*Ack*...I hate to nag, but did you even read all of my explanation?
Basically, power-to-weight ratio only PARTLY affects handling. I mean, look at the Veyron: its 2 tonnes, (granted, over 500 bhp/tonne), but it can still give an F1 car a run for its money handling-wise because it has a GOOD CHASSIS
Once again, if you look at the TG tests of the Caparo and the Atom, you see that the Caparo is EXTREMELY stiff since it has an all-composite chassis. This is alright on one side, because it means that the weight doesn't shift around as much and ruin the aerodynamics, thereby giving it a VERY high top speed of 200+ mph with a relatively weak engine (575 hp or so).
Moving on to the Atom 300. Yes it has a lower power-to-weight ratio, but lets just look at the handling. The Atom has a MUCH more flexible chassis (steel vs. carbon fiber). Given that both cars are of similar weight (weight ONLY), I'm thinking that they'll approach a corner at similar speeds. NOW, power only comes into play coming out of the corner, so lets go through this step by step, car by car.
Ok, Caparo first. It approaches a left-hand corner and turns in. Now the little weight it has is shifted to the front and right, meaning the most grip is on the front-right tire. HOWEVER, since it has such a stiff chassis, the whole car acts as a big lever, and the other three wheels are going to nearly lift off the ground. The little weight they had on them normally is now partially transferred to the front-right wheel, so they're gonna slip. You could mash the throttle on the way out to shift weight back and regain grip, but NOW the power-to-weight stuff comes into play. There's very little weight shifted to the front wheels and there's too much power at the back wheels. So, you've got turn in, lose grip at back wheels, and some at the front left wheel (making understeer), then power out and lose all grip at the back AND front and spin out.
Now for the Atom. Given the more flexible chassis, when it turns in, its still gonna retain some grip on the back and right tires, because instead of acting like a lever, it acts like a big spring trying to keep the tires one the road. This means it will turn in very nicely. On the way OUT, the same thing is going to happen as with the Caparo, but it won't be as twitchy, because once again, you're working with a damping mechanism (aka, spring
), so you just get a nice, controlled bit of tail-out action, and not as much chance of spin-out.
Ok, as for whether or not the Atom will beat the Caparo's time (which doesn't even count cause it can't get over that damned sleeping policeman
), that is definetly debateable, since the Caparo is lighter and more powerful and will probably make it up in spades on the straights.
However, as to which is a better car? No question it's the Atom, because it provides nearly as many straight-line thrills, better cornering chills, at most likely a better price, and most important of all....it can actually be driven properly by us mere mortals EVERYDAY. True, it may be a blast to try the Caparo out to hone your driving skills, but which one would you really ENJOY driving? I guess thats your choice really, but I'm gonna say that most people here would probably choose the Atom. I know I would