent.

Poor visibility, which these cars do suffer from, can't always be overcome by "skill" alone.

To try to bring "skill" into the mix takes the debate in a very unfortunate direction. I don't need to "skim read" to understand your position here - that if we had your level of "skill", we'd not need the camera.

All I really see here is a lot of effort spent justifying why your particular car doesn't have a particular option that many owners here - who are probably at least as "skilled" as you - find valuable on a car that benefits from it.

 

I've respected your opinion on many things on this forum, but I do greatly disagree with you here. I've owned many cars that suffered from worse visibility. The Lotus Elise is a prime example. It is entirely possible to drive these cars safely with the appropriate level of skill and instinct.

Your last paragraph is just plain silly. You don't know me, and I'm old enough not to have to justify anything. I can afford any car I might choose to purchase. Moreover, I never said it wasn't "useful," I said it was just not NECESSARY.

 

Statistically it is necessary if we are to have fewer children killed by their parents backing up.

Of course you could debate whether it is necessary to save children from unnecessary deaths. But I wouldn't debate that.

Http://m.autoblog.com/2009/01/30/che...th-statistics/

http://www.autonet.ca/en/2014/03/14/...vent-accidents

 

OK, I agree, it is NECESSARY for many mindless drivers (of which there are too many), particularly those with children, who don't know where their kids are before they decide to back up in their driveway.

 

Lots of good perspectives on this topic. However, I'll have to disagree on that last point about driver skill. I don't think it comes into play so much when pulling into a parking place or backing out of a driveway in a car with the rear visibility limits of the F-Type Coupe.

I've been an on-track driving instructor and coach for over 10 years. I've spent a week at the Nurburgring, including the 3-day BMW school there. I've led club driving trips on the twisties of the Blue Ridge Mountains for years, and even spent a vacation driving Porsches in the Austrian Alps. I've driven at most of the tracks on the east coast. I've won time trial championships and autocross championships, and hold class records at two different hillclimbs. I believe I have, as you've termed it Foosh, a certain level of skill as a driver.

However, I'm looking forward (see what I did there?) to using the camera aids when I get my F-Type. The car has massive blind spots - we're not talking about a BMW 2002 here. And I celebrate those blind spots; they're there because of the car's flawless, beautiful styling. But all of the driving skill in the world is not going to help me see through those C-pillars.

I agree that over-reliance on automated driving aids is a poor and potentially dangerous substitute for alert, responsive driving. But given the limited rearward visibility of this gorgeous car, I welcome the assistance provided by the camera and sensors in the F-Type Vision Pack.