For those of you who have gotten rid of your 370Z

Pharmacist · 10-12-2011, 12:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by m4a1mustang

Any RWD car is going to oversteer with enough throttle, that's just simple physics. What I'm talking about is if you're going hard through a corner, let's say on entry to apex, the Z is most likely to lose front grip first. On throttle you can kick the back end out, but that's a different type of oversteer (and the type of oversteer you don't want too much of, I might add.)

Regarding track times, it depends on the track. The 5.0 and Z are about equal through the corners. Take a look at the most recent C&D "best handlers under $40k" as they have pretty good data that separates time through corners and time on the straights.

What I've been saying all along is that the two are "about the same" in the handling department, with the edge going to the 5.0 (TO ME) because of a more neutral balance (TO ME). It could be entirely different to someone else. Either way BOTH cars are excellent corner carvers.

Again, I'm not debating that. I have no doubt the new mustang has very good handling and is no slouch. And I wouldn't be surprised if it understeers less than the Z. After all it does have a square set up. You get 255 mm tires all over, which are quite large for front tires, but on the skinny side for rear tires. I actually think 245 mm are too skinny for front tires on the z, especially given the forward weight bias. That may be responsible for much of the understeer. 255 or even 265 mm fronts may be better.

I still don't think the mustang can carry as much momentum through corners as the z. If it laps a track on average at the same time as the z, give or take a second or so, then it has to be losing time somewhere given that it gains a lot of time over the z on the straights. I don't remember the C&D article. I'll check it when I go home. I do remember that in the recent DSport RWD car of the year, the mustang was a bit slower than the z, and actually was even slower than the camaro ss. Can't remember which track they did the testing though.