I was in my friend's CRV for a roadtrip last week. It was very nice. Roomy. I gotta say though, it took some getting used to the difference in acceleration and handling. The first turn I took made the tires (and girls) squeal. Whoops...it's an SUV, not a sports car.

But the turning radius was surprisingly good. In fact, I decided to check it out at Edmunds.com. That, and it's gas tank capacity, to see how close I came to running out of gas during one long gas-station free stretch.

The results are more than surprising! In fact, I question every single stat's accuracy now.

Mazda RX-8 Turning Circle: 34.8 ft
Honda CRV Turning Circle: 34.1 ft

The CRV has a smaller turning radius than the '8??! WHAT?

 

A lot of SUV's have a tighter turning radius then cars. Not all.....but a lot.

 

Not too surprising since the CRV is based on the Civic platform. The CRV's wheel base is like 3" shorter according to MSN autos.

 

We had one to haul the dogs around. It was a good little SUV/car. For a all wheel drive suv the price is very good.

 

*licks wounded pride*
At least I can turn left at speeds greater than 25 mph without pushing the limits of my handling.
*lick*

 

You can easily cure the huge turning radius by putting your right foot down.

 

And its easier to have sex in a CR-V.

 

exacaly, its a civic with a bigger body.

 

Since when does turning radius have anything to do with anything. Some of the best handling cars in the world have a large turning radius.

 

It does, it took me "many point turns to get out of my house" instead of three point turns when I'm in my daily driver.

 

hmm, i guess that's a good point. Nice.

 

not that its important but the old crv was based on civic and the new one is based on the Accord.

 

Apparently you havn't heard of a Ford GT.

Can't turn around at slow speeds to save it's life.

 

Most sports cars have a terrible turning radius due to the suspension being optimized for quick handling. Mazda did a very good job with the RX-8 front end to get a turning circle under 35 feet.

 

The first day I drove my 8, some kid in a CR-V tried to race me. Pretty funny and sad.

 

The turning radius has to do with the fact that he noticed the CRV has a tight turning radius, and he was suprised to learn that it was smaller than the 8's. Gasoline capacity has nothing to do with much either, but you didn't get upset about that. Perhaps the Evo's abnormally large turning radius put you on the defensive??

 

Turning circle has to do with how sharp an angle the front wheels can turn in. If the wheels could turn in 90 degrees you'd basically have a shopping cart that could turn in its own length!

As an example my PT Crusier has a 40.2ft turning circle, and it's a very short car. The RX-8 at 34.8ft is far better.

 

I thought we actually had a great turn radius personally.

 

Does anyone really purchase a car because of a superior turn radius?