The Contenders...

1. Lamborghini Gallardo
2. Caterham CSR
3. Porsche 911 997 Turbo
4. Alfa Romeo Brera
5. Renault Sport Clio 197
6. Porsche Cayman S
7. Mini Cooper S Works GP
8. BMW Z4 M Coupe
9. Ford ST
10. Jaguar XKR
11. Audi RS4
12. Mazda MX-5 1.8
13. Lotus Exige S
14. Astom Martin DB9
15. Mercedes E63 AMG Estate
16. Nissan 350Z
17. BMW M6
18. Seat Leon FR TFSI


Drivers...
Andrew Frankel - Senior contributing writer
Wrote Autocar's original road tests of the McLaren F1 and Jaguar XJ220 . Enough said .
Chris Harris - Writer-at-large
What Harris doesn't know about fast cars can be written on a stamp - a really small stamp .
Steve Sutcliffe - Editor-at-large
Used to race a TVR Tuscans a long , long , long time ago
Adam Towler - Road test editor
Chief organiser of our road test desk , and the man responsible for making it happen at Oulton this year
Collin Goodwin
Goodwin's ability to reseach ocasinally fray , the outer envelope of a car's handling is second to none .


The Final Selection
1st - Porsche Cayman S
Take it as a powerful omen for the future that the Porsche Cayman S is our winner here and not its older , rear-engined relative, the 911 Turbo . In this guse , the Cayman is powered either for a fast circuit work or for trips to the shops . Even moe importantly , by having its engine mounted just ahead of the rear wheels , it combines most of the fastest turning rearward weight bias of the 911 with the most of the centralised-mass stability of the Exige - and it is a more practical ownership proposition than either . Throw in wonderful brakes , sublimes steering , a fine gearchange and obvious 20-year durability , and you have a truly exceptional car . It is born a winner .
2nd - Lotus Exige S
an unbelievably talented and rewarding circuit car ,but the Exgie S's real genius is the way it makes those talents to accessbile to the driver . Not quite as impressive away from track, but if you're a handling purist , you'll love it.
3rd - Porsche 911 Turbo
Shockingly and brutally rapid through Oulton's faster sections , but not without its foibles . It's neither as stiffly suspended nor as ressistant to understeer as you might expect something of capable of over 305km/h .
4th - Aston Martin DB9
The surprise performer of our selection . We thought big Aston would feel heavy , slow and unwilling to please . In fact , it proved taut , adjustable and quick , too .
5th - Nissan 350Z
Proved very entertaining around Oulton's challenging tarmac . A car that costs surprisingly little , yet expect big things at a track day , with its strong V6 Motor and benign handling characteristics .
6th - Ford Focus ST
The best front-drive car of our bunch . Demonstrated great high-speed circuit composure , given its humble beginnings . On track at least , it's still the doyen of hot hatches .

I would agree with the Top Contenders . Nice research though . I expect the Exige S on first but the Cayman S on the top . Congrats to all the contenders and good job Autocar !;)
What do you think ?

i think the BMW M3 should be up there if the 350Z is up there, pretty same stuff i think...but cool...the Focus St is a very nice car...good!

Where is the Gallardo ?!!!! :confused:
i am sure at least it will handle better than a Focus ... :rolleyes:

They put the Gallardo head to head with the 911 Turbo.The Turbo handles better.Thus, the Gallardo is eliminated.If i remember correctly.Those cars are catagorized into the same league.Means the Gallardo handling is not compared to the ST.However the Cayman was the best handling of the bunch.

Forget the Gallardo.
Where's the Catheram? the mighty CSR???

The mini cooper handles quite well too, but if it was RWD, it would be great..

I can understand the Cayman and Exige beating the 911 Turbo, but I can't imagine the DB9 or 350z being so high up. Or the Focus for that matter.

i agree ...

All the people who posted above , nice arguement .
This is why that Focus , 350Z and the DB9 is on the Top 6 !

First Category :The Hot Hatches
Conteders :
- Renault Clio 197
- Seat Leaon FR
- Ford Focus ST
- Mini Cooper S Works GP

Second Category : The Coupés
Contenders :
- Porsche Cayman S
- Alfa Romeo Brera V6 Q4
- BMW Z4 M Coupé
- Nissan 350Z*

Third Category : The Grand Tourers
- BMW M6
- Jaguar XK
- Aston Martin DB9

Fourth Category : The Supercars
- Lamborghini Gallardo
- Porsche 911 Turbo

Fifth Category : The Oddballs
- Audi RS4
- Mercedes Benz E63 AMg
- Mazda MX-5 2.0i Sport
- Caterham CSR260 Lightweight
- Lotus Exige S


That is the reason . They pick one of them from each category but why Nissan 350Z got picked althogh they had already picked the Cayman S ? I guess it all because of the price . According to Autocar Nissan 350Z -Proved very entertaining around Oulton's challenging tarmac . A car that costs surprisingly little , yet expect big things at a track day , with its strong V6 Motor and benign handling characteristics .

