The turning radius a Volvo s60 can be reduced
It's an interesting thing to wonder about (in my opinion)... Why the hate man?
So any engineers know why the turning radius isn't tighter? Like simple explanation on how it works or something? Just a thing that I'm wondering about, considering Volvo's been able to make a tight turning radius before.
Here is a solution that works:
As I discovered, if a volvo S60 was shipped with 17 inch rims, the impulse limiters in the steering gear assembly are one centimeter longer than in other models. That is apparently why some people bitterly complain about the steering circle of their s60 while others just don't get why they are whining. My S60 came with 17 inch rims and 235/45 tires. I measured the turning circle and it was like 40-42 feet depending on how hard you let the tires rub on the inner fender when turned to the max. The car turned like a battleship and my wife basically said if I can't fix it we should sell the car. It really was "terrible".
The solution was to buy a set of 16 inch volvo rims off or ebay, put 205/55 on them and then replace the impulse limiters in the steering gear. Volvo sells a kit to do it (part number 274494). The kit consists of a boot, clamps and reduced impulse limiter (the correct size for the 16 inch rims) for each side. It is pretty easy to install - just remove the tie rod on each side, pull off the boots, unscrew the tie rod end, remove the old impulse limiters and slip on the new ones. This reduced the turning circle of my car to 33.5 feet (a very noticeable reduction of over 6.5 feet). It now makes U-turns like a "normal" car.
If I did it again, I wouldn't even buy the kit. The impulse limiters are made of a hard plastic and I don't think it would be that hard to reduce their length by 1 cm (on a lathe, perhaps). Assuming your boots are in good shape, you would only need to buy 2 oetiker clamps to re-attach the large side of the boots as you can't reuse them. I believe they were 56 mm clamps (the number 56 was stamped on the clamps).
Finally, the wheel stops (black color) were made larger for the 17 inch rims so they would not rub the inner fender as much. The ones made for the rims with 205/55 tires are blue and thinner. They don't cost much and simply bolt on with two bolts. The part number is 31212189. I replaced those also.
The car is now a "keeper"

Hopefully, others will find this information useful. I have a few pictures, but don't know how to post them.