What is handling?

Handling is a catch-all term for the way a car behaves while driving. It covers a combination of factors including how well the car controls its body weight through corners and over bumps, and how well it responds to inputs on the steering and brakes. Handling is affected by many individual details including your suspension design, chassis stiffness, and how well your controls are tuned.

A car with good handling will grip keenly through corners while minimising the amount of body roll experienced by passengers. You should also be able to tell intuitively through the controls how much brake or steering input is needed for a desired output, with no guesswork required.

Cars with poor handling might feel a bit wobbly if you start sawing at the steering wheel. They may also get bounced off line if they hit a bump while going through a corner, and won't provide clear feedback to the driver on how much steering angle or brake pressure is needed.