Would a bad wheel bearing affect the handling of the car? Also how smooth the ride is?

 

Smoothness of a ride is determined by shocks and struts, and handling is the sway bars and suspension links. A bad bearing would simply cause a loud highpitch squeal, and might eventually start to lock up on you. If you think it's bad, you can replace one for 140 bucks. These are known for failure on the FWD models.