Fancy measuring your garage for me?

[Scampy]

Hi all,

Another prospective owner, but living in the UK in a modern house I seem to suffer from thin garage syndrome. My current car, a Lotus Elise, fits ok but it can be a struggle to get in and out, and I'm concerned that an NSX will simply be too big.

So ....

My garage dimensions are 520cm long by 245cm wide (roughly). Anyone out there manage to get an NSX into this space ok?

Thanks in advance,
Damian Wilson

 

[nsxtasy]

The length isn't a problem. The car is 173.4 inches (440.4 cm) long. My NSX is in a space that is 176 inches long.

The width of the car is 71.3 inches (181.1 cm); the widest point is at the side-view mirrors (EDIT - No it's not - see below). That leaves 63.9 cm on both sides of the car for entering and exiting. Whether that's enough depends on whether you need room on both sides of the car. If you have a passenger, he/she can exit the car before you pull into the garage, which enables you to move the car closer to the wall on the passenger side, thereby leaving more room from the wall on the driver side.

To illustrate this: If you could maneuver the car so that the passenger side-view mirror is just touching the wall, that means all 63.9 cm (25.2 inches) would be the distance between the side-view mirror and the wall on the driver's side. If the car were perfectly centered, that means only 32 cm (12.6 inches) between the side-view mirror and the wall on each side of the car.

I park my LHD NSX in the leftmost space of a three-car garage. I generally park it fairly close to the wall on the driver's side. It leaves just barely enough room for my moderately large body (5'9", 205 pounds) to enter and exit the car; it's a tight squeeze (requiring occasional minor gymnastics) and I wouldn't want to have to park it any closer. I measured the distance between my driver side-view mirror and the wall, and it's 20.5 inches (52.1 cm).

If you can park your car within 4.7 inches of the passenger side wall, you will have the same 20.5 inch clearance on the driver's side as I have. Your ability to do this may depend on any obstacles you may have protruding from that wall, as well as on the approach to that wall (i.e. the door frame for the garage door).

EDIT: After writing the above post, I double-checked the diagram on page 3-17 of the 1991 service manual, and it's clear that the width measurement does NOT include the side view mirrors. The side view mirrors protrude about 4 inches from the body panel below, and that is where the width measurement is made.

The distance from the car to the wall of my garage, measured from the body panel to the wall, is thus 24.5 inches, not 20.5 inches. That means that you would only have a chance of entering/exiting the car comfortably if you could park it within an inch of the passenger side wall.

 

[Scampy]

Very helpful reply, thanks. The car would be parked as flush to the passenger side as possible (no concerns about leaving space either side). However it does have to clear a door frame to get in, which may complicate matters (reversing in may get round that).

It does sound tight I have to say. I'll go do some measuring/guestimating.

 

[Scampy]

There's an interesting thing there actually - does the width measurement of 181cm *include* the wing mirrors?

 

[nsxtasy]

it does have to clear a door frame to get in, which may complicate matters (reversing in may get round that).

Yes, I think backing into the space would let you maneuver the car around the door frame to make it as close to the passenger side wall as possible.

There's an interesting thing there actually - does the width measurement of 181cm *include* the wing mirrors?

Good thing you asked. I just checked the dimensions in the 1991 service manual (page 3-17) and it actually does NOT include the side view mirrors. My error, my apologies.

This means that you would need to get the car within an inch of the passenger side wall of the garage. This is a very, very tight squeeze! What's ironic about this is that the NSX is not a particularly wide car to begin with, so you would have this problem with many other cars.

You might want to see if one of the NSX owners in your area could stop by so you could try it out in person.

 

[Joel]

You can also fold both sidemirrors inward if need just a "little" more space.

 

[Scampy]

This is a definite worry! As you say, I'd have difficulty getting lots of modern cars - I really don't understand why builders in this country insist on making everything so irritatingly small.

Joel - thanks, thats something I would have to do I think. According to official figures the NSX is only 10cm or so wider than the Elise, but I suspect the car has bigger doors. I already have to do gymnastics to get in the Lotus.

My wife did say "we can't justify moving just for your car"

 

[Scampy]

Hmm, I suppose I could just push the car in and out of the garage... I mean, I know it will physically fit, I just might not be able to get in and out.

*Ponders*

 

[zzrman]

Hmm, I suppose I could just push the car in and out of the garage... I mean, I know it will physically fit, I just might not be able to get in and out.

*Ponders*

You could always buy a Targa and jump in and out!!

But seriously try this:

1. Make a mark against the rear wall of the garage which will line up against a known bit of the front of the car and which if you line it up correctly mean that you have the minimum safe clearance on the passenger side and therefore the maximum space on your, the driver's, side.

2. Stick some nice thick foam rubber to the driver-s side wall so that when you get out you know that you can rest the edge of the door against it without chipping the paint on the door edge.

regards

 

[nsxtasy]

This means that you would need to get the car within an inch of the passenger side wall of the garage.

And not just the edge of the mirror, but the body (with the mirror folded in).

At best, you are going to either (a) just barely be able to squeeze yourself in and out of the car, after carefully and precisely backing it so that it's against one side wall, or (b) push it back into the space after exiting the car; either way, it will be a PITA every time you do this, and not recommended for everyday use.

Incidentally, what matters is not the length of the doors (since you are not opening them all the way), but rather, the thickness of the doors (since the distance from the wall must allow your body to squeeze between the inner door edge and the car body, and there will be additional space/thickness between the inner door edge and the outer door edge).

I was already assuming something soft on the wall to cushion the impact and prevent paint chips. (I have a folded towel nailed to my garage wall at the rear of the car.)

I don't think you will know for sure until you try one. I wouldn't buy one without trying it beforehand, if the ability to get it into your garage is a dealbreaker.

 

[RP-Motorsports]

Since you say your garage is too small for all cars, not just the NSX, my advice to you is MOVE!!! I just built a new house, and made sure I had a big garage. I have over 1000 sq ft of attatched bliss!!! Soon to be drywalled, carpeted, tiled, heated etc

 

[W]

My NSX sleeps in a garage 282cm wide. I typically have the driver's side window rolled down for easier exitting and can open the door to the first click point when parked very close to the righthand side. I don't have too much trouble jacking up the car, doing oil changes, polishing it, even washing it, while it's in the garage.

Private me for a picture since I have one just over the attachment limit (118KB).