well, as most races go, it's consistency that count (even for a
10-20 lap race)
And when comparing cornering abilities, understeering cars can be
pushed beyond the limit without ill effects (just feather the
accelerator, and the nose will get back in line), while an
oversteering RR car can get into all sorts of problems when
entering a corner a tad too fast. Either the car has to brake too
deep to get any decent speed out of the corner, or the driver has
to be prepared for an armful of opposite lock and pray that only a
slight drift will occur (and not "lift off oversteer").
Even in Singapore, I've seen quite a few Porsches chicken out
before entering a corner, many a times chasing a "beng" in a Civic.
This happened a couple of times at the YCK to TPE bend
(approximately 500m of high speed cornering) and once at the CTE
Havelock exit (surrounded by walls on both sides).
On BMW SG Forum, there was a post (sometime last year)regarding a
Porsche that crashed while street racing at the TPE YCK bend.
It basically bounced from left to right to left, after oversteering
and the whole ar fish tailed into the railings. It took out a
couple of other cars as well. Fortunately the driver wasn't badly
injured.
I do agree that a 4WD monster is better at cornering, but there's
still some turbo lag, and due to the weight penalty (ITR is much
lighter than an EVO), the acceleration isn't too fantastic between
the corners (except on the long straights). And the new Vtec
engines are really quite something. Most Race-tuned vtecs hit
9000rpm, and they sound more like superbikes than a sports
car.
I really thing that watching them on the track will show you how
much better an FF car is, than what most people imagine.
Even the heavyweight FF Volvo T4 will be able to keep up with a WRX
(not STi), and even overtake the 4WD monster if the driver slips
up. 
