Well, it's just that drive wheels and LSDs don't matter much when braking into a corner, or simply turning into one. I realize any FWD car will understeer under power, but that doesn't mean it has to be an oil tanker otherwise.

The civic responds to my feet and hands. Turn the wheel, and it bites in and turns. Lift a little in a corner, and the tail gets looser... squeeze back some throttle, and it washes out again... do it right, and you're in a nice drift. If the civic had 210hp, it'd be more difficult to handle under power, but turn-in would still feel snappy.

My GS-T just understeers. Period. Under throttle, lifting off throttle, braking into a corner... understeer. Aside from advantages when powering out of a corner, the GSX probably also has a better weight distribution, with all that drive gear in the center/rear.

I drove an Evo. Again. Again. Again. Again. And... again. My favorite part about the Evo wasn't the power... it was the turn-in, the way it responded instantly to every movement of the steering wheel. I also loved the perfect driving position and pedal placement, grippy seats, and decent shifter.

Which brings me full-circle with this thread, because on the way home from one of the Evo test drives, I caught myself saying to my wife, "The Evo is amazing to drive, it turns in so quick, and the driving position is perfect... you know, like your civic."

Which is when I started thinking hmmmm, why pay 28K for an Evo, when I can get my favorite parts in a 16K Civic? Both have that great sedan driving position. Both have grippy seats (the 03 civic uses velcro as seat fabric). The Evo is split 60/40, the civic 59/41, both are mcpherson/multilink suspensions. The civic already tucks in quickly, so I'm guessing the engine is both light AND pushed back behind the front wheels. All it seems to need are tires and stiffer suspension components to be even MORE fun.

Don't get me wrong, the Evo is a fantastic car to drive. But I'm not so sure I want one as my daily driver. Hideous gauge cluster, rental-car interior, rock-hard suspension, mitsubishi reliability worries... I gotta pass for now.

It's interesting: whenever we drive into town (a 15 mile drive), we take all the twisty backroads. It involves lots of right and left turns, some twisty parts, some straights. And we invariably ALWAYS take the Civic, simply because it FEELS faster. You can toss it around interesections like a toy, heel-and-toe into every corner, wind it out down the straight. The eclipse, OTOH, wallows and complains every time I try and turn it. Sure, it blasts down the straights... but I live for the corners

P.S. Did the Eclipse recalls