Can someone explain what it means when the review of the TSX says the Turning radius is 45 ft and the BMW 3 and MB C230 is like 35 feet. What exactly does this mean in the real world?
Thanks

 

lets just say the bmw can do a better U turn than a tsx. heck i remember when i had an rsx i read up on that a honda oddesey(a VAN!!!!) has a smaller turning radius

 

Solution:

1) Get up to about 35mph minimum.
2) Do a quick 10 degree right turn
3) Follow that by a wheel lock left turn
4) Yank up on e-brake.

Voila! Perfect 1 lane U-Turn!

(Yes I did perfect this in my '99 Accord...NEVER buy a previously leased car...I might have driven it)

 

I heard somewhere that the large turning radius is a characteristic of cars with double wishbone suspensions like the TSX. The BMW 3 series and the Oddessey have macPherson strut suspenion that allows the turning radius to be smaller. Most vans i have experienced driving have pretty good turning. I think they design the steering so the wheels can turn at a greater angle making it easier to manuever larger vehicles.

 

rsx didnt have double wishbone

 

By the way -- you're not really talking about turning "radius" with the numbers you mention, but turning DIAMETER (usually referred to as "turning circle"). Sometimes the data are given in terms of one, sometime the other, and those numbers clearly are "circle." It might be easier to imagine the significance of these things if you know the literal meaning of them, which is: When you turn the car in the tightest possible circle, what is the radius (or the diameter) of that circle? The smaller the number, the tighter the ability of the car to turn. Diameter is always double the radius. If you have a sense of what the distances mean, then you can picture what the corresponding circle would be, and that gives you an idea of what kind of U-turn you can make. And it also is a guide to how tight the car can turn in general.

Also: The number that you state for the TSX is way too large, even besides the fact that you really weren't talking about radius. The official number for the turning circle is something like 38 or 39 feet, and therefore the turning radius would be about 19.