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HHGTTG
14-03-2009, 01:00 PM
My new VW MK6 is going to be fitted, as a factory fit option, with parking sensors, front and rear and therefore I pose the following question.
I can understand how the rear sensors are activated i.e. when engaging reverse gear etc. but are the front sensors active only when 1st gear is selected? If that is so then why don't they give an alarm signal when crawling slowly in traffic when the car in front is approached or has the speed of the car something to do with it?
And what happens if you drive into a space frontwards facing a vertical wall i.e when reverse hasnt' been selected?
Am I being ultra thick and missing something that is so obvious I cannot see the wood for the trees?
:o

VictorPapa
14-03-2009, 02:08 PM
I asked my dealer a similar question when I ordered my car. He said that the rear sensors work automatically in reverse but the front ones work when selected. Therefore they shouldn't work in traffic, unless you wish them to.

HHGTTG
14-03-2009, 02:57 PM
I asked my dealer a similar question when I ordered my car. He said that the rear sensors work automatically in reverse but the front ones work when selected. Therefore they shouldn't work in traffic, unless you wish them to.

Thanks. Did the dealer say, or did you ask where the selector switch for the fronts were? Perhaps in that row of blanks in front of the gear lever?

slo007
14-03-2009, 09:05 PM
I can't wait for my car to arrive so such questions become easy to answer! :D My car is also fitted with the optical parking sensors.

The Toyota Corolla I rented last month required a press of a button to activate the forward sensor alarm when going forward. I found it difficult to use and quickly forgot it was there.

VictorPapa
15-03-2009, 12:58 AM
Thanks. Did the dealer say, or did you ask where the selector switch for the fronts were? Perhaps in that row of blanks in front of the gear lever?

He didn't say and I didn't ask but I would think you're probably right with the row of blanks.

Kn1ghthawk
19-03-2009, 09:25 PM
The front will work when the button is selected. Yes, they will work in traffic whilst approaching the car in front. however, when you move forward at any speed in excess of about 5mph they will switch off.

(i know as i tried this following a review of this post)

Blackthorn
03-04-2009, 02:03 PM
Yes, the button is in that row of five in front the gear lever, either the middle or the second from right, I can't quite remember. One is Parking Sensors and the other Park Assist.

netherfield
04-04-2009, 05:09 PM
Sometimes not all they are cracked up to be,on my Phaeton there are 2 pointing forward and then 4 coming round the skirt pointing at angles.

Problem is if you are parking between 2 other cars the sensors spot them and start beeping which then doesn't tell how far from what's in front.

ukpm
02-09-2009, 05:01 PM
Can you fit them proper VW parking sensors afterwards at the dealer's... or would I be better getting a purely third-party system? I quite like the idea of the optical display on the RCD310/510 audio systems.

AdC
02-09-2009, 07:28 PM
Can you fit the proper VW parking sensors afterwards at the dealer's... or would I be better getting a purely third-party system? I quite like the idea of the optical display on the RCD310/510 audio systems.

No. Dealer fitted systems are 'aftermarket' - they don't blend into the bumper as well as oem and only 'beep' - i.e. they don't display on the radio screen. And I think it's rear only, too. Shame.

kaboom1
02-09-2009, 09:44 PM
What i have noticed is the bar graph display isnt all that accurate, when its fully black i.e as far as its concerned im as close as possible to an object im trying to avoid when parking, when i stop the car and get out and have a look as to how far away it is its normally at least a foot and a half away from the car meaning i often have to move the car forward/back a bit to get it parked properly in car parks, often i just ignore them to be honest!!

cs2009
03-09-2009, 09:53 AM
My new VW MK6 is going to be fitted, as a factory fit option, with parking sensors, front and rear and therefore I pose the following question.
I can understand how the rear sensors are activated i.e. when engaging reverse gear etc. but are the front sensors active only when 1st gear is selected? If that is so then why don't they give an alarm signal when crawling slowly in traffic when the car in front is approached or has the speed of the car something to do with it?
And what happens if you drive into a space frontwards facing a vertical wall i.e when reverse hasnt' been selected?
Am I being ultra thick and missing something that is so obvious I cannot see the wood for the trees?
:o

Mine seem to work as follows:

Both front and rear sensors activate either when you select reverse, or if you press the button. They don't operate in traffic just from 1st gear - you would need to press the button first.

If they are already activated, pressing the button switches them off.

Chris.

Nightowl4933
03-09-2009, 10:06 AM
I've not turned the front ones on manually, but if reverse is selected the front ones are active too. There is a different tone when closing in to obstructions at the rear and the front, and if you have the 310 the diisplay it shows a series of bars identifying how close (relatively) you are to the obstruction.

I've not experienced the front ones working when driving forward, unless I've already selected reverse, but then I try not too close to anything in front!

I only really wanted the reversing sensors, but I'm quite pleased I've got the front one's too - but it's quite musical when trying to reverse out around several objects!

HHGTTG
03-09-2009, 11:11 AM
I've not turned the front ones on manually, but if reverse is selected the front ones are active too. There is a different tone when closing in to obstructions at the rear and the front, and if you have the 310 the diisplay it shows a series of bars identifying how close (relatively) you are to the obstruction.

I've not experienced the front ones working when driving forward, unless I've already selected reverse, but then I try not too close to anything in front!

I only really wanted the reversing sensors, but I'm quite pleased I've got the front one's too - but it's quite musical when trying to reverse out around several objects!
Yes, I soon fathomed the system out when I took delivery. It was immediately obvious that the switch, forward of the gear lever was for activating the system, if it was already off and you wanted it, say, for approaching some obstacle in front.
Selecting reverse activates both front and rear sensors and turns off when you drive away, after a few yards or can be turned off by pressing that button - all very logical really.

ukpm
03-09-2009, 04:21 PM
That is a shame, as I'm sure they could get the parts if they were motivated to do so. On the other hand it offers up the possibility of using the microwave parking sensors - which employ a single long strip fixed behind the bumper i.e. there are no externally visible sensors.

/me rapidly searches for link found a long time ago!

Found this place, but it's not the same link I'd seen a while ago; this one looks less professional!