The Mk3 8v doesn't have crap suspension tho, VW saved that for the stock VR6. Pitching under braking = teh win!!!!!!
Anyway, van der Waals forces make the tyres grip, that's why you have less grip in the wet than the dry because of the thin layer of water between the treadblock and the road. Suspension has a part to play yes, however notice any good drivers car under hard cornering - they normally have one wheel suspended in mid air (there was a great picture in evo of a Clio 182 heading into a 90 degree bend with its inside rear in mid air), so it's less important than you think.
And for the last time, handling doesn't help you go quickly, it determines what heppens when you go too quickly - how the car slides, how easy it is to recover. This is why you can annihalate a backroad in an Audi S4, even tho if you take it past its limit it revels itself to be a horrible understeering mess. Up until the limit it's the grip it gets from its 4wd system keeping it stuck to the road.
Oh, and "handles in a straight line". Oxymorons in action lad, tis unbecoming of an obviously educated car nut such as yourself. Maybe you should stick to fixing ashtrays and leave the driving to those of us who know what we're doing eh?
