I stand corrected, Fred. How about a Ford 500 then? I just drove 969 miles of Carolinas in one last week. Tossable, it wasn't.

Ian

 

This thread is obviously tossable. Plus, I wouldn't mind if it got tossed!

 

As far as Porsches go, I think this goes back to the technique known as "wischening", best described by Denis Jenkinson in his classic book on the 356. Basically, the point was to time counter-steering inputs to control oversteer - "sawing while yawing". This took the 356 beyond tail-out oversteer w/ opposite lock in low speed corners to momentum-drifting through high speed curves. So responsive were these cars to precise driving (+ reliability) that they were even able to keep pace w/ Ferraris & Jaguars on tight road courses despite engines of only 1.6 - 2L.

Vic Elford's "Porsche High Performance Driving Handbook" describes driving techniques for the 911 in detail - with examples from his great races. Some apt quotes;
"It is vital to cultivate a sense of balance and develop the smoothness if you want to get the best out of a 911."
"...once you master the technique, you can do things in a 911 that... are certainly much more difficult with other cars."
& revealing of unique 911 handling dynamics,
"By delicately changing the balance of the car during the entire cornering operation you can help rotate the car by persuasion rather than force."
So, perhaps a 911 performs best when tossed, while other cars must be thrown...

 

Ian, I'm just joshin' with you, of course. As mentioned, a FWD car certainly can make its way around a road course, but you always get the, "Why?"

As for the 500... How about 550? Hp, that is...

http://www.fordpower.net/main/Press-...dred-GT-R.html