[beatle_bayly]

Any known fixes for improving the turning circle on a 164 ? Mine takes a really W I D E road to turn around and I often require two attempts to pull into a parking spot.

One thread I read alludes to the autos having different geometry to the manual 164s

Mine is a RHD Aussie-spec 1992 automatic.

 

[Craig]

G'Day Paul,

I think we've got Buckley's.

 

[alan q4+33]

You can improve your turning circle with use of the handbrake

 

[Alfisto Steve]

Any known fixes for improving the turning circle on a 164 ? Mine takes a really W I D E road to turn around and I often require two attempts to pull into a parking spot.

One thread I read alludes to the autos having different geometry to the manual 164s

Mine is a RHD Aussie-spec 1992 automatic.

Autobox 164s turn left pretty good but not to the right. It is the nature of the beast BECAUSE tranny sticks out into left wheel well much more than the 5-speed so AT steering rack has less teeth on one side of shaft to prevent wheel from wearing out left front inner fender liner. Usually right inner fender liner has a hole worn in it from right wheel hitting it though.

You shoulda bought a 5-speed! Just kidding. We have both types and I have just learned to try and do left hand turns in parking lots when parking AT one.

 

[beatle_bayly]

Well there ya go !! Thanks for the info Steve.

So I need to think ahead and try to only turn left into parking spots . This shouldn't be too troublesome as being a RHD country this is the common direction for pulling into an angle park. Gets embarrassing when turning across the traffic to park on the other side of the road though !!

How on earth did the Italians ever drive the 164 on their own streets

I'd love a manual 164, but over here we only got this transmission in the Q model, which still pull big dollars compared to the bargain prices of some auto 164s like mine.

Might have to check out some of the grey-import 4cyl 164 manuals. Any idea if these have the same gearbox as the six cylinder 164s ?

 

[Alfisto Steve]

Well there ya go !! Thanks for the info Steve.

How on earth did the Italians ever drive the 164 on their own streets

Might have to check out some of the grey-import 4cyl 164 manuals. Any idea if these have the same gearbox as the six cylinder 164s ?

I don't think Italians know how to drive an auto stick 164 so not a problem in Italy.

As for 4-bangers if stick it is pretty much the same as V6 except maybe gear ratios different.

 

[damonb]

164 TS base gearbox the same as V6 except for gear ratios as Steve says. But the bellhousing is different, as is the final drive output (due to smaller driveshafts).

 

[AlexGS]

My '92 164 auto had a non-damper rack fitted (presumably for a manual 164), which was the cause of the left tyre rubbing on the gearbox. It was an eternal problem for the whole time I had the car, causing several Warrant Of Fitness failures. Someone in the past had welded two metal tags to the control arms in an attempt to restrict the movement of the hub - this worked until the tags became bent!

So I have no answer for this other than perhaps different-offset wheels (or spacers) and the use of a manual-trans steering rack. But even this doesn't help much - the turning circle on my manual 164 is still large.

It's more of a problem with RHD - not less - because when you do a U-turn, you're turning right. Few roads are wide enough! After a while you become adept at fast three-point turns (while other traffic waits patiently ) Left foot on the brake for such manoeuvres.

I think the Italians manage for two reasons - as Alfisto Steve says, they don't have the auto, and secondly they don't bother taking the 164 into town - they have a Punto like mine for that Even on the Punto though, the turning circle is still over 10 metres which is disgraceful for a small car!

Maybe they do just use the handbrake. As it says in the 164 owner's manual, "...when setting the handbrake in "emergencies", it is helpful to keep the button pressed". I take that to mean that while doing handbrake turns, you should keep the button in, so as not to leave the wheels locked by mistake! Note that it is called the 'handbrake' rather than the 'parking brake' - no-one ever tried a 'parking brake' turn...


-Alex