Ah... Actually made a input mistake. 36' 9" (Before) and 3" less after... The 3" gain I would question...

I would say there were no gains. (3" is pretty much not worth it)

 

So what the heck are these bump stops for ? There must be something else that's increasing the radius on the 17" wheel Maxima. The front suspension on the GXE and SE models is pretty much the same, however the turning radius on the GXE is 35'4" compared to 40' for the SE.

 

Take out the 17" on the SE and replace it with 16", not sure how much of a difference that would make but it should be there.

 

is there anyway to decrease 4th gen's turning radius? I seriously think its huge even wiht those 15 inch rims. u guys must be having hell parking those things...

 

It was a radical change from my previous car. Parking isn't so much of a problem (though i miss just being able to whiz in any space) but backing out in the office parking lot is tough... i always have to move forward and back up again to clear the rears.

 

Size does not matter but it is the engineering that does.I noticed something about Benzes a while back as a kid.

Next time you have access to your uncles S55 get in and turn the wheel all the way to one side switch off engine and observe wheel.

If they make them like they used to, you will notice that the wheel look's like it is about to "lay on it's side".But then again they are RWD vehicles so they may be able to play more with the suspension more than a FWD setup.

 

i know exactly what you're talking about. lots of trucks and SUVs do this too. maybe you just cant do that safely with FWD cars.

 

That is a result of a lot of caster, which increases straight line stability, self centering and co-incidentally, steering effort. It is less on fwd cars because they have inherently pretty good straight line stability and heavy steering. On the Max the steering is overboosted and the steering wheel is oversized to overcome the high effort - but overcorrected. Some caster might return some steering feel.

 

This is the only problem I have seen with the car, I don't know why it would be worse then the previous models, but it seems that you need a huge space just to do a U turn, other than that little complaint, the car is a 9.9 in my book!