Is the rear view camera worthwhile?

[MarkN]

We test-drove an i3 yesterday. My wife found the rear visibility limited and thought a rear view camera would help. The car we were driving did not have that option so we couldn't test. Do those of you who have the rear view camera find it worthwhile? We would probably stick with the business navigation and therefore have the smaller screen to display the rear view image. The parking assistant packaged with the rear view camera wouldn't be of much use: my wife is an expert parallel parker, having lived in Philadelphia with only on-street parking for 17 years, and she never needs to parallel park here in Colorado.

 

[Gonville]

I find it very useful for small slots. Can get up to one inch away at the back - quite useful. I have ordered.

Only confusion for me is that the aspect ratio is slighly different from my F10. The image is way improved seems like it is nearly HD. On the F10 it looks the same aspect as the rear view mirror. On the i3 I found it gave a wide angle lens type feel - maybe telephoto - which took some getting used to.

Having said that on my F10 it didn't stop me reversing into someone last week...but that is a much longer story....sensory overload.

 

[Mike74jcw]

On Friday, I test drove my local dealer's stripped i3 (Mega, no options except heated seats). Upon returning to the dealer, I backed into a space in front where the charging station sits without the aid of the camera. Indeed, the visibility to the rear, specifically down low is NOT very good but the i3 does come standard with the backup sensors and will both beep/chime and show any obstructions via colored bars on the nav screen.

I very rarely parallel park where I live so I skipped the parking package but did order the professional nav/technology package for the larger screen and other cool features.

I have the camera in my LEAF and have grown to like it in the 16 months I've had the car, but it's a feature I don't really need.

I would skip the parking package if you almost never parallel park or park in tight spaces, but then again it's not terribly expensive at $1K. The self-parking (autonomous) is cool to show to family/friends, but I don't think I would ever use it in a real situation!

 

[jamesvdv]

I think that the rear view camera, when it works (as mine occasionally does not start when I engage reverse) is good for spotting unexpected low level obstacles.

However, due to its wide angle lens, I find it less useful for judging position, e.g. when reversing into a parking space (i.e. not parallel parking) and I certainly would not recommend its use when judging distance from an object. I always use the parking sensor indicators for distance.

The camera is really there as an additional sensor for the auto parking, I think. This is indeed an impressive "wow factor" feature to impress your passengers, however I quite often forget to enable it by pressing the "P" button in time and then find I need to park manually.

My main reason for getting the auto park option was that I required the front parking sensors and these are not standard equipment, I believe. I am glad I have these as the nose of the i3 is so short that one can easily over estimate its length and not take advantage of this without the help of the front sensors. I also think that the cost of the parking assist option is probably less than the damage that you can do with a minor parking incident, especially if someone else's car is involved.

 

[noakey]

We test-drove an i3 yesterday. My wife found the rear visibility limited and thought a rear view camera would help. The car we were driving did not have that option so we couldn't test. Do those of you who have the rear view camera find it worthwhile?

Yes.. definitely. .. the rear visibility is a bit restricted so the cam is a handy option... plus all the neat graphics the car draws on the view is helpful.

 

[MikeS]

Doesn’t anyone just look behind their cars before reversing these days? Or do you all rely on the tech? Had a friend a while back blame the cars because she backed into a low wall because the sensors did not warn her!

 

[RJSATLBA]

It occurs to me that the responses are likely to be biased (no offence) because most are likely to be from those who have chosen the option rather than from those who find sensors perfectly adequate and therefore cannot comment first hand, except on limited test drive experience.

Personally I should have liked to have been able to add front sensors (but not at the price of the full Monty) as I always underestimated how much room I had at the front of my A2, with a similarly shaped front end.

 

[Gonville]

However, due to its wide angle lens, I find it less useful for judging position, e.g. when reversing into a parking space (i.e. not parallel parking) and I certainly would not recommend its use when judging distance from an object. I always use the parking sensor indicators for

I agree about the wide angle. If you've always used your side mirrors when reversing the extra info can be too much. Hence my fender benders. Having said that reversed into a tree once whilst using the wing mirrors when the camera which I was ignoring had a nice picture of a big tree trunk not visible in the mirrors.

I use the beepers for distance too. But when it's really tight it's nice to see exactly how close you are. The beepers go solid at about 6-4 inches. After that the last 2 inches needs the camera. ;-)

 

[Bunter]

It occurs to me that the responses are likely to be biased (no offence) because most are likely to be from those who have chosen the option rather than from those who find sensors perfectly adequate and therefore cannot comment first hand, except on limited test drive experience.

Personally I should have liked to have been able to add front sensors (but not at the price of the full Monty) as I always underestimated how much room I had at the front of my A2, with a similarly shaped front end.

+1. The park assist and camera never get used, but the front parking sensors I use every day. Course I will get the hang of where the front is but they are the most useful feature of the park assist package for me.

Bill

 

[cyellen]

Even without the camera, the sensors are really handy. I used them backing into the charging space at the dealer and even though you don't get an actual image, you get a pretty good representation of the back of the car and a sense of where obstacles are...doesn't replace looking backwards, but it seems like it could be handy in a tight spot. I opted for the parking package mostly because a rear view camera is going to be standard equipment here soon (next year I think), and it is just a smart thing to have.

 

[stumbledotcom]

I have the parking package. Very pleased with it. I'm in SF so tight parking is a fact of life. The unexpected feature I like with the camera is obstacle detection which overlays yellow or red blocks as the system senses specific obstacles. That way you can decide if it's really a hazard. Handy since I've found sensor-only systems will warn you about objects on the curb such as fire hydrants and bushes when parallel parking.

Haven't decided if the auto park function will be useful long term or not. The US version seems slightly crippled because there's a liability disclaimer that you have to click through each and every time. (Don't see it in the videos posted from the UK.) Really annoying. Thank you trial lawyers and class action suits. That complaint aside, I did use it twice while running errands on Monday. The way it gets an inch or two from the curb without scratching the wheels is impressive.

 

[Gonville]

The blocks are an improvement agreed. See two yellows on the outer and two reds straight on to the truck. This is 6 inches and you would have stopped as the beepers have gone constant. Another 4 inches can safely be used with the camera.

Note the green direction lines - where you are going to - and the red curved lines indicating where your turning circle would take you.

 

[MikeS]

In my mind that is just too much information. The beeps work well on every other car I have had and I always look where I am about to go!

 

[e52fanatic]

I'm a huge fan of the trajectory and limit lines. We have the system on several of our vehicles, and it makes maneuvering in reverse a precision exercise. As soon as you begin turning you know exactly where your wheels will be and how tight of a turn you can make.

The overlay blocks are nice too as they give you more warning than the change in the audio cues...not to mention an easier to remember system than the escalating tone pattern."Was 5 Hz six or twelve inches"?