Turning Circle Comparison
 

Ive been having a debate with a friend about the turning circle of different drivetrains (FWD, RWD and AWD) Which has the largest turning circle and which has the smallest? If you could proved a brief why that would be great :D

My opinion:

1. RWD (smallest)
2. FWD
3. AWD (largest)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automob..._drive_layouts

doesnt mention AWD turning circles but it does confirm that RWD has the smallest turning circle and FWD has the biggest

i think it depends more on the wheel base more than the driveterrain.. EVO 94' wheel base VS Supra MK4 94' wheelbase for example..

You would need to get 2 cars that are the same but with the drivetrain changed to get a proper comparison.

Berz out.

It would be pretty specific to X car vs X car. Some have rear wheel steering, some just have wildly different dimensions, etc.

I suppose not having driveshafts that need to reach the turning wheels would give RWD an advantage though.

My aunt had a Volvo 740 way back when
holy shit that thing could turn on a DIME

I would think that RWD having to push the car around would make the radius bigger than a FWD that pulls the car tight?

Berz out.

all depends on wheelbase, size of wheels etc theres too many variables, theoretically there is no difference between a fwd/awd/rwd this is basically an impossible question

totally car dependent

The RSX has a short wheelbase but a horribly WIDE turn radius
My family had a sienna with much longer wheelbase but a smaller turn radius than a RWD e90


actually...to solve your question, just check whether a RWD e90 has better turn radius than a AWD e90

My car has a turning radius of 26.2 feet. You jelly?

A smart car has a TR of 28feet.

Doesn't really have much to do with the drivetrain as others have said.

The new subaru impreza in my experience has been very good, and my mom's W203 C class was pretty good for u-turns too, X3 was not as good and has similar wheelbase so yeah it's pretty specific to each car

Then again with some RWD you can do this kind of shit at a stand still :troll:

This.

I suspect a 4ws Prelude could defeat almost any competitor in a turning radius contest.

It has nothing to do with FWD, RWD or AWD.. but everything to do with engine layout, *WD is just an after effect.

Assuming all cars' wheel base and track are the same:

Engine layout and engine configuration limit the the maximum angle the wheels can turn in, hence affecting the turning radius.

Rear engine layouts that have the smallest turning radii (because there is no engine up front to constrain the angle of turn) vs front wheel longitudinal then front wheel latitudinal.

You can have higher angle of turn on longitudinal front engine layouts. (eg Audi A6/ A4 FWD will have smaller turning radius than their A3 FWD). However Inline engines eg BMW or old Mercedes will have even smaller radius since the engine packaging is thinner... hence allowing the wheels to turn in even more.

Latitudinal layouts Honda / Volvos (especially their i6) etc have larger turning radius since their wheels cannot turn in as much. They try to compensate by making their cars much wider (so they also claim that they make it more roomier)

4WS / pushing or pulling theories have relatively small effect when compared with what different engine layouts can do.

To test this in daily life, take a 3 series RWD, C class V6 RWD and a TL/TSX on a 2 street 3 point turn. 3 series can usually do it in 2 while the rest have to do full 3.

4WS is hacks.

But despite that, I don't believe it has the tightest turning radius.

Wikipedia says this about RWD:

But at the end of the day, it still ultimately depends on each car model itself... how far they decided to lock the steering and such.

i rmbr clarkson comparing a SL65 Black to a normal SL350... =.=
the turning radius on the Black was far bigger than SL350...

so my friend tested a EVO VS lancer GTS for U Turns... Lancer made it with full lock on a normal residential street... EVO...not so much

which leads us to assume, higher performance cars probably have a diff geomentry that makes it having a bigger turning radius? LOL, no idea what i am talkin abt.. so just a hypothesis


skip to 6:02 to see what i am talking abt...

It is called wider wheels, which reduces the turn in angle. Not to mention you need more force to turn in when you are going high speed.

Toyota Echo hatchback that I had as a courtesy car couldn't make a U turn in a 2 lane road without doing a 3 point. My wider, longer wheel base, RWD, fat tire'd MR2 Turbo does a U turn on the same road without problem

You're on the right track, higher performance cars will have more components in the engine bay. Beefier engine and transmission will take up more space, and when you add the turbo into the lancer, it'll take up more space. As a result, the steering angle of the front wheels will be limited more so than a basic model.

You guys are all morons. It has nothing to do with drivetrain and everything to do with how the knuckles are designed and how much "angle'' your front wheels can get when you are at full lock.

That's why I said you need 3 cars that are exactly the same only 1 being RWD 1 being FWD and 1 being AWD. Also speed is a huge factor.

Berz out.

we talking about turning radius? i noticed the 2 door coupes have a bigger turning radius then 4dr sedans...

Yup. Something big, such as a Dodge Ram 1500, has a mid-20's turning radius, while a compact, like a Corolla, pulls a wide 36 footer.

Mostly true. While it does completely depend on the max angle you are getting out of the front wheels, its also true that a fwd vehicle would have a lower max because of the limits of the driveshaft. A rwd vehicle has more potential to have a small turning radius, if the desire was there.

My A5 has an much wider turning radius compared to my e92.