OT--Road & Track / Best handling sports cars - The Unofficial BMW M5 Messageboard (m5board.com)

steveB · 10th May 2002, 17:58

The new Road & Track rates the "best handling sports cars". They tested and rated 8 cars including a Ferrari 360, Corvette Z06, Porche TT, Porches Boxster S, M3, Mazda MP3 (why?) etc. In first place was Ferrari. the TT was third, boxster fourth and the M3 was seventh, only placing above the Mazda. Disappointing results for the baby beast.

atomic80 · 10th May 2002, 19:22

They should have included the M5! Of course I'm a bit biased here. The handling prowess may not be up to par compared with those other cars but the power/torque should make up for that!

SWing · 10th May 2002, 19:26

Hey Steve,

dun be surprised by the Protege MP3. I was reading a magazine (maybe Road & Track) and the car posted one of the best salomn speed of all time. That is a highly tuned car by the factory with all the suspension goodies etc...tho it only has 140hp

Sugi

AJ · 10th May 2002, 21:31

slalom favors smaller lighter cars. power is mostly irrelevant. a few years back they tested a suzuki swift gt (a kin of geo metro) and it happen to beat the then-current model vette in the slalom- goes to show you what slalom is all about

alex
02 gts
few other cars

Hamann7 · 10th May 2002, 22:03

Which car came in second?

Better not have been the Z06!

And why the turbo and not the GT2 in the handling test? If you're gonna kick the 360's ***, then you need serious machinery here...

atomic80 · 10th May 2002, 23:26

Quote:

Originally posted by Hamann7
Which car came in second?

Better not have been the Z06!

And why the turbo and not the GT2 in the handling test? If you're gonna kick the 360's ***, then you need serious machinery here...

I believe that the Lotus Elise came in second not the Z06 which got 5th place. The 996TT received 3rd place. The 996TT was chosen over the GT2 for two reasons: The GT2 was not available and the all-wheel-drive 996TT actually fits better as a car for both street and track use.

VanCooper · 11th May 2002, 02:52

Where was the Mini for that test

M5Ted · 11th May 2002, 04:21

Wow, 7th for the M3. Ouch! Just back in 1997 the e36 M3 was on the top of that list.

Hamann7 · 11th May 2002, 04:33

Quote:

Originally posted by atomic80

The 996TT was chosen over the GT2 for two reasons: The GT2 was not available and the all-wheel-drive 996TT actually fits better as a car for both street and track use.

Thank God it was the Lotus and not the Vette!

As far as the TT goes, your comments are true. But for a HANDLING test, there simply is no comparison between the TT and the GT2! As long as the GT2 is street-legal, it should have been representing for Porsche!

And they could not find one to test??? They just did a write up not long ago about taking it to Laguna Seca and doing an autocross event at Qualcomm Stadium with the PCA San Diego guys!

As for the 360, I'm glad Ferrari is back on top... it should be interesting to see how that ugly thing that they call the FX should turn out performance-wise... Talk about ugly!

The BMW M3-- well, I am shocked that it would place LOWER than the 'Vette. What an embarassment for BMW!

It's called the car needs to go on a diet! I think they really, really, really need to introduce an M3 LTW (Lightweight) version as they did on the E36. An M3 should be able to outhandle the Vette, if not the 911! Is BMW losing its handling engineering prowess as well?

They should do an another article on the best-handling 4-doors as well. That would be an interesting one!

Bart Carter · 11th May 2002, 04:54

Quote:

Originally posted by Hamann7
They should do an another article on the best-handling 4-doors as well. That would be an interesting one!

That's been done more than once.

M5 wins.