Featured 2016 PRIUS ... I love it

2015 BMW 3 Series turning circle 37.1 ft.
2015 Toyota Camry turning circle 36.7 ft.
2015 Toyota Prius v turning circle 36.1 ft.

2015 VW Golf turning circle 35.8 ft.

 

A standard Prius v (OR Wagon is the name in Holland) 11 meters, no 13.4. I drive one so i'll know. Really shorter turning radius than my former cars (Verso D-cat OR Avensis).

 

Yes Standard but for sure not with the 17" wheels !

 

So, which BMW is comparable to a Prius V with 17" wheels? And why are you complaining about the V when this section isn't even about that version?

 

I am not complaining about the Prius v,I just made clear that Toyota even managed to make the turning radius on the v even bigger than on the regular Prius and you must admit that for a compact car like the Prius is supposed to be,11.80 meters as a turning radius is way to big !
I am hoping that Toyota has come back to their senses and will offer the Prius 4 with a smaller turning radius as in gen. 3 . with the 17" wheel option .

 

No, the V is a bigger car than the standard Prius, and the standard Prius already has a much smaller turning circle.

If you are comparing a 17" Prius V to other cars as the basis for Prius comparisons, you're doing it wrong. The Gen 2 and Gen 3 Prius's have turning circles of 10.4 meters, not 11.8 meters.

 

Do you think I photoshoped this ?

 

I think you are comparing to the wrong car.

 

No I am not,the Prius in the image is the gen 3. and yes with the 17" wheel option you get a turning radius of 11.80 meters.
I circled it !
"Wendekreis" is turning radius in german !
I photographed the picture right out of the brochure !

 

That's for the Prius V, not the standard Prius (hatchback).

http://www.toyota.com/prius/ebrochure/

Page 18.

"Turning circle diameter, curb to curb (ft.) 34.2 (15-in. wheel); 36.0 (17-in. wheel)"

34.2 feet is 10.4 meters
36 feet is 11.0 meters

 

Well then for some strange reason the turning radius in the US seems to be smaller than in the EU .
The brochure i have taken the picture from has absolutely nothing to do withe the Prius V,it's the brochure of the normal gen. 3 Prius,in fact when I got this from the dealer Prius V wasn't even on the market here in Germany .
But you can believe me,I had to struggle several times maneuvering the car into parking spot when space between the parking rows was narrow !

 

It's pretty clear that you are coming from different places with different needs and expectations.

In Europe, many streets are narrow to unbelievably narrow, tight turning circles are important and most cars have them.

In much of North America, wide streets are the norm and extremely narrow streets are almost non existent. Domestic cars often had wide turning circles and many drivers have rarely, if ever, had a problem. A fantastic turning circle for them might be hopeless in some parts of europe. Similarly a narrow car for them might be to wide to be useable in some parts of Europe.

When I looked into turning circles and steering ratios in 2009, when I was about to buy, it was hard to find information but I the info I did find was that with the 15" wheels, the turning circle was 34.2 ft and with the 17" wheels it was 36 ft. I see that this aligns with Lee Jay's latest numbers. I recall thinking that the difference was probably due to clearance issues with the wider tires but I've not heard of people having problems after retrofitting 17" heels so that may not be correct

For me this 1.8ft difference was quite significant but some others on Priuschat had difficulty believing that it could possibly matter at all. In Victoria 34.2 is fine but I wouldn't want any more. In La Quinta 36 ft would be fine. In some parts of Italy, 34.2 ft would be more than I would want but the Prius would be too wide anyway.

 

Yeah, but good luck trying to find a parking lot with anything other than bare minimum clearance between stalls and rows.

 

Yes but see that is what I don't understand .
If streets are much wider in the US,and they certainly are,then why does Toyota give us Europeans such a big turning radius .
So shouldn't it be the other way around ?

 

yes, it should be. turning radius is the last thing most americans thing of. but energy and air understands the european outlook.

 

Costco

 

bj's.

 

The Prius' big markets are Japan and North America. I don't know if tight turning radius is important in Japan, but smaller cars are more popular. The Prius c/Aqua/Yaris hybrid pushed the Prius out of top sales spot when it was introduced. With the Auris and Yaris hybrids built in the EU, Toyota hasn't given Europe priority in the Prius design.

The Prius is a mid-size car in the US.

For some reason, the OEM 17" model has a different steering rack.

 

The tires are wider, right? I'm guessing there would be a risk of interference with the inside of the fender during a tight turn so they limited the steering angle.

 

Likely, but some have replaced the 15" with 17' aftermarket without issues.