The Lotus Elan has proven to me that handling (which in my view is no more related to grip than acceleration) is what I personally need most in a car, particularly for long distance races, and regardless of track, with the only obvious exceptions of Test Course and perhaps Le Sarthe II.
It won the El Capitan 200 miles enduro for me with 127bhp, where previously I had failed against the same competition in a modded Stingray with over 500bhp. The Elan certainly had tons of grip, also hugely important, but it was its forgiving, adjustable, predictable and agile handling qualities that won the race, as they allowed me to complete all 66 laps on one tank of fuel, with only two stops, and my fastest and slowest laps in the entire 66 laps, not including the pitstop laps, differed by around two seconds.
The Elan is only tuneable to 210 bhp but despite that it has gone on to win the Turbo Challenge series comfortably, the NY 200, the Nurburgring 1000 Miles! race (beating the Cobra), the Laguna Seca 200, and the Nurb 4h, despite being comfortably the slowest car in nearly all these events on both speed and acceleration. It made it all up in the corners with grip, but more importantly, its handling allowed me to make up ground in every corner lap after lap after lap with consistency I just wouldn't have in something more powerful but less well balanced.
