Actually, the Fortune is not a ''better'' car. Clovers top speed is 163 while Fortune's is only 157. Also Clover's acceleration rate is much better than Fortune's aswell (Clover being 24 ms^2, while Fortune is 20ms^2).
The only real advantage Fortune has is the more controllable handling. And even then, Clover's handling can be arguably better, because you can slide into turns very quickly if you're skilled enough, which very hard to do with Fortune because it does not slide as much.
The real problem here is the general driving skill of people. Most people playing Hot Pursuit have no idea what brakes are and can't drive into a turn without hitting a lamppost. If you're atleast halfway decent you should have no problem keeping up with a Fortune.