What Does Handling Mean For Your Car?

The number one key ingredient to finding joy in driving is “handling.” The term is a bit subjective as handling isn’t a quantifiable metric that you can hang a number on. In large terms, handling is what a car does in response to the driver’s inputs. If the response is predictable, tactile, and agile, it will usually be described as a car with good handling. If the response lags behind your inputs, is erratic, unpredictable or wallowy, it will usually be described as a car with poor handling.

Tesla’s Cybertruck Has Finally Arrived

What handling isn’t, however, is putting on driving gloves and slowly negotiating a parking deck in Stevens Creek in your Tesla Cybertruck. That’s not handling.

The Twitter user @Teslanomics tweeted a video of themselves doing just that last week, with the caption “The Tesla Cybertruck handles better than any sports car in the world, just watch me drive it in & out a 6-story parking lot with ease.” Nothing displayed in the video is a feat of handling. The highest speed I see on their speedometer in this video is 20 miles per hour, and every car in the world can reasonably negotiate a parking garage at low speed. It would be much more surprising (though maybe not that surprising) if the Cybertruck couldn’t manage the parking garage.

To suggest this video is somehow proving that the Cybertruck handles better than any sports car is absurd.

A car that handles well will be a confidence-inspiring machine that predictably delivers the same response to the same input every time. Handling is typically a positive attribute of sports cars, as they tend to have lower centers of gravity, comparatively stiffer suspension, and can negotiate curves at higher speeds. Much of handling is engineered into the car when it is designed, as the suspension pickup points, steering geometry, aero downforce, and tires will have a lot of influence on how a car handles.

Important pieces of the handling equation can be measured, including lateral acceleration, weight, grip, and yaw, but the real measuring tool for handling is your body. It’s all the feeling of how your car processes inertia. When you turn the wheel, the weight of the car will want to continue moving in the direction it was before. A body in motion will stay in motion, etcetera. A heavier vehicle will have stronger inertia, and will generally resist turning more fervently. Height and center of gravity will be major factors as well, as taller vehicles are generally more susceptible to leaning over through corners. That’s why most trucks and SUVs aren’t typically described as good handling vehicles.

Handling isn’t necessarily about speed or even lap times at the Nürburgring or whatever. The Mazda Miata, particularly in its NA and NB generations, is considered among the best handling cars ever sold, but while it will punch above its weight at most race tracks, it won’t be taking home any lap records. A car with poor handling can definitely beat a car with good handling at a race track, particularly if there is a speed and power imbalance.