Learning to drive my MG4: Reversing on tight ramp

[Rolfe]

That is definitely a very interesting option but don't feel confident enough to reverse upwards , it is certainly promising, as it would guarantee that the car is always aligned before reversing.

I can understand why you don't feel confident reversing up that ramp now, but I think it's something you should keep in mind to perhaps try in the future, once you're more used to the car and to regular driving in general.

It's hard to tell from the pictures just how much space is available, but it seems to me that once you get out of the garage itself the width opens up a bit and you have more space for manoeuvre. Reversing into an increasingly narrow space is hard. Reversing into a space that is widening out is easier. It's the slope that's the issue, and also visibility as you get to the top.

The latter point is why I suggest you try it some time in good visibility but at a very quiet time of day, perhaps early in the morning, and preferably with someone who can stand in the road and signal to you how things are going and if another car is coming. They could also alert another car that there is a possible hazard. See how it feels, and whether it might work.

My feeling is that sometimes it's actually easier to reverse into a road than to reverse into a driveway, because you can sit as long as you need until the way is clear, rather than being forced to stop in the road no matter how heavy the traffic.

It's possible, depending on how difficult that ramp is in the real world, that driving straight in and reversing out is the better long-term solution, once you have enough confidence to try to reverse out. It would give you a very easy run in, and let you get out of the car easily. Suppose you sustain a minor injury that impairs your mobility a bit. You could find you simply can't get in and out of the car the way you're doing. If it did turn out to be possible, once you have more experience, to reverse up the ramp, a lot of problems would go away.

 

[Fuss]

Hi, while our garage approach is reasonably flat, the entrance is still narrow. A couple of tricks I have found are, firstly, select Towing Mode via MG Pilot - it stops the (annoying) bleeps and burps from the reversing sensors without changing the camera views. Secondly, put some tape on the drive way and in the garage that indicate where you want the driver’s-side rear wheel to go. I have used just a few bits spaced a metre or two apart so that I can aim at a “target“ piece of tape whilst also lining up with the subsequent one(s). Once on line at the first tape, aiming at the second, then you are automatically lined up for the rest and into the garage.
The first bit of tape I would lay would be in the entrance to the garage as this is your critical point. Then where you want the rear wheel to be when in the garage - if you put another piece of tape at right angles on this one, it also tells you when to stop! Then work up your slope with the highest one close enough to the road that you can still swing the nose of the car without fear of hitting the walls. With luck the ones between the road and the garage will be a straight line!
Once it has worked a few times and you are happy with the positioning of the tape, think about changing it for lines of paint so they don’t get damaged / rubbed out / moved.
Best of luck and enjoy the 4.
Martin

 

[siteguru]

In terms of positioning inside the garage (i.e. how far in), the old classic trick is to hang a tennis ball on string from the ceiling, so that it touches the screen (rear in this case) once the car is far enough in.

 

[Rolfe]

I find that I can tell from the reversing sensors that I've got the car in exactly the right position. But the tennis ball trick is a good one.

Weird thing. I have a Peugeot e208 courtesy car right now, and it has more reversing aids than you can shake a stick at. But there's something about its steering that made it very difficult for me to line it up with the parking space at the supermarket, even though it was giving me a bird's eye view of the entire performance to the left of the screen, goodness knows how. I also aimed it wrongly when putting it into my own drive. In contrast, I could reverse the MG4 pretty much where I wanted it to go as soon as I took delivery.

 

[Tigger]

I tried first time and I ended up falling back and almost hitting the walls behind me. The ramp slope is too much for the car to creep forward, at least while setup in Normal mode.

Here is a slight modification to what Ian suggests for going up the ramp:

Creep forward in the garage till your front wheels hit the slope, and the car stops. Put your left foot gently on the brake. Now press your right foot gently on the accelerator - if the car starts going too fast, press the brake harder with the left foot. This allows you to creep up the slope. And having pressure on the brake stops the car rolling back if you stop accelerating.

Using your left foot on the brake while driving is an advanced technique, but is perfectly possible. If you learnt to drive on a manual, you will have used the left foot for the clutch, so not very sensitively - be careful! Before trying this technique in your garage, I suggest you try it out several times on a quiet bit of road to see if you like it.

I learnt to do it driving an automatic in Montana when I had badly sprained my right ankle. I could just about operate the accelerator with the right foot, but it was too painful when I tried it on the brake. So I used my left foot instead. After a few miles, I got the hang of it. (My companion was less than happy, at least to start with . . .)

 

[Rolfe]

I wondered about trying that. Useful to know from someone who has done it.

I've wondered whether people might start learning to drive like that when clutches are a thing of the past. But then, I turn on the ACC and wonder what to do with my right foot as well as my left one!

I once badly sprained my left ankle when I was in Yorkshire, and had to get back to Sussex that night in a manual transmission car. Thank goodness it was nearly all motorway, is all I can say. (It would have been easy in an automatic. I think that was one of the things that pushed me to get an automatic for my next car.)

 

[Tigger]

I've wondered whether people might start learning to drive like that when clutches are a thing of the past

Yes, I've thought about that as well. Not using the left foot on the brake must be a hangover from manual transmissions: the assumption is, left foot = clutch. It does take a bit of getting used to, but we've got two feet, we should use them!

@Rolfe: In the display above, your post ends with the sentence about ACC. But when I clicked on 'Reply', I got an extra paragraph about you spraining your left foot. What's going on?

 

[Rolfe]

I remembered about the sprained ankle and edited the post to include the story. You probably had the page open from before I edited it.

