The primary key ingredient to discovering pleasure in driving is “dealing with.” The time period is a bit subjective as dealing with isn’t a quantifiable metric that you could dangle a quantity on. In giant phrases, dealing with is what a automobile does in response to the motive force’s inputs. If the response is predictable, tactile, and agile, it’s going to normally be described as a automobile with good dealing with. If the response lags behind your inputs, is erratic, unpredictable or wallowy, it’s going to normally be described as a automobile with poor dealing with.
What dealing with isn’t, nevertheless, is placing on driving gloves and slowly negotiating a parking deck in Stevens Creek in your Tesla Cybertruck. That’s not dealing with.
The Twitter person @Teslanomics tweeted a video of themselves doing simply that final week, with the caption “The Tesla Cybertruck handles higher than any sports activities automobile on this planet, simply watch me drive it in & out a 6-story car parking zone with ease.” Nothing displayed within the video is a feat of dealing with. The best pace I see on their speedometer on this video is 20 miles per hour, and each automobile on this planet can fairly negotiate a parking storage at low pace. It will be way more stunning (although possibly not that stunning) if the Cybertruck couldn’t handle the parking storage.
To counsel this video is by some means proving that the Cybertruck handles higher than any sports activities automobile is absurd.
A automobile that handles properly will probably be a confidence-inspiring machine that predictably delivers the identical response to the identical enter each time. Dealing with is often a optimistic attribute of sports activities vehicles, as they have an inclination to have decrease facilities of gravity, comparatively stiffer suspension, and might negotiate curves at increased speeds. A lot of dealing with is engineered into the automobile when it’s designed, because the suspension pickup factors, steering geometry, aero downforce, and tires may have quite a lot of affect on how a automobile handles.
Necessary items of the dealing with equation may be measured, together with lateral acceleration, weight, grip, and yaw, however the actual measuring software for dealing with is your physique. It’s all the sensation of how your automobile processes inertia. If you flip the wheel, the burden of the automobile will need to proceed shifting within the path it was earlier than. A physique in movement will keep in movement, etcetera. A heavier automobile may have stronger inertia, and can typically resist turning extra fervently. Top and middle of gravity will probably be main components as properly, as taller automobiles are typically extra inclined to leaning over by corners. That’s why most vehicles and SUVs aren’t usually described pretty much as good dealing with automobiles.
Dealing with isn’t essentially about pace and even lap occasions on the Nürburgring or no matter. The Mazda Miata, notably in its NA and NB generations, is taken into account among the many greatest dealing with vehicles ever offered, however whereas it’s going to punch above its weight at most race tracks, it received’t be taking dwelling any lap data. A automobile with poor dealing with can positively beat a automobile with good dealing with at a race monitor, notably if there’s a pace and energy imbalance.
