Best handling car?

[EAGLE5]

Originally Posted by utekineir

Drivers with flat brimmed hats, monster drinks and a macklemore tshirt?

Diss energy drinks and hats all you want, but leave Mackemore alone!

[EAGLE5]

I think it just depends on what you're going for. There's no magic number anywhere in car design. Some short-wheelbase cars are steady by design. Some long wheelbase cars aren't. Chassis stiffness, alignment, tire choice, suspension design, suspension materials, and a bazillion other factors matter.

I often flirted with buying a Miata many times but could never make myself do it. As an overall car, the FR-S feels superior in almost every way. It's like how I almost bought a G35 many times. It's just not quite good enough overall.

Originally Posted by solidONE

You know, I've always considered 95"-96" wheelbase and 59"-60" track width the magical numbers for handling performance, the "golden ratio" for balance in a RWD car. Some of my favorite cars had similar numbers (ex. FD RX-7, and 911) It seems the Cayman has also went with these numbers. But, in more recent times auto engineers seem to be going with longer wheelbase in the performance cars. It seem that they have been favoring stability at the cost of loosing some nimbleness. (101" on our 86's and the Evora)

While based on hard numbers the miata might lose to a lot of these much more expensive cars, but the "feel" of how this little bar-of-soap with wheels is unmatched by any car I've driven. So direct and so nimble it's as if the car was steered by thought.

[CSG Mike]

Originally Posted by utekineir

Drivers with flat brimmed hats, monster drinks and a macklemore tshirt?

Some say... underneath his helmet, there are three flat brimmed hats, and his saliva consists of monster energy drink. His arteries pump red bull, and... he has macklemore tattooed on the back side of his racing suit.

All we know is... it's not me.

[solidONE]

Originally Posted by jsimon7777

I think it just depends on what you're going for. There's no magic number anywhere in car design. Some short-wheelbase cars are steady by design. Some long wheelbase cars aren't. Chassis stiffness, alignment, tire choice, suspension design, suspension materials, and a bazillion other factors

That is very true, but the track and wheelbase determines the very base capacity and character in which it will behave when taken around bends. With all else equal, the car with the larger base will be more clumsy but stable than the car with a smaller base.

[fatoni]

Originally Posted by Suberman

Apples to apples. You modify the Miata (which is not building one, btw, only car manufacturers build cars with their brand name on them) then you modify the Cayman in the same way. Cayman beats Miata every time, no matter what you do.

The Cayman can easily be modified to outperform the 911. Several people have just swapped in a 911 engine and la voila.

I'm pretty sure a factory Cayman is a better handling car than any Lotus currently built

okay well your poor choice of words causes confusion. built =/= stock. i assure you that every miata that is faster than a cayman was built.

[sidswiftsteel]

My turn to get crucified...

My previous car was a MINI Cooper S with sport suspension package. I always felt comfortable throwing it through any corner. I've only had my BRZ for a month and maybe I just need to get acquainted with rear drive, but I'm not as comfortable driving the same roads. Pretty close in price as well.

[EAGLE5]

Perhaps you just need to get used to RWD? It is a larger car, too.

Originally Posted by sidswiftsteel

My turn to get crucified...

My previous car was a MINI Cooper S with sport suspension package. I always felt comfortable throwing it through any corner. I've only had my BRZ for a month and maybe I just need to get acquainted with rear drive, but I'm not as comfortable driving the same roads. Pretty close in price as well.

[fatoni]

Originally Posted by jsimon7777

Perhaps you just need to get used to RWD? It is a larger car, too.

i dont think that its so much of a fwd vs rwd thing. off of the showroom floor the cooper is a car that is relatively balanced and i think balance is what its all about. for me personally, i define handling as doing what i want, when i want it and keeping me informed all along the way. the cooper can be very good at that. on the other hand there is probably a comfort zone type deal going on.

[Suberman]

Originally Posted by WolfpackS2k

I love the Cayman, but every comparison test that I've seen between the Cayman S and Evora has the Evora winning praise for superior handling. That's not to confuse it with being a faster car (it's not) however the auto scribes seem to prefer the Evora's handling.

That's because the ride is so good. British make the best suspension because their cars handle as well as ze germanz but without the punishing ride.

[EAGLE5]

Originally Posted by fatoni

i dont think that its so much of a fwd vs rwd thing. off of the showroom floor the cooper is a car that is relatively balanced and i think balance is what its all about. for me personally, i define handling as doing what i want, when i want it and keeping me informed all along the way. the cooper can be very good at that. on the other hand there is probably a comfort zone type deal going on.

The Mini understeers because it's got 62% of the weight over the front and is FWD. Those front wheels have to pull and turn.

The twins are 53% on the front, I think. Then the front wheels only have to steer, not pull. Better balanced.

Confidence comes from many different places. Lack of roll is one, but the twins don't roll especially much. Grippier tires on the Mini? Familiarity? Seating position? Size versus the width of the road?

After having a Mini Cooper S loaner for a few days, I'm not a fan. I was underwhelmed. Then again, it probably didn't have the sport kit. I suggest a track day. Then you can really learn what you've got.

[Suberman]

Originally Posted by jsimon7777

The Mini understeers because it's got 62% of the weight over the front and is FWD. Those front wheels have to pull and turn.

The twins are 53% on the front, I think. Then the front wheels only have to steer, not pull. Better balanced.

Confidence comes from many different places. Lack of roll is one, but the twins don't roll especially much. Grippier tires on the Mini? Familiarity? Seating position? Size versus the width of the road?

After having a Mini Cooper S loaner for a few days, I'm not a fan. I was underwhelmed. Then again, it probably didn't have the sport kit. I suggest a track day. Then you can really learn what you've got.

Fwd can be made to oversteer quite easily despite the weight distribution. The mini is in fact quite balanced in this respect and will pull over 1.0 g on a skid pad, much more than the BRZ.

[2013GTRNate]

I own two of the best handling cars of our time.

:happy0180:

-Nate

[wootwoot]

Originally Posted by Suberman

Fwd can be made to oversteer quite easily despite the weight distribution. The mini is in fact quite balanced in this respect and will pull over 1.0 g on a skid pad, much more than the BRZ.

Much more than the brz on stock tires. Upgrade the tires and the brz pulls over a g as well....

[EAGLE5]

Wow, for 40 grand you can get a Mini with track tires that pulls .97g. They do say it's neutral. Of course it has the horrid ride of all Works models.

http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/...gp-test-review