What exactly does "Handles well" mean?

[RichardsFRS]

Originally Posted by NWFRS

I think I actually get where you're coming from.

I'm curious to hear some answers also, but here's my take on it: If I was to go for a nice relaxing Sunday drive, I'd more than likely find myself having FUN before too long. I'd be keeping my right foot down in the corners more and more. In no time at all I'd find myself at the top of the mountain or whatever, and I'd want to do it all over again. Let's say it took me twenty minutes.

Next I hop in my wife's Rav4 and do the same drive. It wallows in the corners and the whole car leans to the outside, forcing me to let off the gas so I don't plough off the road. In thirty minutes I'm bored out of my mind and I'm still not at the top of the d@mn mountain.

This has nothing to do with this post but I noticed your avatar. I love old vintage racers. Heres something I did for a 3d modeling contest back in the day

http://www.blenderf1.com/f12002/15.html

[chaoskaze]

Cuz it does what u want it to do within the condition allowed & you "feel" it. You feel the traction of the tires, you feel the road & steering very well, you feel how ur steering input transfer directly to how the car reacts, you feel where edge is whether it's low or high depending on the tire/road condition. It tells u where the limit is with what u got on the car.

Atleast that's how I feel.

Originally Posted by HachiRo

People say it means the car corners well, but maybe I'm just an idiot and don't know how to drive this thing (granted, it's my first manual RWD), but it feels like it understeers at low speed when I had it in stock form.

Like ppl said above... I don't understand what u mean by "it feels like it understeers at low speed when I had it in stock form"... O__O.... are you like all camber out & stuff? If anything you feel understeer @ high speed entering a corner turning..O__O Since you live in San Jose, take ur car to highway 130 & drive east. Go enjoy the car & feel it on that road.

[raven1231]

Handle:

to manage, deal with, or be responsible for:

to use or employ, especially in a particular manner; manipulate:

Well:

in a good or satisfactory manner:

thoroughly, carefully, or soundly:

TADA!

Handle + Well= to use or employ, especially in a particular manner; manipulate in a good or satisfactory manner.

[GTHachiRoku]

It really takes driving other cars back to back along with a twin to see how well it handles, as well as how easy it is to know what the car is doing.

That's really the key point.

I had an EVO X, which was a beast. However, most of the time you had no clue what the car was doing, and the answer to just about every situation was "give it more power." The computers and fancy AWD did the rest. I've heard from many GT-R owners it's very similar just cranked up to 10.

The twins are exceptionally manageable and predictable.

Even compared to a very balanced sedan/hatch chassis (Focus, GTI etc), it's much more compliant to your input. *at least in my opinion

[BRZZZZZZZZZZ]

Originally Posted by lukey86

Handling can be quite subjective at times.

Came in here to post this. "Handling well" can be interpreted differently by everyone.

[shiumai]

Originally Posted by strat61caster

So you're telling me that this car, off the showroom floor, with zero camber up front, doesn't understeer?

The OP said 'at low speeds'. i'm assuming that's like normal driving in a parking lot, or making a U-turn. maybe he's talking about steering ratio, and not understeer, like he thinks that the car should turn tighter in a U-turn than it does.

[mdm]

Originally Posted by raven1231

Handle:

to manage, deal with, or be responsible for:

to use or employ, especially in a particular manner; manipulate:

Well:

in a good or satisfactory manner:

thoroughly, carefully, or soundly:

TADA!

Handle + Well= to use or employ, especially in a particular manner; manipulate in a good or satisfactory manner.

Also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automobile_handling

[fang_gt86]

Handles well means you hit that green-line at the highest speed.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4m94jpEp3Go"]The Racing Line - Hitting The Apex - Explained - YouTube[/ame]

[NOHOME]

"Handling" compensates for the average drivers lack of skills and enables the practiced driver.

All things being equal, a car that "handles" would get you around a slalom or racetrack faster than one that does not.

[strat61caster]

Originally Posted by Mr.ac

Understeer in this car is always 100% driver error.
It's always 110% your braking too late.

Damn, guess I should brake earlier on the skidpad.

Originally Posted by mav1178

Pointing out the discrepancy between what OP thinks versus what other, more experienced drivers think.

I can make this car understeer. I can make it oversteer. What I won't say is that the car is inherently understeering overall.

-alex

Agree to disagree, with caveats of course. Who knows maybe I'll up my game and come to the same conclusion, I'll never claim to be an ace.

[c4lvinnn]

The way I explain it for people who don't understand autos are simply put: "This car doesn't feel like you're driving/piloting a bag of marshmallows"

[Cole]

I think my dad's explanation put it well. He is not a gear head by any means.

"It hugs the road and you can corner fast".

[nikitopo]

Originally Posted by HachiRo

Does handling well mean when you take a corner, your body doesn't sway that much?

Handles well means for me that it is very well balanced. This can have different applications. One example is to have a fun to drive (tail happy and well controlled) car. Another example is to have a car that goes very fast in the corners. You can achieve the one or the other with small changes. It depends of what you want.

[kch]

For me, it means consistency, dependability, and predictability. It inspires confidence because it goes where I tell it to, every time. It gives me enough feedback that I can understand what the wheels are doing under me. And when it breaks free, it does so in a controlled, predictable manner. I drove the gf's g37 and tried some tail-out shenanigans--it snapped on me and pulled a 180. No bueno.