Originally Posted By: raaizin
Originally Posted By: cchase
Nissan Maxima took the cake for me. IIRC it was something like 40 feet curb-to-curb turning circle. I would suspect some trucks could beat it.
Wheel size affects T/R. Here is a link.
http://answers.edmunds.com/question-What...ger-121460.aspx
We have a 2002 Maxima and the turning radius is horrible. I think it stems from fact when car was originally designed it came with 15" or 16" wheels mine came with 17" and the TR was terrible.
Tire width is definitely a factor since tire to chassis clearance limits how far the wheels can be turned. FWD have I think another disadvantage because I think the frame rails have to wide to fit the tranverse-mounted drive train.
GM used the slim profile automatic transmission design which gave poor access to the rear of the engine, but you'd think it'd allow the chassis to maybe be a little narrower. I don't think they had necessarily a tighter turning radius. One reason they wrapped around the transmission was to allow large diameter springs on the X-body to improve the ride, but there were other reasons like it provided for equal length half shafts.
A car that had the one of the worst turning radius for such a small car with small tires was the 80's Frod Escort and Tempo. The Escort had a short wheelbase and 165/13 tires and turned about as sharp as an SUV lol. It's wall-to-wall turning radius was pretty bad for such a small car too. It'd easily plow into the other car in the next parking spaces if you were just guage on where such a small car should be able to fit lol.
