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the 968 chassis is not exactly the same as the 944. there is some extra beefing up in there, though not nearly as much as was needed (only about 20lbs). the extra weight came mostly from the engine and transaxle. the suspension geometry, particularly in the front, is a bit different too. for starters, they moved the strut tower tops inward on the 968. some of the bushings got stiffer too.
tires can certainly make a difference, but there was really no difference between later 944 tires and 16" 968 tires, yet the 968 cornered better. don't even get me started on the M030 version or ones with 17" wheels.
some of this was due to the 968 gaining some weight in the REAR. the hardtop version (the cab was different) was slightly tail biased (about 65lbs), regardless of what you read about 50/50. it was about as tail biased as the 944 was front biased. it's not huge, but it adds to the equation.
we really do have to keep handling and cornering as separate items in this discussion. they are NOT in any way the same. as an example of extreme, my i3 handles great. it corners for crap.
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