Turning radius?

[grrlys_magickety]

OK, folks, today this really vexed me. I work in a very urban spot and have to park in this funky garage. In my last car (HUGE minivan) I could steer my way out of anything in one fell swoop.

I'm gettin annoyed with the fact that I can't even get out of a regular parking spot in my garage without at least 2 gos at it. I even had to make a three-point U-turn!

This coming from someone who actually learned how to drive and lived in major cities for years. So no, the problem isn't my lame and/or gutless driving.

PLEASE tell me there is some kind of mod I can do to improve the turning radius/steering/handling on my PT. It is the only thing I dislike about my car, and it's really startin to piss me off.

[RadioA]

Yup, had a minivan before the Cruiser...same thing - lousy turning radius with the PT. My solution ... live with it.

I don't know what model pt you have, but the models with 15" wheels turn much tighter than the others. I have the 15" and was amazed when I drove one with 16" and then drove a gt with 17" and it took the proverbial 40 acre field to turn it around. I don't know if it is just the wheel size or if the steering is actually different, but specs will show that the 15 turn the tightest, the 16s next and the 17's the worst.

[Bosch]

No it's not you, the PT does have the turning radius of a small truck.. At least you can do a 3-point turn.. Most people can't even do that without hitting the object the are trying to get around..

I don't know of any mods you could do to change it because I have never looked.. The PT turning radius has not been a problem for me.. Sorry..

bobl is correct that the wheel sizes do have something to do with it. Less rubber, easier to turn... And believe it or not the stick shift has a smaller radius than the auto..

[StreetrodUK]

And us Brits just put it down to the fact that everything was so much bigger in the States - especially roads! I don't know why it should be - the Voyager doesn't have the problem....

[ecarfar]

OK, I'll bite. Why would the manual have a tighter radius than the auto? I have a manual GT coming in about 2 weeks.

Originally Posted by Bosch

No it's not you, the PT does have the turning radius of a small truck.. At least you can do a 3-point turn.. Most people can't even do that without hitting the object the are trying to get around..

I don't know of any mods you could do to change it because I have never looked.. The PT turning radius has not been a problem for me.. Sorry..

bobl is correct that the wheel sizes do have something to do with it. Less rubber, easier to turn... And believe it or not the stick shift has a smaller radius than the auto..

[Dreamacre]

Hey, It could be worse!

[PT-Al]

Originally Posted by ecarfar

OK, I'll bite. Why would the manual have a tighter radius than the auto? I have a manual GT coming in about 2 weeks.

The restriction on the turning radius is how much the wheels can pivot before rubbing up against something in the wheelwell.

The automatic transmission makes the engine wider compared to a manual transmission so the wheels have less room to turn before hitting, thus a wider turning radius.

[ecarfar]

Ok, Great, so that's a nice little perk! One more reason I'm glad I got the manual tranny!

Originally Posted by PT-Al

The restriction on the turning radius is how much the wheels can pivot before rubbing up against something in the wheelwell.

The automatic transmission makes the engine wider compared to a manual transmission so the wheels have less room to turn before hitting, thus a wider turning radius.

[achr]

Both my PT's have been 5 speeds. The first one with the 15" steel wheels had a reasonable turning radius if not tight. My Dreamer II with the 17" wheels is significantly worse. There must be an actual difference in the factory installed steering racks because I'm running 15" wheels for the winter on my new PT and there's no turning radius improvement over the 17" OEM rims, nor would I have expected one by simply making this switch.