Got it ?

ok..but the Second Category is abit strange..it has 2 cars picked...lol

yeah, lol. but what puts them into that order that they are in?

Hang on, how are they Britains Best handling car ? Cayman, its a little bit german........Does it just mean cars sold in Britain ? Because even then i would have guessed at the Lotus winning, everyone else says its THE best handling car on the road.

i agree, you said britan not all over the world
besides the best handling ccar i would say is a lotus exige s
plus cornering is measured in g's and the new caparo has 3g turning while a ferrari enzo has around 1
plus caparo is british

besides the best handling ccar i would say is a lotus exige s

Have you ever driven an Exige S? Or the Cayman?

How are these British?

I'm betting they meant, "Best handling cars *sold* in Britain".

TBH, I'm thinking they wrote it all about feel and poise, not numbers, in which case, not that surprising.

Where are the BMW's with their superior driving dynamics?

I'm not surprised the Cayman S took the first place, since it came out they have being saying that was and underated car with a lot of potential because of it weight balance and great handling. A Cayman with the right amount of power it would be faster than a 911 arround a track.

A Cayman with the right amount of power it would be faster than a 911 arround a track.

Well with more power than a 911 it'll be faster:p! Alot of things with the 'right amount of power' will be faster than a 911.

its gotta be the focus st, my dad has one, and is always pushing it quite a bit on the country roads... it corners so well, it seems like the faster u hit the corner the more it wants to handle well.. lots of grip and minimal understeer, its torquey engine also helps it accelerate well out of corners. its a great handling hot hatch =)

How are these British?

I'm betting they meant, "Best handling cars *sold* in Britain".

TBH, I'm thinking they wrote it all about feel and poise, not numbers, in which case, not that surprising.
They mean cars that are sold in Britain.

Well with more power than a 911 it'll be faster:p! Alot of things with the 'right amount of power' will be faster than a 911.
Ok maybe I wasn't clear enough, with the "right amount of power" I meant that with just a few more horses than the "standard" Cayman S it will beat the 911, that there is no need of putting 700 bhp on a Cayman to make it as good as it should be (because of its weigth balance and handling of course).
^ is that clear enough now?

Not really, I don't really understand what your getting at. I don't think there's any point in thinking, 'If the Cayman had more power then it would beat...' It doesn't have that power, so it won't beat it. Why not say that if the Boxter had more power then it could challenge the Cayman.

This is a very confusing thread, being that most of these cars aren't "Britain's best..."

I'm not going to ask a million questions...But, I will say that Britain's best handling car, the NOBLE M12/M400 isn't even on the list!http://www.atlanticsportscar.com/ascc/

Did anyone even notice?:-k

Well , The cayman s sure has the best weight distribution with it's mid engine lay-out and handles better than these cars , it's a porsche after all isn't it ? . :D

Not really, I don't really understand what your getting at. I don't think there's any point in thinking, 'If the Cayman had more power then it would beat...' It doesn't have that power, so it won't beat it. Why not say that if the Boxter had more power then it could challenge the Cayman.
The point is that the Cayman has a lot of potential: is lighter, smaller, lower and it has a better weight distribution than the 911, but Porsche in not going to improve the Cayman because it would steal the 911 sales.

Of course the Lotus was up there. Everyone knows that is one of the best handling cars in the world.

The point is that the Cayman has a lot of potential: is lighter, smaller, lower and it has a better weight distribution than the 911, but Porsche in not going to improve the Cayman because it would steal the 911 sales.
and that's the reason why there is no lsd on the cayman.porsche is not as crazy as lambo to make a small car and later put it up against their own flagship model.

Its not really a surprise the Cayman wins......most Porsches are born perfect....

I'm not surprised the Cayman S took the first place, since it came out they have being saying that was and underated car with a lot of potential because of it weight balance and great handling. A Cayman with the right amount of power it would be faster than a 911 arround a track.

if you want to take this further take the cayman to a tuning cmpany and send it to the nurburgring. yes a lot of cars with more power could thrash 911's, like lotuses and the NSX, but those cars didnt get more power for some reason or another. and while that might be a shame you can always get the engines tuned. lotuses use toyota engines so they are easy to tune

if you want to take this further take the cayman to a tuning cmpany and send it to the nurburgring. yes a lot of cars with more power could thrash 911's, like lotuses and the NSX, but those cars didnt get more power for some reason or another. and while that might be a shame you can always get the engines tuned. lotuses use toyota engines so they are easy to tune
yeah there are many options for tuning a Cayman, Sportec for example swaps the 3.8L boxer engine from the Carrera S (boasted to 380 bhp) on the smaller Cayman plus aerodinamyc and suspension modifications.

This is a very confusing thread, being that most of these cars aren't "Britain's best..."

I'm not going to ask a million questions...But, I will say that Britain's best handling car, the NOBLE M12/M400 isn't even on the list!http://www.atlanticsportscar.com/ascc/

Did anyone even notice?:-kThe Noble (British) handles loads better than the Cayman (German):smt069