Re: Alfa's future and Corvette handling

["Thomas Moll" <moltek@domain.elided>]

First I want to acknowledge that this is the Alfa Digest and that this is
slightly off topic. However I think that one of the things that we have in
common is fascination with well handling cars, hence this should fall within
the realm of on topic ;-) (No I am not a politician)

 I agree with George that a well balanced (well handling) car does not
necessary have good 'road holding' BUT there are humbler cars than the 360
mentioned (which I have not driven) that manages 'both.' An Alfa Romeo with
tires and suspension suitable for driving fast on the race track can often
do so without loosing its entertaining and balanced handling
characteristics. The Z06 C5 Corvette also manages both, although I found it
less well balanced after the owner put some R compound tires on it this
year. With the stock tires it was very close to completely neutral, throttle
steerable and very entertaining to drive. The only problem was that it had
so much power and was so well balanced that it was tempting to drive it
slightly tail out all the time and overheat the rear tires which made it a
little squirrelly...

If anyone has a Ferrari 360 that I could drive for reference please let me
know ;-)
Thomas Moll
Seattle

----- Original Message -----
From: "George Graves" <gmgraves@domain.elided>
To: <alfa@domain.elided>
Sent: Monday, November 25, 2002 1:14 PM
Subject: Re: alfa-digest V9 #66


<snip>
> OTOH, the Modern Corvette might not handle all that well, but it does
> have world-class road-holding. For those who don't know that the terms
> "handling" and "road-holding" are not interchangeable (and from the way
> I see them being bandied about, even in the automotive press, many
> don't), I'll explain. Road-holding is the numbers: Skidpad G's, slalom
> times, lap times, etc. Handling is subjective: Turn-in, steering feel,
> road feel, toss-ability. A car can handle poorly, and have race-winning
> road-holding. A car can actually handle so well that it puts a smile on
> the face of everyone who drives it, yet have abysmal road-holding. A
> 1954 Alfa Romeo Ti1900 Touring is a perfect example. The average family
> sedan can easily out perform it in the road-holding category and yet be
> so boring to drive that after one climbs out from behind the steering
> wheel, the experience is instantly forgotten. However if you were ever
> lucky enough to drive a Ti1900, you'd NEVER forget it.
>
> This is my take on the C5 Corvette. It has near state-of-the-art
> road-holding for a consumer car, but its not that much fun to drive.
> The best sports cars manage both (Ferrari 360 Modena). For the open
> road, I'll take handling over road-holding any day (after all the
> purpose of a consumer sports car is to ENTERTAIN the driver, not win
> races) and both if I can get (read that afford) them.
>
> George Graves
> '86 GTV-6
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