Originally Posted by chuck65
If you read all of the test results, and you can find these online if you do a search, the Crossfire excelled over the competition on skid pad tests, and that tells it all.
This is not true though. Skidpad is really only a measure of tire grip. Slalom and lap times would give a better indication of the overall handling. The XF should do quite well on a skippad because it comes with decent quality and large tires
I can't comment on the manual shift other than when you read the reviews and road tests they have been somewhat critical on the manual. I think that AMG when they designed the SRT 6 went with the autostick for a reason. I personally, like the other posters above, think that the autostick is the best transmission I've ever had.
I think the reason why AMG went with the automatic in the SLK and therefore the Crossfire SRT6, is because they did not have an acceptable manual transmission that can handle the torque of the those motors. I am not aware of any recent AMG car with a manual trans.
I think the question posed in the OP is verz vague and quite ambiguous. I could say I took a turn at over 1OO mph. But the could have really just been a bend on a highway where I was able to attain such speeds. Or I could say that I have only taken a hairpin at 15 mph because I do not personally feel that anything faster was appropriate, which is not to say that the car could not take that type of turn faster.
The XF is a great handling car. With even better tires and a proper aftermarket suspension consisting of appropriate spring rates and swaz bar selection one could probably make the car handle even better. So you shouldnát have any problems in the handling department with this car. As long as an application exists, it is possible to dramatically improve the handling of almost any car.