Motor Trends Best Handling Car: Track Testing
05-11-2009, 06:28 PM
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Motor Trends Best Handling Car: Track Testing
I did a search and didn't see this article posted before but excuse me if it's a repost.
The first half of this article is 'subjective' testing from a Pro-race car driver:
http://www.motortrend.com/features/p...ing/index.html
Here is subjective rating for the Mazda RX8(R3)
MAZDA RX-8
BEST LAP (MIN:SEC): 1:50.418
AVG. LATERAL ACCELERATION: 0.524 G
SUBJECTIVE RANKING: 3RD
Already those of you who live and die by the numbers are aghast. Second-slowest lap time? Next to last in lateral grip and the figure eight? Yet a third-place ranking by Pobst? Above my beloved GT-R? Listen to Pobst: "In the purest sense of a sports car, the rear-drive RX-8 is the most satisfying through corners. I felt like it was a glove on my hand. I could put it right where I wanted. Extremely well balanced, easy to drift, unfettered by weight. The all-wheel-drive cars tend to understeer, and then when they do break loose it's a big event and a lot happens. In the RX-8, on the other hand, things happen a little bit at a time. It's just so much fun to drive." Pobst's words only reinforce our own: Big handling numbers are instructive and meaningful, but they often tell you nothing about the actual experience of driving a car, how it "feels." Though underpowered and under-tired compared with other entries here, the RX-8 has grace and fluidity and balance like few other sports cars on the market today. "The more powerful cars feel like riding a horse," Pobst says. "The RX-8 feels like wings bolted right to your arms."
SUM UP: Optimized for humans, not for computers.
This is the second part of the competition; the 'instrument' portion' - find out who we picked as this year's Best Handling Car:
http://www.motortrend.com/features/p...sts/index.html
Here is the objective rating for the Mazda RX8(R3)
There is perhaps no better proof of our "the numbers don't tell the whole story" mantra than the Mazda RX-8 (4th place). This isn't a fast car, as its lap time proves. It doesn't shine in the lane change or in ride quality. Steep-steer reaction time is third-best. Yet the Mazda is the very definition of "elegant." Pobst ranked it third on his finishing list. We practically had to yank a few of our exuberant test drivers out of the car, lest they drift the rear tires into smoky oblivion. The steering is alive in your hands, communicative and light. The RX-8 goes where you point it-no second-guesses, no hiccups. Out on public roads, it slips through turns like Hermes silk pulled through a scarf ring. It doesn't beat you up, take unexpected slide trips, or force you to work hard. This is handling hard-wired to your synapses. That three cars finished higher than the RX-8 only shows just how good they are.
Enjoy,
J-MON
Motor Trends
America's Best Handling Car: Track Testing
America's Best Handling Car: Track Testing
The first half of this article is 'subjective' testing from a Pro-race car driver:
http://www.motortrend.com/features/p...ing/index.html
Here is subjective rating for the Mazda RX8(R3)
MAZDA RX-8
BEST LAP (MIN:SEC): 1:50.418
AVG. LATERAL ACCELERATION: 0.524 G
SUBJECTIVE RANKING: 3RD
Already those of you who live and die by the numbers are aghast. Second-slowest lap time? Next to last in lateral grip and the figure eight? Yet a third-place ranking by Pobst? Above my beloved GT-R? Listen to Pobst: "In the purest sense of a sports car, the rear-drive RX-8 is the most satisfying through corners. I felt like it was a glove on my hand. I could put it right where I wanted. Extremely well balanced, easy to drift, unfettered by weight. The all-wheel-drive cars tend to understeer, and then when they do break loose it's a big event and a lot happens. In the RX-8, on the other hand, things happen a little bit at a time. It's just so much fun to drive." Pobst's words only reinforce our own: Big handling numbers are instructive and meaningful, but they often tell you nothing about the actual experience of driving a car, how it "feels." Though underpowered and under-tired compared with other entries here, the RX-8 has grace and fluidity and balance like few other sports cars on the market today. "The more powerful cars feel like riding a horse," Pobst says. "The RX-8 feels like wings bolted right to your arms."
SUM UP: Optimized for humans, not for computers.
&
This is the second part of the competition; the 'instrument' portion' - find out who we picked as this year's Best Handling Car:
http://www.motortrend.com/features/p...sts/index.html
Here is the objective rating for the Mazda RX8(R3)
There is perhaps no better proof of our "the numbers don't tell the whole story" mantra than the Mazda RX-8 (4th place). This isn't a fast car, as its lap time proves. It doesn't shine in the lane change or in ride quality. Steep-steer reaction time is third-best. Yet the Mazda is the very definition of "elegant." Pobst ranked it third on his finishing list. We practically had to yank a few of our exuberant test drivers out of the car, lest they drift the rear tires into smoky oblivion. The steering is alive in your hands, communicative and light. The RX-8 goes where you point it-no second-guesses, no hiccups. Out on public roads, it slips through turns like Hermes silk pulled through a scarf ring. It doesn't beat you up, take unexpected slide trips, or force you to work hard. This is handling hard-wired to your synapses. That three cars finished higher than the RX-8 only shows just how good they are.
Enjoy,
J-MON
05-12-2009, 01:45 PM
#6
RX8 and a Truk....
Keep in mind things have to be upgraded systematically - adding those things with a minset to improve the entire car's driving experience might just lead to more weight and a harsher ride.
05-13-2009, 03:33 AM
#11
Super Moderator
05-13-2009, 11:46 AM
#12
Grand Chancellor
you mean to say that the puny 1.3l Mazfa outhandled the EVO, Coblat SS, Viper ACR etc in this comparison that was tested by the same driver on the same day on the same track? That can't be! the magazine must be paid by mazda. that's it.
05-13-2009, 12:20 PM
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always nice to be reminded of how awesome our cars are. 
05-13-2009, 02:48 PM
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went back to srsly broke
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Technically it did not outhandle those cars. It's handling felt better than those cars, according to the testers =p
I can imagine too, the Cobalt is FWD, the ACR is a pure track monster, the EVO is known to have a harsh ride, and even the GTR is a little detached.
05-13-2009, 04:29 PM
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Grand Chancellor
The article is about handling afterall.
05-14-2009, 07:25 PM
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Motor Trend gets it right
Motor Trend is informing the world what we as rotorheads already intimately know - the 8 is one of the best handling cars in the world !
Sorry about the repost and I know it was many months old ... truth is I read this article and forwarded it to all my friends back when it was new before I ever became a proud 8' owner myself. I just wanted to share the glory.
Sorry about the repost and I know it was many months old ... truth is I read this article and forwarded it to all my friends back when it was new before I ever became a proud 8' owner myself. I just wanted to share the glory.
05-14-2009, 10:50 PM
#19
Super Moderator
Yes, I understand..
Every day I drive my car it just keeps getting better and better....bloody amazing motor car.
I really wish more "enthusiasts" would leave their past experiences and prejudices with rotaries in the past and just try the "New Generation" of Mazda flagship RX-8...Brilliant.
Every day I drive my car it just keeps getting better and better....bloody amazing motor car.
I really wish more "enthusiasts" would leave their past experiences and prejudices with rotaries in the past and just try the "New Generation" of Mazda flagship RX-8...Brilliant.
