Has anyone noticed the very large turning radius of the TL-S? I test drove both the TL and TL-S and the TL-S seemed to make very wide turns when making a U-turn. I also parellel parked both cars on the dealer lot and found that the TL is A LOT easier to park than the TL-S. I don't understand why one car is able to make tighter turns than the other.

Anyone else notice this?

 

The turning radius is raised due to the 17' rims on the type s. This seems unnecessary to me, but the engineers obviously did it for a reason. When parallel parking it, there shouldnt be a difference in the two.

 

thank god...I thought the title "turning in" meant "trading in" I was thinking, what the hell?!?

 

Specs state:

Turning Circle 3.2 TL - 36.8 ft. (curb-to-curb)

TL Type S - 40.0 ft. (curb-to-curb)

Must be the tires.

 

That's still a crappy number considering that the M5 comes stock with 18" rims and it can still do a full circle in only 37 feet.

 

i think the culprit is the VSA. remember TL doesn't have VSA, only the TL-S have it.

 

Well, if you floor it and spin around you can probably reduce that number.

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'02 TL-S Satin Silver
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Well, the BMW is a rear drive vehicle, which usuall means tighter turning radius. Correct me if i"m wrong.

 

Height of TL-S tire = 25.46 inches
Height of TL tire = 25.69

This is based on Std. equipment for each car.

My guess is the turning circle is based on
the front suspension geometry for each car.

Here's a cool link for tire calculations... http://www.venommotorsports.com/howt...ldiameters.htm

 

Not that big a problem....people with enough sense to get the TLS usually know where they are going! Not often that they need to turn around!