Is there anyway to make the turning radius smaller for our cars? I drove my g/f's Accord the other day and that thing can pretty much make 90 degree turns on a dime. . . I know they are completely different cars, and I shouldn't expect much, but I always have problems parking in areas that don't have enough room to swing into a spot.

 

Yeah, I'd say the handeling of the max is its weakest link, but as far as I know there is no way to make your turnig radius smaller. You can how ever increase you steering response with a fairly inexpensive mod like front strut tower bar.

 

Ya, I noticed the same thing. The turning radius on our car is pretty bad. But then again, my last car was a 90 Prelude 4WS with one of the better turning radiuses on the market

 

I have a FSTB coming to me in the mail, thanks to Biomax, and I am sure it will help handling but I doubt it will fix this problem.

 

I don't think turning radius has anything to do with how well the car handles. Turning radius is determined by how far you can actually turn the wheels. Handling is determined by your suspension, springs, tires, etc.. Upgrading any of those will not affect the turning radius. I do agree though, the turning radius does suck on Maximas. Parking in small spaces is really tough.

 

Maxima is excellent. You've never driven an American Car. The radius is measured in yards, not feet!

 

At least the 4th gen turning radius is better than the 5th gen's... I've driven both so I know. <b>And</b> it's very embarrassing when I can't make a complete U turn in a busy intersection.

 

i totally agree with you kev

 

How much is the turning radius negatively affected if you replace the stock 15s (from a 98 GLE) with 17x8s?

 

I think the turning radiun on the 3rd gens are worse than 4th gens! My gf's 97 GXE has a much better turn radius than mine! It sux!

 

come on....
simply looking at the length of the wheel base, the width and the maximum turning angle of the car steering...plus since the thing is FWD (oh wait...I think that does not effect too much if speed is nominal...but maybe it does)....of course it ain't gonna turn as great as a shorter base vehicle...smaller cars can run tighter circle...
and of course you can have forced turn...say when one of your wheel spin faster than the other...heheheheheh...

now...if you are referring to holding tight turns at high speed...that is something to do with G
alrighty..
our car is not horrible....it ain't the greatest...but it sure ain't the worst....

 

But I don't know what the radius is--just a guess, 37 feet or so? I've noticed it can be tough to make a Uey or if you're at one of those cheesy apartment complexes where they make the spaces small and close together to get more spaces in the lot, it can be tough to back out because the next row of cars behind are too close.

Volvos are notorious for having short radiuses--I know the 240 is only 32.8 feet which can beat a Honda Civic. Pretty good for a car longer than the Maxima, huh? But I wonder if it's the cause of all the bushing/bearing/tie-rod problems that they had. Still, the FWD Volvos are still relatively tight.

 

The turning radius of a fourth gen is 34.8 ft. which is very impressive for a car its size. Most cars in the same class are around 37-38 ft. And for decreaing the radius, the only thing that I know will help is smaller wheels (diameter).