I was talkin to a friend of mine, and many people have the same mindset... is that the horsepower and various timings (0-60, 1/4 mile, etc) are VERY important.

My friends have said that they want cars "that will **** all over people," when in fact they don't drive that aggressively to begin with. I've often told them that any idiot can push the pedal to the floor, but it takes some skill to control a car around corners.

That's where I get my pure enjoyment. Sure, I could go with a faster car (350Z) for a similar price, but reports already say that the car isn't that well balanced and has a tendency to oversteer too much (as quoted, "It plows the front end"... "there are better balanced cars for this price" ala C&D).

Am I one of the few that doesn't mind not having the equal horsepower where I can make up for it in handling? This is why I'd choose a BMW over an Audi every day (my friend drives an A4, nice car too), because I can have a lot more fun in a BMW than an Audi (oversteer city!), and that is really what matters to me.

I guess the question is... are ALL people horsepower fanatics or is it just the people that I know?

 

You mean 'understeer' not 'oversteer'.

But I agree with you.

 

You're right, my bad

Oversteer is what I purposely do in my Millenia but I have no control on it when it goes :P

Front wheel drive and all hehehehee

 

Ask the Miata owners, who can auto-cross and dominate the twisties to no end, dealing with the really lame stigma of being a "chick car" because it's a convertible. Miata is truly a driver's car.

 

Horsepower and quick 0-60 times are nice to have but I agree with you, handling is everything .

 

I think that anyone who considers an RX-8 will be looking at that. Otherwise they would just plunk down on a WRX or 350Z instead.

I also tend to notice that Americans don't really care about handling all too much. Hard to blame 'em since the majority live in large open spaces without the curves in the roads that hills and mountains bring. A lot just like to speed on the highway, which is generally devoid of tight corners, or stoplight drag race--once again on a generally straight road.

American cars are tuned for the american landscape, euro cars for europe. However, I live in cali, where the landscape is just like europe. I, personally live up on the top of a hill, so cornering is just as important as power, speed, and braking.

 

but it sure is nice!! that's about the only thing I miss from my 4.6

 

Just yesterday I took my brand-spanking-new Miata on a 250 mile trip through the San Isabel National Forest just SW of Colorado Springs. There's only a 20-40 mile stretch of that trip that's curvy, but man, was it a blast! There's nothing better than seeing a sign that has a 25 mph suggested speed limit and taking it at 60. :D Sweepers, decreasing radius turns, S-curves, and switchbacks are the reason I got my Miata, and I couldn't be happier. This was all while the engine was in its break-in period, so I wasn't even close to using all of the power (only ~140 HP)that this little engine had!

However, the vast majority of Americans aren't really drivers. Most of us don't live near good roads, and spend 99% of our time on the interstate and straight, flat roads. We generally don't even know what we're missing, because we never drive on roads that could really benefit from great handling. We do, however, spend a good deal of time starting from stop lights and cruising at 80 mph. As an engineer, if you described the situations that an American car would be used in 99% of the time, I'd probably place a greater emphasis on HP than handling also.

It's disappointing that people don't understand the potential of a great handling car, but it does have one upside. I was the only person just out for a drive through that section of the Rockies yesterday morning. Now that I think about it, let everyone else think that a Z28 is more fun than a Miata. That just means I get the curves to myself!