 

[elias]

Thank you @Fuss for the tape/spray trick, I was already considering something like that. Now that you've explained how to do it an what to look for, I'll definitely see if can find a few spots I can mark that are not in sidewalk, as adding marks in there would be illegal.

select Towing Mode via MG Pilot - it stops the (annoying) bleeps and burps from the reversing sensors without changing the camera views

I have to look for that option, the crazy beeping is very annoying and distracting, especially in my case, where the walls are just a few centimetres from the car the whole way down the ramp. On the other hand, I've learnt to ignore intermittent beeps and only pay attention to the continuous beep, which indicates me that I'm very near to an obstacle.

Using your left foot on the brake while driving is an advanced technique, but is perfectly possible.

@Tigger, I actually got out of that situation by doing exactly that and I have done it a few more times already, it certainly helps a lot and gives me a lot more control over the car, but I'm afraid I may break something by doing so. I'm not sure if the car is intended to be driven that way or if by doing that I could overload the breaks or the motor. It would be great to confirm it with someone that knows how the car reacts to that kind of double input.

even though it was giving me a bird's eye view of the entire performance to the left of the screen, goodness knows how

I get exactly that view on my car too, it seems to be an exclusive feature for the Luxury/Trophy model, they call it 360° view. Very handy! but it is difficult to measure distances just from that view.

 

[Gomev]

I haven’t noticed this in reverse and I pressed very hard on the pedal, with no effect that I found…maybe I needed to be reversing uphill

Indeed, hill start doesn't work unless on a hill of at least 4% incline.

 

[elias]

Indeed, hill start doesn't work unless on a hill of at least 4% incline.

After reading the manual, I also found that some functionalities, like auto hold, only work if you have the seat belt fastened, which I didn't always do while parking in my garage.

 

[Rolfe]

If you ever work up the nerve to try driving straight in and reversing out, let us know how it goes. I have a crawling suspicion that may be the answer, but I appreciate it's not me in the driving seat, and it's not my car going perilously close to these walls!

 

[elias]

If you ever work up the nerve to try driving straight in and reversing out, let us know how it goes. I have a crawling suspicion that may be the answer, but I appreciate it's not me in the driving seat, and it's not my car going perilously close to these walls!

It is in my to-do list, but I haven't found the nerve to try it just yet. I also have the impression it may be the way to go. I'll definitely let you know whenever I try it

What I've done so far is practising getting it in (reverse) and out (forward) and I'm getting better at it, it still takes me lots of time to align the car before reversing into the ramp, but I'm learning to find the best reference points.

 

[Rolfe]

I think you're right to take it a bit at a time and practise the manoevres you need to do what you're doing. It's a tricky thing for someone who hasn't been driving for very long/hasn't had a car of their own before to master. Driving skill goes on developing for quite some time, and nobody can expect to do that sort of thing without careful practice.

In a few months you'll be expert at it, and everyone else will be marvelling at how well you control the car in such a tight spot!

You saw the picture of my own garage. Not nearly such a difficult manoeuvre, because it's all on the flat and the driveway lines up straight with the garage. I reverse in there because my car is a right-hand drive (meaning the steering wheel is on the right). If I were to drive straight in, I wouldn't be able to get out of the car and would have to do what you're doing and scramble over the passenger seat.

Sod that for a game of soldiers, on a regular basis.

That's why I took the trouble to learn how to reverse in. With a car like yours, I'd drive straight in, no question, so that the driver's door would be at the side where it would open.

 

[Tigger]

Using your left foot on the brake while driving is an advanced technique, but is perfectly possible.

I actually got out of that situation by doing exactly that and I have done it a few more times already, it certainly helps a lot and gives me a lot more control over the car, but I'm afraid I may break something by doing so. I'm not sure if the car is intended to be driven that way or if by doing that I could overload the breaks or the motor. It would be great to confirm it with someone that knows how the car reacts to that kind of double input.

I wouldn't have thought you could overload the brakes or the motor by doing this. The forces involved are way less than stopping from 70 mph (brakes), or accelerating fast up a hill (motor).

However, i respect your caution - it's your car, not mine!
.

 

[elias]

I wouldn't have thought you could overload the brakes or the motor by doing this. The forces involved are way less than stopping from 70 mph (brakes), or accelerating fast up a hill (motor).

However, i respect your caution - it's your car, not mine!
.

So I've being doing some math and I think you are right, it is virtually impossible to overload anything when doing two pedal driving. The breaks are perfectly capable of sustaining any load the motor could develop and it would take way too long (several minutes) for the motor to overheat when loaded at very low speed.

I just did it today again and I have to say I'm liking the control I get that way.

 

[Susanna]

@elias It sounds like you are getting on fine now. I have always reversed into garages, parking spaces etc. It’s so much easier than driving in as you have excellent visibility, courtesy of your mirrors.

 

[Rolfe]

Every time I see you've posted in the thread I imagine you're going to tell us you scraped the car! So relieved.

I suspect the two-feet driving will come easily with practice.

 

[Rolfe]

@elias It sounds like you are getting on fine now. I have always reversed into garages, parking spaces etc. It’s so much easier than driving in as you have excellent visibility, courtesy of your mirrors.

Elias's problem is that when he reverses in to his garage, his driver's door is flush against the wall and he has to clamber over the passenger seat to get out. That's why I think he should try it the other way.

 

[Susanna]

Elias's problem is that when he reverses in to his garage, his driver's door is flush against the wall and he has to clamber over the passenger seat to get out. That's why I think he should try it the other way.

Ah, I see - I should have read back!