Small turning circle: How big a role does it really play?

By dpa | 2 October 2019


BERLIN: Just how agile a car is can be determined by looking at its turning circle — the smallest circular turn the vehicle can make.

The less space a car needs for a U-turn, the more straightforward the car's handling will be. This makes things easier when parking in difficult conditions, manoeuvring in a garage or slipping through narrow exits.

As such, the advantages of a small turning circle are especially obvious in city traffic, says a major German safety inspection agency.

A small turning circle implies a large steering range made possible by the axles and wheels.

For technical reasons, larger vehicles with a longer wheelbase, such as a mid-size saloon, tend to have a larger turning circle than small cars.

The construction of the drive unit also plays an important role. A large five-cylinder transverse engine will give the front wheels and the steering much less turning room than a four-cylinder engine.

Front-wheel-drive vehicles usually have a slightly larger turning circle than rear-wheel drive cars, since the latter usually have more space for the front wheels to turn freely.

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