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Its incredible how few people appreciate this, or how hard it is to explain to people.

The rear wheels pivot!!

This is also why the quality of the rear tires is far more important - the fulcrum, or pivot, sees the most stress!

Op was talking about the front wheels pivoting. Rear wheels do not pivot. Furthermore, the quality is sometimes better on rear tires in a rear wheel drive car if the owner is trying to be frugal and save money when changing their tires. Similarly with front wheel drive drive train, owners will often opt to replace only their front tires as they will wear quicker. This is all due to the traction needed to start the car moving. Now, back to the crux of the question, why fancy park? Reversing and turning creates a wider turn radius, reduced control and greatly increases the size of the cars “blind spot”. A driver can opt to have their driving ability impacted while they safely enter an empty spot by reversing in or deal with the hustle and bustle of reversing into a busy parking lot. Despite the efficiency and obvious gains from “fancy parking” some people have parked forward their entire life and have honed their spacial sense around a certain car or truck making the switch impractical, at least until the purchase of their next vehicle!

Totally besides the point, but the real wheels on some cars actually do pivot! :)

On top of the Honda Prelude, there's also the Porsche 911 GT3, the BMW 7 Series, Audi Q7, Nissan Skyline GT-R (R32, R33, R34 had HICAS), Renault Laguna (only in some European markets), Acura RLX (P-AWS), Lexus GS and LS, Infiniti Q50 and Q60, Mercedes-Benz S-Class, GMC Sierra and Chevrolet Silverado, and then to round out the list, the Lamborghini Aventador and the Ferrari F12 Berlinetta.

All of those feature rear wheels that pivot.

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