ParkWise

Parking, explained

ParkWise walks you through five everyday parking jobs, one move at a time, the way an instructor would call them out. Hit play to watch a whole manoeuvre or step through it. When you’re ready, switch to Practice and drive it yourself while the coach tells you what’s next. Pick Driver under the camera options to sit behind the wheel, mirrors included.

The pivot point

Every turn your car makes is a circle around one spot. That spot sits on the line of the rear axle, out on the side you’re steering towards. With the wheel wound all the way round, it’s roughly 3.8 m from the centre of the rear axle.

• Rear wheels take a tighter line. Turn in too soon going forwards and the back of the car clips whatever’s beside you.
• The front corner swings widest. It’s the furthest point from the pivot, so it covers the biggest circle.
• Backing in is the easy way. In reverse the front swings out over open road while the rear tucks neatly into the space.

Wheel and lock

Winding the wheel from straight to full lock takes about 1½ turns, which angles the front tyres by about 35°. Steer smoothly while the car is rolling slowly. Turning while stationary works, but it scrubs the tyres. To straighten, unwind by the same amount.

Slopes

Point the front wheels so that a rolling car runs into the kerb, not the traffic. Nose uphill: steer away from the kerb and let the car ease back until the front tyre rests on it. Nose downhill: steer towards the kerb and creep forward until it touches. No kerb at all: steer towards the road edge either way. Then handbrake on, and leave it in first (reverse when facing downhill) or P.

Go slow

Walking pace or slower, using the clutch or brake. Check all around before moving and keep checking, not only in the mirrors. If something’s coming, stop and wait.

Left-hand traffic

Set Traffic in the top bar to Left and the whole yard mirrors: the kerb moves to your left, you sit on the right, and every wheel turn swaps sides. ParkWise picks this automatically if your browser’s region drives on the left, such as India, the UK, Ireland, Australia or Japan.

The numbers behind it

The car is an average hatchback: 4.29 m long, 1.79 m wide, a 2.64 m wheelbase and a 10.5 m turning circle. Bays measure 2.5 × 5 m with a 6.5 m aisle, the kerbside gap is one and a half car lengths, and the slope is 1 in 10. The paths come from a kinematic bicycle model at walking pace (no tyre slip, front wheels at their Ackermann angles). All parked cars share one body and nothing else moves. The door mirrors are slightly convex, and the kerb-side one dips when you select reverse. Your own car and car park will differ, so use the reference points as a starting guide. Driving forwards into a bay swings the front over the neighbouring bay, so at these sizes it has to be empty. Back in whenever you can.

Shortcuts

⇧1–⇧5 choose a manoeuvre · [ ] previous / next step · 1–5 jump to a step · space play · C tour all five · ⇧T the classic mistake · drag your car to run a step · ⇧P practice · while practising, ↑ ↓ (or W S) creep forward and back, ← → (or A D) steer, drag the car or the wheel, and ⇧Z resets · ⇧V next camera (orbit, top, chase, driver) · ⇧L swap traffic side · ⇧F driver’s seat and back, drag to look around · M sound · R reset the camera · ⇧N labels · drag to orbit, right-drag to pan, scroll to zoom, Q E to rotate