Comment by asimovDev
10 hours ago
they matter even more now. acceleration was the easiest way to make a sports car. now that it's so freely available, they have to put even more effort in the handling department. as another commenter stated, it's all about driving dynamics. How it handles the turns, if it's tail happy, how stiff the suspension is and many other things that affect how a car feels on the road
I always wondered about this. Who races their cars around like a madman on public roads? Very few I would imagine (and hope), and even fewer take their car to a track. For a Ferrari, possibly a bit more (still probably 99% of the time they are on public roads). But every car review discusses these things at length, as if normal people race around the countryside or mountain roads, putting the cornering and stiffness of their Toyotas and Fords to the test.
you don't have to drive at 100% to appreciate the driving dynamics. Light and nimble cars feel amazing even at speed limit, e.g 80 km/h on twisty country roads.