I’m sick of trying to back out of parking spaces. I want to just steer out of one at same angle as I used to get into the space. Is there a street-legal car I can get in the US that allows me to switch to a back-wheel steering mode?
Honda Prelude - Wikipedia The 88 to 91 Prelude had 4 wheel steering. There may be some still on the road.
Here…some with 4ws only active in high speeds,
There were a few 3-wheeled vehicles that had rear-steering, but I don’t know if they were street legal in the US.
It was supposed to read…“Here…some with 4ws only active in high speeds, some with low speed 4ws, some with both.”
Apparently I pasted the URL while having a part of the text selected.
I’s a noob.
Thanks! I can actually afford some of those, always a plus! 
Test drive them well first. I’ve driven those GMCs with qudrasteer and it’s very strange watching the rear move sideways when backing into a space. I could whip a regular truck into a space faster than carefully watching every corner of one of those with 4ws. Sounds like you’re more interested in something smaller though.
Also, I wouldn’t call the Infinity Gs on that wiki list “active” 4ws. IIRC, it is more like a flex in the rear suspension that causes the wheels to pivot slightly when cornering. I doubt it’s even linked to the steering. I guess it depends on the definition of “active”. I’ve never heard of 4ws on many of those cars so I bet a lot have that little bit of flex, or whatever, and aren’t directly rear-steerable.
Why dont you just back INTO the space instead of buying some expensive weiro car? I hate backing out of spaces too, because I have a tuned car with a manual transmission that is a pain in the ass to slowly reverse.
(I remember an SDMB thread where some genius hated to see people “bragging” about backing into a parking space. I love how insecure people can turn a flaw like shitty drivig ability into an asset…human nature is strange like that, but I digress.)
How about a SmartCar? IIRC, they are so short you can often park perpendicular to the curb.
Or, get a high end Lexus that parallel parks itself 
People backing into spaces is annoying because a) they are aiming the wrong way if the spaces are angled, and b) because their exhaust blows directly onto the car in the opposite space. This is why many garages allow head-in parking only.
If the spaces are angled, then it becomes much easier to back out of the space, so I agree that backing in to the space should not be used in that situation. But why is b) a problem? I can only imagine you are concerned about the exhaust getting the other car dirty. But if you exhaust is dirty enough to cause that, you need to fix your car.
Bolding mine, Uh. Cite? That makes no sense.
I suspect it’s because if it’s crowded, and someone is right on your butt looking for a spot too, if you pull forward enough to back in, it can cause a traffic jam wherein other people have to back up too. Can’t find a cite for that though. Really doubt it’s because of exhaust.
Too bad really, often, backing in is your best bet.
I always figured it was to do with license plates. Not all states require a front plate. If the cars are parked nose-in, the lot attendant can just drive down the aisle and see all the plates on the backs of the cars.
Or maybe it’s the police. I actually got a ticket for being backed into a space once. It was bullshit.
Can you explain what you mean by this? I pull into ANY parking space COMPLETELY in the center and parallel between the two lines, it doesn’t matter whether they’re angled or straight.
Also, my exhaust getting on other cars reason: :rolleyes:
I think the idea is that in parking lots where the spaces are in a herringbone pattern, it’s natural for each aisle to flow in one direction. (Drive down the aisle looking for an open space, turn 45 degrees left or right to park, when you’re leaving, back out of the space and proceed in the original direction.) It wouldn’t surprise me if those parking lots even have thinner lanes, since they’re shouldn’t be any need for cars going in opposite directions to squeeze past each other.
If you’re backed into a spot in such a lot, you’ll naturally drive out in the wrong direction for that aisle.
And, in order to have backed into such a spot in the first place, you would have had to either:
a) been driving the wrong way up the aisle originally
b) made a very tight turn to back into the space (i.e., more than a 90-degree turn)
Not necessarily; you may have sprewed it.
This is not an issue if you only pull out of the parking space when there is plenty of room, which is what I would do because to stay safe I assume all other drivers are asleep at the wheel.
If both lanes are clear of cars and it is safe to do so, you only need to veer slightly into the other lane to back into a space (unless you can do it at a sharp angle). I wouldn’t back in unless there was plenty of room to do so already.
When I was a delivery driver, the reason “Don’t back into spaces!” was posted at some companies was because the payload on explosive force was much greater from a bomb in the trunk if you backed into a space facing a building or support structure.
Didn’t have anything to do with exhaust.