2009 New York Auto Show: Behind the wheel with Ford Active Park Assist

[M_Smith]

2009 New York Auto Show: Behind the wheel with Ford Active Park Assist

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Ford will soon roll out a self-parking system that promises to help the parallel-parking challenged sit back and let the car do the work. Much like the system introduced by Lexus a couple of years back, Ford?s Active Park Assist lets the driver sit back and watch the steering wheel spin back and forth as the car glides smoothly into an available space. But unlike the Lexus system, this one promises to be truly usable in the real world ? at least some of the time.

Impressive as the Lexus system was when we first tried it, it had severe limitations in the name of safety. (See our claim check video on the Lexus self-parking system.) If you pressed the gas, it canceled out, making backing into a space on a hill impossible. It also needed a lot of room, because it had to get into a space on one try. It couldn?t jockey back and forth.

Active Park Assist addresses both of those concerns, and in a brief test drive, it got us into a space set up in front of the convention center several times without incident. It eased a demo Lincoln MKS back and forth into a space, relying on the driver to avoid hitting cars in front and back with the aid of ultrasonic sensors, a camera and audible signals. But the system still couldn?t be relied on to consistently get us close to the curb, neatly lined up with cars in front and back.

Still, progress is being made, and maybe parallel parking skills are destined to go the way of the manual transmission and clutch.

Active Park Assist will be available on the Lincoln MKS this summer, and it will follow on the Ford Flex, Escape, and Mariner in the fall. Ford says the price will be less than $1,000.*

?Jim Travers

See Consumer Reports' coverage of the 2009 New York auto show.

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