Shopping with Ford's Active Park Assist

Pinch me because I refuse to admit that the holiday season is amongst us!  A couple weeks ago, I had the honour of partnering up with Ford again to drive their Explorer for the week while navigating the busy Black Friday crowds searching for their holiday bargains.  I remember telling myself that I had to get out and do the craziness in person - not only because I live for chaos, but because I just HAD to try out Ford's Active Park Assist feature.

What Is Active Park Assist?

Active Park Assist is basically an assistant for parallel parking.  As a seasoned driver, I wasn't sure how I felt about the feature at first and it felt a little weird letting a computer do the driving for me.  My first attempt went smoothly until the car was in the process of straightening itself out.  My natural reaction was to reach for the steering wheel to position the SUV in place, but my Active Park Assist(ant) wanted nothing to do with that!  You see, as soon as you touch the steering wheel, it disables Active Park Assist and you're basically on your own again and have to park it "old school".

I love the idea of using Active Park Assist for the purpose of maneuvering the Explorer into cramped parking spots - especially during the holiday season when parking is a premium!  It takes away the stress of the trip to the mall with two young kids knowing that my trusty assistant is looking out for me and my car, haha!  Also, I normally drive a standard sized sedan, so having the piece of mind that I could use this feature with the Explorer if I need to squeeze it into a tight spot.

Unfortunately, I didn't have a chance to capture a video of myself using Active Park Assist (it was a busy week!), but feel free to watch the Ford video below for an inside look at how you can use Active Park Assist to back into a parking spot!

Have you tried Ford's Active Park Assist feature?  I'd love to know what you think about it in the comments below!

xo Kristina