"GTAV's [car handling] looks to be friendlier, but in no way dumbed down". Thank god. The car handling in IV is the best in any open world game out there,and GTA game for that matter. I've played Sleeping Dogs, Mafia 2 among others. The cop chases are infinitely more fun than the previous games, its one of the things that keep me coming back to Liberty City, obviously I'm not the only one as Edge mentioned.

I found the handling in IV really rewarding to adapt to, i'm not sure whether i enjoy it more than the easy - to master arcade style that SA had, but i certainly don't feel as negatively about it as a lot of people seem to.

I thought Sleeping Dogs was a great game actually but yeah the handling of the vehicles took some getting used to, surprisingly different from GTA.

But yeah I thought GTA IV's vehicle handling was pretty decent and don't understand why so many people have a problem with it. Perhaps it's because I play a lot of racing games so I tend to find vehicles easier than others. I much preferred it to the older style, but found both really easy to pick up and get used to. The fact that GTAV's is described as friendlier (not sure what that actually means... more arcadey?) surprises me just because I didn't think there was anything that needed fixing about it. Glad they've said it's not dumbed down.

I too play a lot of racing games, though not as much as I used to. The original Driver (1999) was one of the first videogames I ever played, still one of my favorite racing games with MCLA and NFS: Underground.

I was playing IV with friends the other day, they both prefer Sleeping Dogs's driving over IVs, understandbly when they took over the controls in GTA they both crashed spectacularly, failing to brake before taking a tight turn among other things. I agree with MrLlamaLlama that once you learn to adapt to controls and have some self control over the gas, the driving is much more rewarding. The challenge is what makes it more fun, weaving in and out of traffic with the cops chasing you while maintaining control, when pulled off is very rewarding. Even when you do crash the car it is so well done imo, that it doesn't ever become an annoyance.  And you will only fly out of the car if you smash into something, don't smash into it.

I too am wondering what "friendlier" is alluding too, more foregiving, but how?

What open world driving do you prefer over IV's TUN3R?

Almost can't keep up, when I expected one or no more then two Newswire updates on games regarding GTA specifically, before a silent weekend passes. Anywho, I took to video gaming due to exotic car racing early on, and an early hybrid for what GTA is was actually on Sega Genesis 16bit, known as TechnoCop! It included armed racing and pursuit on foot in various buildings, so you actually leave the car, which is a Lamborghini Countach, a shoe in for me to be interested, I love Countaches, so having them replicated in GTA as well is a must have feature, and certainly gets my vote.

I look at the Franklin shot on motorbike and marvel at the details you wouldn't and couldn't find in GTA San Andreas for PS2 and original Xbox. The game has grown by leaps and bounds that were unimaginable 5 years ago, or even sooner!

Notice how the police are stanced in the background, the AI though frozen in the capture suggests in this heated exchange even more realism then GTA IV offered up!!

San An original on the Renderware engine was still rather roughshod for car handling, but I think GTAIII and Vice City as well as the PSP Stories have worse car handling then 4 or any other versions, though I don't have the 2D GTA experience enough to say they were on par with anything, I have GTA2, but packed in storage along with the Dreamcast Sega I bought as well.

The new driving mechanic in GTA V was reported earlier, even though this story is newer, it likely refers to the same changes and or refinements made for GTA V from GTA IV, that would mean a vehicle that's less likely to rock back and forth or float over roadways, improved weighting and gravity for instance. In terms of the handling feel one will experience. In GTA IV, early on experience for me included random car fires and explosions, seems like any updates to the game's software done via XBL have eliminated that random event, anyone confirm? I miss it in all honesty