The E85 is no more of a 'sports tourer' than a Boxster Sammy, both cars will do the daily run and weekends away as easily as each other, it's just that the Boxster has better handling and has far superior steering feel, they are the better car IMHO (yes I have had one) but that's not your question.
If you like being 'spirited' at times then yes the E89 feels a bit heavier than the E85, however that's not to say it does'nt handle well, but it is different, enter say a 45-90 deg corner quickly and it will want to understeer, then you'll get weight transfer which swings the back out causing oversteer, but it's not dramatic, it hardly has you thinking 'whoa what the hell was that', it's subtle and tbh you're being a bit silly to get it to happen, you can't keep that pace up and not either crash or lose your licence, I've done it a couple of times just experimenting but it's not how I drive normally or even when having a fun blast, I've tried it, and I doubt I'll ever do it again, you can press on quickly without being daft and it will handle well, my 35is is the heaviest of the lot but, up to silly speeds it's fine and I doubt you'd find much difference to an E85 except the weight feel, and if you have the adaptive then you can stiffen and soften it as desired, that really does make a difference. The steering feel of the E89 is it's biggest let down, not the handling, it does feel a bit dead, but then I found that in my E85 si as well, though admittedly it was on the dreadful run flats, my current 19" rims on run flats feel better and more comfy than the si's 18" rims with run flats. Tbh my old SW20 MR2 feels a lot better in steering feel and has crisper turn in than the E89 and E85. If you want nimble then there are much better cars available than either. I really don't think there's that much between the two handling wise, and not enough to say I want that over that, both are very nice cars, comes down to looks, interior, gadgets, comfort, seats, etc. You pays your money..etc.
