America's Best Handling Car

[c123pk]

There is Chevrolet Cobalt, Mini, Shelby in this list.
Wheres Subaru Impreza dude ??

[asadsj]

lol wrong info....the shelby gt500's handling sucks,
its definitely not in the top 50 let alone top 10, please research before posting such topics

[wik_a]

Reply By : asadsj on 9/7/2008 3:04:02 PM

lol wrong info....the shelby gt500's handling sucks,
its definitely not in the top 50 let alone top 10, please research before posting such topics

Please always read posts with eyes open. There's something written at bottom of the post; "Source". Try clicking that and see what happens.

Thnx.

[jazzy77]

nice

[asadsj]

a report based on a selected number of cars....u can find loads of article on its handling if u look a little....

http://www.autobytel.com/content/shared/articles/templates/index.cfm/article_id_int/2237

[kahmed79]

Sweet... so my assessment that the RX-8 R3 handles better than the EVO X MR is backed up by Motor Trend now. I just can't believe it handles better than the 997 Turbo and the Viper ACR.

[wik_a]

Reply By : asadsj on 9/7/2008 7:24:24 PM
a report based on a selected number of cars....u can find loads of article on its handling if u look a little....

I'm not into debate of why GT500 is at some place. I just told you it was not my research. Just results of tests performed by a famous automobile magazine.

Moreover, its at number 10 out of 10 cars tested. Not 100 cars. So its not beyond possibility that it would be at 50th place if 50 cars were tested.

Thnx.

[wik_a]

@kahmed79

Bro how do you rate Viper ACR's handling? Is it any good? Please share your experience.

Regards,

[sami_voodoo]

There's more to handling than generating huge G numbers. It's the way the car communicates to you when doing so, and how does it let go or start sliding goes a long way in assessing handling of a car. A car that has a death grip on the road then lets go all of a sudden isn't a good handler. From what race drivers have to say of the ACR and 911, these are examples of such cars. That said, even an Elise / Exige or Atom will bite if driven without commitment.

As a side note, it'll be interesting to note how the GTO / Monaro compares to these cars. It was reputed to be very easy on the limit if I'm not mistaken.

[kahmed79]

wik_a

I haven't driven the ACR yet so I can't comment on it. Two of the best handling car's that i've driven were the Noble M12 and an '88 Lotus Esprit Turbo. The ride/handling balance and the progressive grip at the limit was just sublime in both cars.

Sami

I agree with you a 100% that ultimate performance on the skidpad isn't everything...far from it. I've heard that the newer 911's (996 and 997) are a lot more forgiving compared to the previous generations. For the average driver a Lotus Elise is definitely not the best thing to go fast around curves in.

When I drove the GTO I thought that the suspension was too soft and the car rolled and squatted a lot. I wouldn't really expect it to be very high in the list of best handling cars. It will be very progressive at the limit due to the softer setup. IMO, very few companies have got the fine balance between ride and handling down.

[haq_1]

I wanted to see the Ford Shelby on top

[SaM_vitz007]

No Toyota....

[sami_voodoo]

Kamran

Ah the Noble! Lee Noble is a visionary. Who would have thought that something powered by a mundane Mondeo engine could be that good? It seems to me that the lower powered versions of every sports car made is the best handling of the bunch. And the Esprit Turbo that you're talking about would be the 2.2 inline four isn't it? One of Lotus' best creations to date.

As for the Elise, they tried to mitigate the snappy behaviour in the 2nd gen Elise by installing narrower front tires and a geometry that favours understeer. In addition to that, no LSD is fitted as standard. Lotus themselves claim that the car becomes too "skittish" with the LSD.

As a side note, how do the Cayman / Boxster and Z4 hold up?

[kahmed79]

Sami

Yeah, the '88 Esprit Turbo had the 4-cyl motor. It's a sweet sounding motor with lots of pop's and bang's on the overrun.

The Z4 is an ok car but I would expect it to wilt near 10/10th's driving. The Boxster and Cayman are regarded as some of the best handling sports cars. Both are sweet cars but they don't provide that aural feedback that I expect from a top-notch sports car.

[350zDrifter]

Good post Wik_a
What a RX-8 better then VCR and GT3 ...
Anyhow some detailed Info you guys should check...

