Rep Power: 181

I know the obvious remedy to parking mishaps is to simply employ a bit of common sense. But the thought crossed my mind that I want to get digital parking sensors for my Civic.

Why? Well simply because I want to protect my front bumper. Soon I will be getting a painted front lip and I'd hate to scratch it up after only a few park jobs. I am a great driver and good at parking, but I don't always trust myself to stop far enough away from the curb. It'd be nice to have a sensor that gives a distance readout so the front will never contact a barrier.

What I wanna know is if anyone has had experience with parking sensors and if they're even a worthwhile investment. I only want one for the front bumper and not anywhere else on the car and I want it to be mounted underneath without drilling any ridiculously large holes into the bumper.

Can anyone recommend a good brand of parking sensor? Wireless would be great too, to save installation cost. Is it possible to even make my own sensor with readout? What all would I need to do that?

Thanks!

 
Rep Power: 192

Ive driven two cars with aftermarket parking sensors, one just flat out didnt work and had a solid beep the whole time you are in reverse.


This one^ was good, granted these were mounted in the back bumper. I liked this one because it gives you an actual distance reading in numbers compared to just beeps. Never driven anything with aftermarket sensors in the front bumper.

Usually they are wired to the reverse lights so they know when to turn on. You would have to wire it to a switched 12v source and put a toggle switch somewhere to turn it on/off since you want them in the front and obviously wont be in reverse when parking.

They are meant to be drilled into the bumper but there might be a way you could mount them underneath and still get accurate distance readings. That would be completely DIY though.

And the sensors would have to be mounted low near the lip to detect parking blocks, curbs etc. They might look goofy too since your car is blue and most sensors are black. If its something you think would help i say go for it.

But if it was me, i would buy a backup cam with a small black camera and mount it inside the grill pointing towards the lip, i think thats your best bet.

 
Rep Power: 518

^^^This.^^^

Factory park sensors (and the accessory kits) are quite vague, if you are trying to get within a only few inches they aren't what you need. These are for sensing within FEET, not inches.
But they are color coded to the cars they are available for.



Funny: The cars and vans with backup sensors and cameras are invariably the ones with the absolute worst bumper damage. It's like nobody learned how to pivot their heads around and freeking LOOK before backing up.

 
Rep Power: 291

Complete waste of money.
I've used factory and aftermarket backup sensors.

Backup cameras are the worst, your judgement is obscured by focusing on the camera.
More often then not, the backup camera is a closeup of your rear bumper.
And when I mean close up, what looks to be a 2" gap between bumpers is actually a 2CM gap.
You often misjudge the actual distance.

My recommendation is learn to drive your car, whether it be with cones or w/e.
I can eyeball my car's rear and front distance up to 1~2CM.

Or another suggestion, tow hooks. They look great, and work great as bumper protection

 
Rep Power: 518

Get you a set of these




Put em here



LOL

 
Rep Power: 181

I just knew someone would make that joke...

And thanks for the good input, guys! I too don't feel very confident in parking systems and I have a strong hatred for backup cameras. I was just wondering if this was a feasible or beneficial option for preventing damage. I'll just stick to what works best, pulling into parking stalls very very slowly

 
Rep Power: 192

I think your simplest solution is to just back into spaces..yeah?