Oh man. I just saw the stats for the turning circle on the '04 Max... 40 feet? Holy crap! What the heck was Nissan smoking that day? I had a 2000 Max and it's a mere couple inches difference in length, and yet has a 5' smaller turning circle. 40' is BIG.

Does anyone know of a way to improve that, through modifications or anything else? I just ordered an '04 that is supposed to be ready Tuesday, and I'm a little miffed. Obviously I love the car, but damn, that's going to be a pain in the butt.

-Nate

P.S. Hi everyone... long time listener, first time caller. Actually, I just found this place yesterday, but that doesn't roll off the tongue as well. Like I said, I had a 2000 Max and just yesterday bought a Black '04 SE 6spd w/ driver pref & sunroof. Wish I didn't have to wait until Tuesday to get it... I'm way anxious.

 

Glad to have another 04 aboard.

No there is no way to reduce the turning circle. It is a factor of having a large engine and a large wheel size. Just the way things are.

Its not so bad most of the time. Only when I'm in a crapy mall parking lot does it seem to be a bit of a pain to manouver it around. Other than I don't notice the large turning circle.

CM.

 

i guess i should be a lil more worried, cause i get my max in 2 weeks and i am trying to fit 21's on it....welcome aboard

 

04 black se...21s? you are nuts...are you planning on dropping the front end to get rid of the gap?

i am getting 20s, and i am worried about dropping it...the rubbing is going to be a problem...

i give you credit for even thinking about it...

souljourner...that's why i have a celica also...the 04 is huge...i find making simple u-turns turn into 3 point turns...but i love to drive the max, and almost hate driving the celica.

 

yeah man iam waiting for a full coilover set up, or for coilovers for that matter hahaha, stillen has a lip coming out very soon also

 

There is a thread or two somewhere around here dedicated to this topic. But essentially, if you have a FWD car with a big V6 and large rims/tires, you are going to have a bad steering radius, too much stuff to fit in the front end, so something has to give and turning radius is the easiest thing to give in on.

It really isn't an issue unless you are a pizza man or something and make U-turns all day.

 

Suppose you guys are right. Not the end of the world (and somehow I doubt a pizza man is gonna drive an '04 Max

-Nate

 

the 02 has a horrible turning radius. I remember someone discussing this and they thought that when the 02 max came out it had bigger rims than the other 5th gen and they didn't account for that and treated it like it was still on 15" rims. I guess bigger rims prevent you from turning so sharp.

 

17" rims have been available on all 5th gen model years ....granted they were late availability on the 2000 model....I'm not sure if the turning radius sucks as bad in 2000/01 as the 2K2/3.....it sucks bad on my 2K2, gets on my nerves eveytime I have to turn around.

 

According to the August 2003 issue of Car and Driver, the Volvo S60R has a turning circle of 42.7 feet!

 

Sideways inline 5 cylinder, pretty wide engine.

 

Yes yes I find it VERY annoying with a 40 feet turning radius. It's 40 on mine too with 17" wheels. I didn't know that the 04 has a 40 feet radius. I was hoping that nissan would fix the issue. Maybe it's because it's a front wheel drive car?

 

Seems to me the turning radius should be directly related to the length of the wheel base and to what angle the tires can turn. The wheelbase is pretty long on this car, and the wheels don't turn far. Obviously you can't do anything about the first problem. The second problem I imagine is limited by the steering structure built into the car. The problem is, when you turn an 18" diameter, 8 inch wide wheel, the inside corner moves a lot further towards the body of the car than turning a 15" diameter, 6" wide wheel. I'm sure I could do some elementary geometryu and figure out the exact difference, but it's been way too long and it's way too late for that.

The side of the tires you have on the car won't make a difference in the turning radius, because the engineers have already limited the steering so that the stock, 18" wheels don't hit the body if you turn them as far as they'll go.

Still, I've been driving it, and although I notice that the wheels don't turn as far as I'd like, it hasn't been a problem yet. The only time it's likely to really be a problem is U turns on small streets. Just will have to make sure you have time to do a 3 point turn.

-Nate

 

yeah, the travel is definately limited because of the size of the engine and the width of the car. Shrink the engine or widen the car and it should solve the issue. A while back I checked other FWD cars and they are all in the same boat.

 

Even my 3rd gen had horrible turning radius, not sure of the exact #, but I remember having to back up to make it into parking spots when I first got the car way back when. I pretty much expected it when I got my 2k2. Not a huge problem, just a minor pain.