The official MP4-12C Thread

Yes I just looked in my email and mine are low-res, too.

 

@kryzs+fire n ice,when i was at the factory in july ,i was taking particular interest in the suspension,when one of the tech guys proudly let slip that they were getting 1.8g lateral acceleration,i later tried to get a confermation , but they went very quite on this,but this is 25% more than 458 at 1.35g,so i think this is possible,so i agree its this that will crush everything else on the track,even the gumpert i think

 

Apologies, I have just resent them.

 

We had a discussion about it on the Italia forum. That would be awesome if true.

 

i am pretty sure,also the standard tyre has a lot softer compound than normal,as the suspension is so kind to the overall wear,they could be more aggresive with the make up for more traction and lateral grip,i am beginning to think a near 7 min ring time is very possible!

 

Agree "Power without control is useless".

Awhile ago, I remember a guy, who posted on SELOC and Pistonheads. He was from the US, and if I remember correctly his username was Ronin. He had built a 550 hp Elise project car, and raved about it!

 

Steve Sutliffe from Autocar hinted as much in a recent blog. It seems hard to believe, but who knows? They should get Lewis & Jenson to do a shootout on the Nordschleife in the 12C. It would be great if it went below 7 mins, and either way brilliant marketing for both the car and Mclaren as a company.

http://www.autocar.co.uk/blogs/anythinggoes/archive/2011/02/15/how-fast-is-the-new-mclaren-around-the-ring.aspx

How fast is the new McLaren around the ’ring?

As such, there is no official lap time, yet, but unofficially it’ll be very close to seven minutes flat.

Faster than a Porsche 911 GT2 RS, in other words; faster than just about anything with number plates and something that vaguely resembles a roof, in fact.

There is even the smallest possibility that it might dip below the magic seven-minute barrier by all accounts (they’ve been there several times already and know, give or take a second here or there, what it’s capable of doing in perfect conditions).

If that happens, if a standard production 12C breaks seven minutes around the Nürburgring, it will be stark-raving ridiculous for a car that’s little less civilised to amble along a motorway in than a 3-series.

It will also be rather wonderful for a car that’s as British to its core as roast beef with all the trimmings.

And they say there’s an even quicker version in the post…

 

I don't really care about 'ring times. As we know that can variable. Turn up the boost, mod the tires, lighten up the interior(notice all pre production cars are tinted very darK) and you got a ringer. Add a professional driver and factory ring times will drop.

I do care about steering feedback, suspension/car feedback, adhesion characteristics. I.E. - how smoothly does it transition from understeer to neutral to oversteer. I want to drive a car not a driving simulator. That is one of the reasons I was thinking of getting a CGT. Alas - you read that the car is very very difficulty to control and I don't have Kverges skills!

Btw - Keith - I think most street cars will disappoint you. You are used to so much more feedback from a race car than most street cars are going to be a bit too dull for you.

 

I just discovered that you can get Autocar on Ipad with Zinio. They must have put it in recently. This is just great. No more month-long delays.

And TOP GEAR magazine. Octane has an article comparing F1 and MP4, downloading as we speak. Very cool. At last. I have been badgering Autocar for months now to get something like that.

 

These are all very good points, however you can not get to 7 mins flat on the ring with a bit of boost or better tires or even a bit lighter interior. There has to be something radically different about the car to get there. I still don't quite understand what it is. Remember, the full (ok, a bit of a a BS) Ferrari "race" car: 599XX gets 6.58 and change. We are not talking 5-10 secs extra.

Yes, CGT is notorious for evil behavior at the limit. Check out Top Gear's review, where the Stig spins out time after time.

 

True but so far all the 'ring times have been pure speculation. I haven't seen any pics of the MP4 doing multiple laps at the ring. Has anybody?

 

Sure, all of it assuming the rumors are true. We'll have to wait till May.

 

just looked up the 599xx stats,almost identical to the 12c,except it has slicks,speculation i know,but what if the suspension makes up for that,also the braking would be similar as the 599xx is heavier and dosent have an air brake,but more powerfull racing brakes,what if!!

 

Are you sure? Here's a link to a test:
http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/car/10q1/ferrari_599xx-first_drive_review

3350 lbs
720 bhp
claimed 1350 lbs of downforce at 300 km/h.
+ all the fancy aerodynamic trickery.

On the other hand, the layout is a liability and will not be nearly as stiff. So, who knows, it might be possible.

 

599xx 0-60 2.9
12c 0-60 3.0

1/4 mile 10.8sec 599xx
1/4 mie 10.9 sec@134,but as confirmed by the factory,10.7@135 with the corsa tyre,12c

 

Part of it is traction. In other words from the dig, the front engine layout gets in the way. At higher speeds and from roll-on, 599xx should be comfortably faster, at least in a straight line.

 

There are a few videos on Youtube with the 12C camouflaged mule doing rounds on the 'Ring:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqVwZbzqmmY[/ame]

The video is quite old (dated September 2009) but they have been going there for a while.

 

only meant the aceleration stats,downforce is a major factor,does anyone know what the latera lg is on a 599xx,could the plaint suspension make the difference

 

Well, as various jurnos report: the times are already known, they are just banned from publication till May.

 

steve sutcliffe of autocar,was right about the 6.1 to 100mph as he already knew,it is also
him that has suggested the 7 min ring time,so is he just doing it again and ignoring the embargo,as you say we will know in may

 

Wow, that's amazing - I swear I just checked Zinio a few weeks ago and none of these titles were available. I'll definitely be checking this out- thanks!

 

The post above about the tire compound just made it click for me: The custom Pirellis (Corsa AND standard tires) are super soft and sticky. Most likely even softer and stickier than McLaren would like everybody to know. This definitely would help to explain much of the "how is this possible" performance.

Now, I'm not suggesting that this is trivial (meaning you could throw the same tires on a 458 and achieve the same results), since the idea is that it is indeed the suspension that allows the softer compounds with acceptable wear. For sure, it is certainly part of the holistic design that includes all components. However, the key question may be how long will the tires last under normal street driving?

On the flip side, the fact that the tires are OEM is awesome since you will get more performance without worrying about voiding the warranty.

 

i thought the special tires were just standard corsas. Not true? My scud comes with those.

 

they also suggest that the suspension bushes last 10 times longer than any other car because of the compliant ride,so with that in mind the tyre wear on the softer compound should be equal to normal expected wear