Cornering Class


Figure Eight


Quick Moves


Rock n Roll


Fast Hand

[350zDrifter]

Found this on other web site... pretty interesting ..

I was just patiently reading Motor Trend this weekend, as I was preparing to re-enter the shortened workweek. The long weekend has allowed me to collect my thoughts and focus on some fine literature such as this wonderful InterLink Media publication.

The root of my concern is the Handling Test that was conducted in the current October 2008 issue of Motor Trend. I think it is completely biased and the authors are full of shit. The following vehicles were tested in terms of handling:

Audi R8
BMW M3
Chevrolet Cobalt SS
Dodge Viper ACR
Ford Shelby GT500KR
Mazda RX-8
Mini Copper S
Mitsubishi Evo MR
Nissan GT-R
Porsche 911 Turbo
The persons responsible for picking out the top 5 should have read up on performance and handling before attempting this magazine writing business.
The results were as follows:

Audi R8
Nissan GT-R
BMW M3
Mazda RX-8
Porsche 911 Turbo
Mitsubishi Evo MR
Dodge Viper ACR
Mini Cooper S
Chevrolet Cobalt SS
Ford Shelby GT500KR
I applaud Randy Pobst, who found something positive to say about the Mazda RX-8, which came out 4th in rankings in front of the Porsche 911 Turbo and the Dodge Viper ACR. This truly proves that any magazine opinion can be bought and sold for dinners, track rentals, testing facilities and that the general commentary in these magazines is usually BS.

I guess, I should mention that Mazda North America generously donated time at the Mazda Raceway in Laguna-Seca, where the testing was conducted. This propelled the RX-8 to fourth overall position, even when the test driver commented it was “slow” in terms of lap-times, lacked lateral grip and let’s not even speak of the figure eight numbers.

I guess the general readership should be lucky a Mazda 3 did not get entered in the competition instead of the RX-8, otherwise that would’ve beaten out the 911 Turbo and Viper.

Publishers should be ashamed to print this garbage they call journalist opinion and they should call it “personal favoritism” instead of an unbiased “handling test”.

I’m not sure what is next for Motor Trend, but hopefully Kia doesn’t start sponsoring them, otherwise the Rio might have the potential to be the Best Handling Car of America in the coming years.

Source

[350zDrifter]

Subjective Ranking:

Car /Track Time /Subjective/ G

R8 01:40.9 1 0.61
M3 01:43.0 2 0.593
RX8 01:50.4 3 0.524
911 TURBO 01:42.5 4 0.589
GT-R 01:40.5 5 0.628
EVO MR 01:47.7 6 0.559
VIPER ACR 01:35.1 7 0.658
MINI COOPER S 01:52.0 8 0.515
COBALT SS 01:47.8 9 0.545
SHELBY GT500KR 01:44.7 10 0.591

[350zDrifter]

Track Time Ranking

Car /Track Time /Subjective/ G

VIPER ACR 01:35.1 7 0.658
GT-R 01:40.5 5 0.628
R8 01:40.9 1 0.61
911 TURBO 01:42.5 4 0.589
M3 01:43.0 2 0.593
SHELBY GT500KR 01:44.7 10 0.591
EVO MR 01:47.7 6 0.559
COBALT SS 01:47.8 9 0.545
RX8 01:50.4 3 0.524
MINI COOPER S 01:52.0 8 0.515

[350zDrifter]

G-Force Ranking

Car/ Track Time /Subjective /G

VIPER ACR 01:35.1 7 0.658
GT-R 01:40.5 5 0.628
R8 01:40.9 1 0.61
M3 01:43.0 2 0.593
SHELBY GT500KR 01:44.7 10 0.591
911 TURBO 01:42.5 4 0.589
EVO MR 01:47.7 6 0.559
COBALT SS 01:47.8 9 0.545
RX8 01:50.4 3 0.524
MINI COOPER S 01:52.0 8 0.515

[wik_a]

@350Zdrifter

Thanx bro.

Nice info. (Y) thanx for that.

I’m not sure what is next for Motor Trend, but hopefully Kia doesn’t start sponsoring them, otherwise the Rio might have the potential to be the Best Handling Car of America in the coming years.

Lolz...