Is it possible to park a 15'4'' SW on the spot shown by the image, if cars parked side by side?

Hello,

I am new here and searched for a forum like this exactly to write a specific question. Here it goes.

I want to buy an Opel Astra 1.6 CDTI Sports Tourer (Vauxhall for some countries) and this car dimensions are 4,7 meters (15'4'') long and 1,8 meters (5'9'') wide. Currently, I live in a place where the road isn't very wide (like the majority of European roads) and I am wondering if I will be able to park such big car in my parking place.

I never have driven a Station Wagon before and my current car is a Fiat Punto. I am buying this car because of many reasons, one is that we need space for our family with two boys, other is that the car is almost new, with very little KM's (miles) and the price is half of a new one (Opel service car).

This forum for sure has lots of experienced Station Wagon drivers that can give me great advice and overview of this situation. I live here an image of the place where I live, with measures included. Neighbours aren't the most friendly and tend, sometimes, to be sloppy with parking.

My question is if I am able to park on my place with such car and every single advice is extremely appreciated. If I notice that I can really park and remove the car (daily), then will buy it for sure and you will see me around here very often.


Thank you very much in advance for all your time, knowledge and patience.

 

An Astra should fit. It isn't the longest Opel made. Since people park S.U.V.s everywhere, why should you worry about parking small cars?

 

It's 4,70 meters long. Its not a small car. How is it a small car? It is longer than many SUVs.

https://de.automobiledimension.com/modelle/opel/astra-sports-tourer-2016

 

"Small" is relative. Here in the US, that's a small car.

I assume your real concern is the turning radius, not the actual length. My daily driver is a Chevy one ton crew cab dually pickup, which is nearly 6m long and 2.4m wide at the dual rear wheels. I've found that it is much easier to back into parking spaces like that. Having the steering wheels at the outboard end is the key.

 

You're right. It is relative and the US has huge cars compared to us.

Yes, you nailed it. My concern is if I can turn the Wagon into that spot with such street. You gave me two very good tips and I really appreciate it. I was already thinking about back parking, makes it safer and more practical to remove luggage and kids with the rear to the inside.

The car has parking pilot, sensors, camera... all of it. But, I'm just totally new to such a big car and I've concerns.

 

Is it possible to rent a similar car for a day and try it?

 

OK, I'll see if I can help. By my calculations, the Opel Astra is 0.4m OVER your allotted length for the space you defined. Is there any extra clearance space? If not, that answers your question right there - the Opel is too long.

The other problem is access for actually getting INTO, and OUT OF the Opel once it is in its space. I don't know how much 'extra' room you have available for opening doors and such, but it seems you have a margin there of .6 meters (about 2 feet), which should be enough. What you might want to do in this case, if you are not sure, is find another one for sale somewhere, go check it out, and find out exactly how much extra room you need to get access to the interior - open the door and take a measurement when its open enough so you can get in.

 

Not this model, but I could search for a similar sized Station Wagon. That's actually not a bad idea at all!

The Wagon is 0.4m over the street width and that's my concern, I'm unsure if its enough to do the "turn radius" and park it. I have drawn a 2.4m wide and 5m long rectangle to show my parking spot, but behind it there is about more half meter until the house wall, Total is about 5,5m long from the end of the street to the house wal, which gives me enough space to open the trunk and load / unload.

The question is, can I with a 4,3m wide street, do the radius and park a 4,7m long and 1,8m wide SW on my parking place, if the neighbours have their cars on their spots (being mine only free)? With my current Punto I can do it i one go, but thats a small 4m long car.

 

The best wagon for your parking space would be rear-engined. If your budget would allow, I'd recommend finding a VW squareback in good condition. It'll be much shorter than the Opel and because it doesen't have front wheel drive, the steering geometry will allow a much smaller turning circle.
In your present situation, it seems, you would either have to move to another home or sell the Opel

 

Please 'splain to me what engine location has to do with turning radius? Sorry, your premise is completely flawed.

 

How do you figure? The turning radius is smaller, because the engine placed into the rear of the car isn't driving the front wheels. Need more clues?

 

Yeah, please give me a clue as to what the location of the driving wheels has to do with turning radius? Ever heard of a CV joint? That lets the drive axles turn corners on FWD cars. FYI, a front engine car doesn't have to be FWD either. Turing radius is a function of wheelbase and the angle the steering wheels are able to turn. Which end drives the car is irrelevant. My RWD truck has a HUUUUGE turning radius, mainly due to the long wheelbase.

 

I figured out what you were getting at, just after turning off the computer, last night. That's true, that it doesen't matter if the engine's in front or not, as long as the rear wheels are being driven. When two vehicles sharing identicle wheelbases and identicle distances between rightside and leftside wheels are used for measuring, one having the engine in the rear and one in the front, the turning radiuses of both will be identicle, if the steering geometry also is.
Assuming that the vehicle in question is front-drive, it'll be shorter in length compared to a front-engined rear wheel driven vehicle of identicle load volume which is also influential for fitting into the parking space in question. It was automatically assumed that his wagon is front wheel driven.
Since CV-joints are geometrically limited, as to operational angle, it's impossible to design in a steering geometry for such vehicles which will reach the limits of what could be designed into a vehicle without front CV-joints. Case in point are two vehicles sold in Europe which have identicle platforms. One being the new Smart and the other a Renault Twingo. Because of their engine placements, they are capable of turning smaller circles than their front-driven competition, assuming that nobody is manufacturing rear wheel driven front engined vehicles, in this size segment:

http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/Renault/Twingo

 

While I agree that the physical packaging limitations of a FWD drivetrain MAY limit wheel turning angle, there is no guarantee of that. A lot of things can limit max wheel angle. I'll also point out that I am specifically talking about vehicles with the same wheelbase, track width, and wheel turning angle. Packaging constraints are a packaging issue and may or may not impact wheel angle, depending on how clever the engineers are. The not-so-Smart car is tiny. I sure HOPE it has a small turning radius. Find me a FWD car with the same wheelbase and track width and then you'd have a meaningful comparison. As it is your example has far too many variables and assumptions.

 

The outboard joints can only provide bending up to 43° and the inboards operate at up to 20°