Why wouldn't the handbrake get you out of a hairy situation with understeer? It whips out the rear of the car, effectively braking the line of understeer and allowing a controlled drift instead.
Unless the handbrake is on the front wheels, like on most Saab's, there is nothing mysterious about it and I have myself done it many times on winter roads to regain control of the vehicle.
With a front wheel drive you whip out the rear with the handbrake and steer in, ease in by throttle or a combo and with a rear wheel drive all you need to do to break understeer is using the throttle alone to whip out the rear (as a rule of thumb, most four wheel drives will behave much like a rear wheel drive, seeing as most of them have roughly 60/40 power distribution in favor of rear wheels).
On especially slippery roads you can also experience that the wheels lock up as if breaking when you downshift, yielding much the same result as braking hard or using the handbrake and this will also cause either oversteer or understeer depending on the drive type (fwd, rwd or 4wd).
The traction loss as a result of downshifting on slippery surfaces happens almost exclusively with manual shift cars, though, as the relatively big difference in drivetrain speed change allows for a more direct impact on the application of torque on the driving wheels.

I'm sorry, your friend may have worked with cars (he was in high school anyway) but he knows/knew little of how they actually drive and behave. An engineer designing and constructing a rocket propelled craft isn't by default the best choice for a pilot.
I largely agree that the so called console "sims" are pale ones at best but I still maintain that your friend has a lot to learn.

This was 6 years ago...and I don't recall exactly what was funky about the GT4 handbrake. My friend is pretty and I'm pretty sure goes to the track more than anyone on this thread. He goes about once every couple weeks and used to be connected with Team Thrust. You can youtube them if you want.

I grew up playing racing games.  The first time I was introduced to a GT game was GT2 on the PS2.  Before that, I had played a lot of Cruisin' and such.  Let me say, for its time, GT2 was definitely one of the best sims out there.  Sure, it hasn't aged well with time, but it is anything but an arcade game.

I never really bothered with the emergency brake in GT4.  No one in their right mind would use an E-brake while racing unless their brakes gave out and they needed to stop.  Thus, I never really considered using it in GT4, so I can't comment.

In regards to the second half of your coment, that logic is entirely faulty.  "If you were really into racing, you'd buy a wheel" could be turned very easily into "if you were really into racing, you'd skip the games and save up for a better car/mods for your car."  An X360 or PS3 plays far more games than a single racing sim.  Thus, the cost is spread out over many games.  You probably only pay $65 for the game (including a portion of the console's cost).  On the other hand, a racing sim on the PC will cost however much the game costs plus a good $200 for a good racing wheel.  I don't see $250 and $65 as similar purchases, sorry.

Cause of its strong brand name.

wow guys, you all love cars, can we all just hug it out already?

I'll second that outrun live rocks, just wish it had all of coast 2 coast's content

I am guessing it is just their opinion.

I've not played Forza 2 but I have played Forza on the xbox and own both; gt4 and gt5p. The differences are:

Forza:

1) more street customisation ( paint jobs)
2) car damage, both; physical and cosmetic
3) in game soundtrack support
4) cars don't bounce of Walls so you are forced to drive properly
5) car open to damage means you have to drive more vigalent
Gt:

1) better graphics
2) more cars
3) more challanges ( license chsllanges, manufacturer races, power races, model races)
4) gttv (perfect for car ebthusiasts who love car programs)
5) teaches you how to race properly


From what I know, gt5 will have over 90 tracks plus track editor.
Damage will be the most realistic damage you will see.
Weather will be added.

If these things are covered, not only will gt5 have the advantages it held earlier, but it may even surpass forza on damage and weather.

I prefer gt because as a car enthusiast I get more cars, car history, car shows and it teaches me how you should race.

The bouncing of Walls has been kind off sorted in gt5p as in the s class races and online, you get penalized for it, but better crash physics must be implemented if the game is to call itself a sim!

Now this is a good post!!  lays it out plain and simple.

The only thing i disagree with is point number 5...I don't see how GT could actually teach you to race properly irl.

It actually taught me a lot of how to race properly.
Starting with braking point and racing line.