[Josh69]

I have owned a Dinan M3, S4 2.7T, Esprit SE, and fairly modded 328Ci in the past and use those experiences when equating the performance of my recently road worthy PT Firebird. My car still has some gremlins, squeaks and rattles that I will sort out with more miles. However, my brakes are significantly better than any of the above, and the handling on the road is on par with them as well. Granted, I'm just going by seat of the pants feel and memory, as I am not able to do a direct or timed comparison on an actual road course. In general, I thought it was going to be un-realistic to expect my '69 firebird to drive and handle as well as it does. I am amazed at it's capabilities, and my suspension is far from being dialed in, nor is it that exotic. I just have the basic bolt-ons, retaining the coils in front and leaf springs in back. The Koni shocks are a MUST have. I've owned many brands of shocks for my various Euro projects, and none compare to Koni's ride quality....I had 4 sets of springs and 3 sets of shocks in my 328Ci. 2 sets in my M3. Koni's always served me well. It's a bit harsh, and has a good deal of cowl shake, but that's what I expected out of it. It'll never be as quite or refined as the BMW's, but I wouldn't want it to be either. I have driven my M3 at 10/10ths a number of times, but have not in my PT car yet....so that will be the real test.

I certainly wouldn't build a PT car though and expect it to match an M5 in every category...there are just too many variables depending on individual tastes and expectations.