When people say a car has good Handling, what do they mean by this?
Going from a Micra to an Alfa 146, Im sure Ill experience some difference. But what?
In Racing, a Good Handling car is a fast car, which can often mean stiff cramped controls, with very responsive and unforgiving steering. Being loose at the rear end is often a sig of a good handling car as well. Similar to Rallying.
Surely these specific traits are unwanted on normal road conditions though?
So, what Constitutes, in your view, a good handling car on the road ????
hmmm to me a good handling car is one that can handle a the power and delivers it well, a car that can go round corners a lot faster than others... ie: i can throw my car around a fairly sharp corner at about 20mph and i get understeer galore, do it in my missus fez and it just flies round the corner with great grip...
Its all about how well a car is balanced between front and rear grip, how well it transfers the grip from one end to the other, how well it lets you use the brakes to slow and enter the corner, how well the car balances mid corner, and how well it lets you use the power to get out of a corner.
A good handling FWD car is different to a good handling RWD car, which is different to an AWD car.
If you want to experience good handling from a standard car(rwd tho),just book a test drive in an M-Powered BMW!!!
And no, I am not biased in any way,what so ever!!! lol
Grip, tonnes of it, no understeer and no oversteer
NOT A FKIN TURBOD MICRA.......................................
Grip, tonnes of it, no understeer and no oversteer
Grip is completely different - handling is how the car behaves once you exceed the level of grip.
For example, you could fit ma-hooo-sive tyres to a family saloon - the grip level would increase, but the handling wouldnt improve...
I like a car i can confidently flick around and behave as i wish but still be capable of driving very smooth and consistent. How that is depends on the drive layout though and whether the chassis can handle it.
The pop could never handle the power, it was designed for a 1172 with 30bhp designed in 1956, so i had to drive very differently to how i drive the RS which happily takes the power, its much more forgiving so i can drive it faster and harder.
Grip, tonnes of it, no understeer and no oversteer
Grip is completely different - handling is how the car behaves once you exceed the level of grip.
For example, you could fit ma-hooo-sive tyres to a family saloon - the grip level would increase, but the handling wouldnt improve...
Car handling is a description of the way cars perform transverse to their direction of motion, particularly during cornering and swerving. It also includes their stability when moving in a straight line.Therefore car handling is usually measured(for the most part)while the tyres still have grip!!
Who are you the stig
Fook me Jones you know to much about to much
Team riding my broadside wide like a backelship ftw
You know me mate...its just cars,cars,cars and then some more cars just for good measure...lol
That is all based on weight distribution, centre of Gravity and Moments (turning forces) that affect the cars handling and grip levels.
You have to collate all this information along the X, Y and Z axis of the car, which basically are the forces created through Velocity, Braking and Gravity......
The better the grip, the more confident I am to throw it round corners, thus, providing there is no or little understeer or oversteer, that IMO is good handling
That is all based on weight distribution, centre of Gravity and Moments (turning forces) that affect the cars handling and grip levels.
You have to collate all this information along the X, Y and Z axis of the car, which basically are the forces created through Velocity, Braking and Gravity......
Nicely pasted mate,however, your post just re-enforces my previous statement..lol
Joe,you are basically there,but as previously stated, if your suspension is too soft you will pitch,squat and roll as you either accelerate,brake or steer... any of these in excess will cause you to lose grip...not making for "good" handling mate:)
True, body roll makes for crap handling
Yeah mate...I know cos I've driven a Cortina!!! lol
That is all based on weight distribution, centre of Gravity and Moments (turning forces) that affect the cars handling and grip levels.
You have to collate all this information along the X, Y and Z axis of the car, which basically are the forces created through Velocity, Braking and Gravity......
Nicely pasted mate,however, your post just re-enforces my previous statement..lol
I was trying to blind them with science....just so theyd all agree hahaha.
Driving the Alfa today, I have to admit, that is a great handling car. No body roll, I actualy fet confident going round one corner, I wouldnt in the micra.
Yep,they are like Pugs in that respect,they didn't really make a poor handling Alfa...
Wern't alot of alfas flat fours? Lower centre of gravity and all that?
The earlier ones used the Boxers yea. The boxer was used int he 145 and 146 up to 1997, when they were replaced by the Twin Spark.
They had a better centre of Gravity, but were underpowered in comparison to the Twin Spark.
Still, a 1.6 Escort has 90bhp, a 1.6 146 with the Flat four had 108bhp..whereas the 1.6 Twin Spark variant has 120bhp
..and Hondas B16 had 170bhp
Unfortunatly its a heavy engine and box though, and it sits almost in front of the front suspension making the car quite nose heavy
Ive had to specify front springs that where a lot heavier than where originally supplied with my coilovers to accomodate the weight and where its located.
Can't say i noticed this to much in my B18c integra, used to suffer from Lift-off oversteer though, luckily the LSD used to pull the car through the corner without to much trouble.
Used to have some similar handling attribues to RWD
The Integra carries more weight at the back of the car which balances it better
