Supercars and Superbikes that aren't always super.....

I was reading a road test of various "Supercars" including the Z06 Corvette, Nissan GT-R, Porsche 911 Turbo, a Lamborghini Muricelago, a Lexus RC-F, a McClaren, a supercharged Jaguar F-Type, and an Aston Martin V12 Vantage. To a man, every single one of the testers said they loved the Aston Marin best, because it felt like a real race car and was exhilerating to drive, even though it wasn't the fastest. In fact in most categories-acceleration, handling,braking, etc it's performance was mid-pack at best. But it "felt" way better than the others. Huh?  I Know exactly what they are talking about it. The others with all their electronic nannys-were quicker around a racetrack or through the slalom, but they felt anesthitized.  Even the Porsche 911 formerly the last bastion of pure sports cars that didn't suffer fools lightly-has an electric motor on the steering rack! And all the other cars had 8 and 10 speed automatics. The Vantage with its Snarling 500+hp V12 and 7-speed stick was raucous. It would spin the tires in third gear, and you could steer with the throttle in any gear but 6th or 7th which were overdrive. The Vantage felt like it was on the edge of out of control even if it wasn't. The writers were so glad that Aston Martin didn't add a bunch of electronic nannies just to gain a little on the skidpad or around the Nurburging or Willow Springs. That's the way it should be. I remember back in the early '80's Car and Driver tested a 911 Turbo Carerra. It was scary. They asked Danny Ongais who had recently won the Indy 500, who owned a Turbo Carerra. "Danny-how do you corner fast in your 911 Turbo?" The answer? "I don't corner fast in my 911 Turbo."  Yeah!  That's why we love stuff like the Hellcat. Too much is just enough. I'll never forget the first time I drove a 427 Stingray. It wasn't an L88; it was a 390 hp model. But it was ungodly fast. It would smoke the tires all the way through 2nd gear and into 3rd. It didn't matter what speed you were going or what gear you were in, acceleration was simply put your foot down. It had SO much torque. It felt good. I remember the Kawasaki Mach 3.  It was a 750cc 2-stroke 3-cylinder monster. It could rip off 11 second 1/4 miles. It would wheelie in 3rd or 4th gear. The brakes were barely adequate. Ditto for the Mighty Z1 introduced in 1973. A blisteringly fast 900cc 4-cylinder monster.  The feeling of raw speed is missing in most modern cars no matter the numbers they can lay down. I drove a buddy's Z06 Corvette and it was unbelievably fast. But I didn't feel the rush I felt when I drove that '66 Stingray, even though I know the Z06 would smoke it in a drag race or the twisties. I did however drive a 674 hp Roush Mustang. The Mustang gave me that feeling!! It would smoke the tires in 3rd gear, go sideways at the slightest throttle application under 60  mph, and felt like it was on the edge of out of control. Like the country song-"I like it, I love it, I want some more of it." For my money-I'd buy the Mustang. I don't care if the Z06 is faster-it's dead. It's a Terminator that needs no human interaction. The Mustang is like a rodeo bull your trying to ride. Much more satisfying. That's what the C/D writers were trying to convey.  Long live the American musclecar.  Mastermind