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Originally Posted by PC Valkyrie  Great story. The owner of the ML63 SEEMS to be car enthusiast (although a cocky one), being the owner of an AMG and ordering the upcoming M3. Therefore, he must have known that the RS4 has a handling advantage over his big truck in the turns, no matter how fast it is in a straight line.
Having said that, you must be a fairly good driver when it comes to cornering at speed. Even though your car has higher cornering limits than his truck, that fact that you seem to blow right by him in a turn tells me that either a) you are a far more confident/superior driver than he is when it comes to fast cornering, or b) he is NOT a very good driver at all or doesn't understand the dynamics of taking a car into a corner at speed (like proper braking zones, when to apply throttle, etc), or c) both of the above.
Usually, cars blowing by another car in a turn on a track (when it comes to NON-professional drivers) is more about differences in driver skill/courage and less about differences in cars' handling abilities. |
I think that iit is a little of both. I am a fairly talented amateur (immodestly). I've been to several performance driving schools (years ago), and do believe that I can handle a car pretty well in most circumstances. One thing I heard during that time is that "you don't really drive a car if you want to be a good driver. It becomes and extension of yourself, and you feel the car the same way you know your own balance."
That's how I drive.
But, I think that while I did outdrive him into the corners and out of them, I believe that this is where the RS really shines. It is so well balanced, and you can apply the throttle very predictably, that the ML didn't even compete in the turns. It is a really fast SUV, but at the end of the day, it is an SUV, and a heavy one at that.
I was able to go into the turn faster, and exit much quicker. Through the little stretch of turns, I probably had him by 10-12 car lengths exitiing the last turn. This stretch is pretty tight, but into and out of the 4 turns, I just kept building more of a lead.
He was pretty impressed when we talked about it after, commenting that from his angle, the car seemed very flat and composed, while he was fighting the ML to try to go faster.