Quote:
Originally Posted by ZDan
Responsiveness to the accelerator pedal, yes. But more power/weight doesn't make a car more agile. Consider that with a higher-powered rwd car you have to bias more roll stiffness to the front to get the power to the ground. Two equivalent rwd cars, same weight, weight distribution, etc, both optimized for track performance, the car with the inferior power/weight is going to feel and be more responsive-handling, particularly at less than 7-8/10ths.
And that's not even accounting for the fact that with less power, you can run smaller, lighter-weight tires, wheels, and brakes. Big reductions in unsprung mass. ($$$ too!)
More fun and engaging in the real world, on the street? Ditto what Fatoni said above (qualified "yes").
Better handling in terms of ultimate lateral acceleration? Not even close, the supercars will post better numbers for sure.
Already established, I *fully* understand the performance ramifications of power/weight. But there are reasons why my ~100mph-in-the-1/4 car feels lighter and more sprightly and "better-handling" on the street than my similar size/weight/weight-distribution 129+ car.
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Yeah the extra hardware that has to be used to safely field a car with that kind of power weighs a LOT. Stronger driveshaft, larger brake rotors, larger calipers, stronger gears, a lot more cooling equipment...it all adds up very quickly.
One of the things that never really gets mentioned about the new Camaro is that it actually comes standard in SS form pretty much fully track ready (while the mustang does not, although it's quite resistant to fade). The brakes are very resistant to fade, it's got heavy duty transmission and oil coolers, the suspension is overbuilt to deal with way more G force than the stock tires can provide, and the radiator is freaking huge. Chevrolet played it safe and installed all the things you need to be track-ready. I'm told that the new FE4 suspension package on the 2012+ SS models is a massive improvement in understeer and steering feel too. All that stuff adds weight, which people bitch about, but damn if the car isn't easy to turn into a track star. Of course, it'll never FEEL like a sprightly little car, but it can perform extremely reliably and consistently on a track in stock form. For an extreme example, look at the new ZL1: it matches the Corvette Grand Sport on the 'ring, and it weighs nearly 4200lbs. And there's no brake fade or heat-soak. If Chevrolet had not mandated that all SS Camaros be track-ready, I fully expect that it would weigh more like 3700lbs in SS form.
It just seems to me that in the pursuit of holding weight-gain back on the 370z, Nissan took some shortcuts that had pretty dire consequences in terms of showroom-stock reliability under enthusiast conditions. That's what happens when you use a modular frame that's designed to work for sedans and SUVs for your sports car *shrug*