Re: Alfa's future and Corvette handling

[George Graves <gmgraves@domain.elided>]

In no way was the reference to the 360 Modena meant to be definitive. 
There are many cars which fall into that category, not excluding well 
set up GTV-6's and Milanos, but also some BMWs, Porsches, and many 
others.

As far as the Corvette is concerned. I've never driven one, but I know 
people who own them, and most say that while the cars are very quick 
and fast and will get around a course with great times, they do it 
without drama or much feedback from the chassis or steering. Luca says 
that the cars handled poorly, so I guessed that he was just adding his 
comments to a generally known characteristic of the car. Certainly, 
when a German automobile TV program that Speedvision used to run tested 
the Z06
'Vette against the expensive BMW roadster, last year, they thought that 
the Z06 was a marvelous performing car but somewhat 'dead' feeling 
compared to the almost twice the price BMW that they were comparing it 
to. They ended the segment by saying that the BMW was the better car, 
but for the price of one one could own two Corvettes; a coupe for 
winter and a convertible for summer.

George Graves
'86 GTV-6



On Monday, Nov 25, 2002, at 19:54 US/Pacific, Thomas Moll wrote:


> 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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