Very true but this is the main advantage of newer cars, evo etc, though my other halfs astra 1.4 auto kept up with one on the bends(tight+twisty) so obviously some can't drive even when they have evo's, yes he was trying as he blasted away on the straight and heard a nice dump valve, surprised at how slow it was though, and it is tweaked, it was fast but nowhere near what I expected.
I would not use T1R's if you want outright grip, ace tyre I use them but not the grippiest, I would go dedicated dry road tyre AO48 etc, this would make a massive difference to grip, but obviously be scared of puddles.
Have you thought about corner weighting ?
tabetha