Scud or McLaren

This summer after I picked up my 16m from service at Ferrari of Ontario, I drove right across the street to the mclaren dealership and took the mclaren mp4-12c for a very nice spirited test drive. Thanks Mclaren Toronto dealership, really nice people who treated me great and allowed me the nice test drive.

To sum it up IMO the Mclaren is clearly faster, I found the brakes to feel stronger? (maybe the wing popping up to help with braking gave it that feeling) The handling was great and the car felt firm but at the same time not as tight/solid as the scud. The mp4 looks great, and the built quality is nice. Overall I still felt the Scud is better built and seemed more alive, if that makes any sense.

The concern I had with the mp4-12c was the transmission, not even close to the scud/16m F1, it seemed more delayed and not the same, but clearly the 599gto/scud/16m F1 transmission is very special.

While the mp4 is a really nice car, I would take the scud any day of the week over it, add in the difference of 75k it would cost to buy a mp4 over scud today, makes the choice even easier.

Both are great cars and give the driver a great buzz but as others have stated the Scud connects the driver more.

I think as time goes on more and more people are starting to realize how nice the Scud really is, kind of like the 360cs as time went on.

Either way good luck, whatever choice you make you will end up with a great car.

 

That might not necessarily be the transmission, might just the boost kicking in post-shift. I say might because I don't know how far down your foot was on the gas pedal =)

And I don't care how many non-MP4 owners claim how linear the power is in an MP4...there is definitely a lag on power delivery. Just hop back into your NA scud or 458 and it's night & day, thing is the further down you gas it and the faster you go, how fast that needle continues moving higher and higher is quite amazing =)

 

My foot was down in the same fashion as my 16m, full tilt on the gas and kicking ass

The tranny in the mp4 is not as fast, crisp, & solid at scud. I was left a bit disappointed by it.

 

I agree. I think that some of this is due to the paddles/linkage. They will get better but right now the MP has too many faults and oddities, not to mention its generic sports car looks that you expect to see in a tire ad.

 

16M is one awesome car. I agree that the gearbox is more engaging with a more "mechanical" feel rather than organic. The 458 also has a bit of this problem.

I like hearing the gearbox slam around the back of the car. It's the one downside to the DCT and I think the Mac having "pre-cog" just complicates the experience even more.

 

I have grown from "not being used to it" to "pure hatred" for the bloody pre-cog in my see-saw paddle shifter...