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Originally Posted by jimbo To be perfectly honest, I don't know what to think about the GXP's handling at this point... We have very credible people reporting that the GXP just does not handle as well as the base car, wearing the same tires in the case of LV, and wearing better tires in the case of birdliver (GS2s over lousy RSAs). We also have magazine reviews where the GXP achieved lower gs on a skidpad than were achieved for the base Solstice. Being that I will be buying a GXP, the thought of it being inferior in handling to the base Solstice makes me a bit unhappy. That said, I am only unhappy on paper, since I simply can't see driving my car at 9/10s or up on the street and I won't be taking it to a track. So I am saying, I'm unhappy that the GXP's bench racing handling character may be inferior to the base Solstice's bench racing handling character. That said, what I am hearing is that the car "feels" like it handles worse than the base car. The question is, are your cars really inferior at handling and roadholding than the base Solstice? Do any of you really know. My point goes back to when RODEO thought his MSM was a fast car because it "felt" like such a fast car. This is very important to the driver. You want the car that feels best, that feels like it handles the best. You can't discount that what you feel becomes your reality. But when you guys say the car doesn't handle like your base car, are you saying that corner you took at a steady-state 70 mph in a stable 4-wheel drift in your base car is causing your rear tires to break loose as the car begins to spin? Are you saying that the limit of adhesion of your GXP occurs at lower speeds under identical conditions as your old base cars? Are conditions identical? Did you get up to speed much faster on that short straight section in the quick GXP and have to hit the breaks a bit harder on entering that corner, unloading the rear end? That is the kind of thing that is possible. I know you will swear on a stack of bibles it is not like that. And both of you are very credible, and if you are really going into the same corners with the same entry speeds and the same braking force you did when you drove your base cars through those corners, then I absolutely believe the both of you. But I still have to ask, if you didn't drive your base car to the limit of its adhesion and then drive the same corner to the limit of the GXP's adhesion and get different speeds when the car's tires exceed their limit of adhesion, then what does it mean to say that the GXP does not handle as well as the base car? Again, this is all academic to me since I'm reasonably sure the car will handle way, way, way better than my pathetic ability to drive it. And this is all academic to you because it really doesn't matter how well the GXP handles if it doesn't feel that it handles as well as the base car. Really, how it feels is all that matters to you. Feeling stable taking a corner at 70mph is more important to you than feeing like the car is loose at 70mph, even if your tire's reserve is actually equal in both cases.

The buttdyno is notorious for being unreliable, and the driver's skilled/unskilled inputs have much more affect on both perceived and actual handling of the car. That is demonstrated all the time in AX where two drivers driving the same car will be several seconds apart in times. Typically what feels like your fastest run often is not because radical moves "feel" faster to the butt-o-meter but smooth inputs that feel slower are usually quicker. I especially believe that phenomenom is at work when it is claimed that the GXP does not handle as well as a base Soli. The car's additional capabilities are likely creating more forces that in turn exceed the driver's comfort level.