Ferrari 488 Compared to the McLaren 720s

In every test ... just look at Rokingham, Spring Mountain or the Wet Handling tracks in the link you posted.
Actually the times between the 458 and MP4-12C are more or less identical in spite of weight and power advantages for the McLaren, which means it is less efficient in my view.
The 650S needs even more power to finally outperform the 458.
The 488 is also based on a car from the 458 era (the 458 itself to be specific)... and the 675LT cannot beat it in spite of its lower weight and track oriented set-up, again showing a lack of efficiency.
In drag races of course power-to-weight and power advantages always win, but that's not an achievement.
That's why we better wait for actual tests of the 720S to see whether McLaren has actually made a real step forward (which is quite possible, since they have undoubtly improved their cars with each new release), or have just thrown more power in the equation.

 

Who cares about wet handling courses? Those are total crapshot tests. A F430 Scud was 3s quicker than a 458 on the wet track. No idea why. Here are the most common tests/tracks where car are constantly tested by more reputable publications. It bests it on the short handling tracks and the longer higher speed ones. It's simply a higher performance car.

Laguna Seca (post 1988) 1:36.22 1:34.50
Hockenheim Short 1:09.70 1:08.70
Nürburgring Nordschleife 7:38.00 7:28.00
Top Gear Track 1:19.10 1:16.20
Vairano Handling Course 1:15.14 1:14.81
Autocar Dry Handling Track 1:08.90 1:08.60

It doesn't make sense talk about X having a power/weight advantage or performance "efficiency" because the car's design is what it is. I'd also point out that low speed handling/technical tracks have limits where big numbers on paper look small in real life. Look at the AC Dry Handling Track:

458: 8.9
12C: 8.6
650S: 8.3
488: 8.0

You could argue the 458 is more efficient than the 488 being that the difference is so minuscule while on paper the 488 is massively more powerful, more advanced, and on much better tires.

And yes, The 675 LT is AKA 12C Speciale. It is to the 12C what the Speciale is to the 458. The 488 is the next generation car, just like the 720S is the next generation car. The correct comparison to make are:

12C/458
675LT/Speciale
488/720S

 

I keep saying this... top trumps alone do not make a supercar! The McLaren DNA is evident throughout their range of cars: incredibly fast, but just devoid of excitement. And after 5 mainline cars (MP4/540/570/650/675) they all demonstrate the same characteristic DNA: fast but boring. The clinical approach set by Ron Dennis appears to be all pervasive.

"It makes the 661bhp Ferrari 488 GTB look like a bit of a bargain at just over £183k, especially given how it conjures more excitement from a similar engine and a remarkably adept chassis. " Ouch!

I am surprised that Evo rated it as badly as 4 stars- not many new supercars get such a poor review. Especially not those as hyped or vaunted as the 720. Telling I think, given Evo is a British magazine!

McLaren 720S review - the Super Series gets bigger, faster and more powerful | Evo

 

Video reviews are dropping today:
https://youtu.be/9Y7tit8bW4Y

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9Pm6SFEuRA

 

https://youtu.be/nO4mLNpcY1o


Cars:

2013 Ferrari 458 Spider
2014 Porsche 911 Turbo S Cab

Only 2 that I drive.

 

He is in one of the two videos I posted and he'd already bought one before driving it, you can see it in his face...he's not as impressed as he was expecting.

 

https://youtu.be/0ssQZRvW6OI

 

Yeah, not really sure what else you can expect from a modern day supercar that is designed for comfort in the street and for the track as well.

No big surprise that it sounds like a McLaren. It's still a car.


Cars:

2013 Ferrari 458 Spider
2014 Porsche 911 Turbo S Cab

Only 2 that I drive.

 

Owned a 650s, passed on all the 675lt's at MSRP. Just not a fan of the sound of the cars, nor how they drive compared to Ferrari. (sure, they are a LOT faster!).
I was very interested in the replacement car though...and then we saw the car, and WOW I love the future looks. So fantastic, and inside is so airy. Wonderful.
Now I've seen the reviews...so disappointed. The car sounds worse than a 488 by a mile.
I dont buy these cars anymore for bragging rights of who is quicker as we are in a new era where all these cars are insane on the street. I buy for emotion, much of which is sound and feel.

So disappointed today after watching the reviews.

Have a 488 spider incoming and not sure I will love that either to be fair.
Drove the 458 Italia again last week (friends) and must say, might be time to go back down the food chain and pick one up again.

 

I couldn't agree more. I had high hopes for the 720s when I first saw it at the Geneva Motorshow. I was hoping for better sound since performance wise I knew it was going to be mind blowing.
From the video reviews, the sound is quite disappointing.
Makes the 488 sound epic in comparison.



2015 458 Italia Nero Black

 

EVO magazine quote
"It makes the 661bhp Ferrari 488 GTB look like a bit of a bargain at just over £183k, especially given how it conjures more excitement from a similar engine and a remarkably adept chassis."

http://www.evo.co.uk/mclaren/19291/mclaren-720s-review-the-super-series-gets-bigger-faster-and-more-powerful



2015 458 Italia Nero Black

 

people are bashing ferrari interior... but this interior looks good at first sight but as time progresses it getting more boring... switch design are too childish...

https://www.motor1.com/photo/1893102/2017-mclaren-720s-first-drive/

 

What exactly is a "childish" switch?

It's a switch and knob, nothing more, nothing less. At least it's aluminum and not plastic.

Is this mature switch design? Is it also childish? I don't get it. It's just a switch. Could be in a fighter jet or could be on a Ford focus. There's really nothing to then.

 

Faster than the p1 on track maybe. I would rather have this over a 488 gtb if it was about track times. The Deadpool look might be alleviated in storm gray or black

 

Get a Speciale, or 488 = 458 + new manual GT3.

 

http://www.evo.co.uk/mclaren/19291/mclaren-720s-review-the-super-series-gets-bigger-faster-and-more-powerfulVerdict:

The McLaren 720S is an improvement over its predecessor in every respect, except in terms of excitement


"It makes the 661bhp Ferrari 488 GTB look like a bit of a bargain at just over £183k, especially given how it conjures more excitement from a similar engine and a remarkably adept chassis."

 

McLaren 720S review: it might be the best of British engineering, but does the 570GT do a better job for less?

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/mclaren-720s-review-230100134.html

 

If only 720 looked a bit better than how it turned out then there would be something positive to get a toehold in on other than just having blistering straight line acceleration. Not much else to get excited about it going by the reviews.

 

Essentially most every review ive read or watched about it is summed up with "meh".

Wait till the depreciation hits on that sucker after a couple years too.

 

Depreciation certainly ain't gonna be pretty on that one - possibly even worse than 650 (if that's possible). If only it didn't look so fugly..
And yeah no one has given it a tick - even that Mr Jww's face looks like he's had a big fright buying one up front before driving it lol. Poor guy. Hope he kept his 675LT. He's trying to jolly himself over the accel and brakes but deep down he knows he's in trouble. Pretty sure the boffins at Ferrari are roflao !!

 

Weird, because I quoted the final summary paragraphs and many say it's the new benchmark or best you can buy.

Seems you are only choosing the acknowledge the ones whose opinion you want to be true. Such is how bias works I guess.


"It’s arguable that a Ferrari 488 GTB, Audi R8 or Lamborghini Hurracán still makes a better noise, but there’s little doubt that now, in almost every other area you care to mention, the McLaren is the benchmark."

"In isolation, the McLaren 720S is an exceptional achievement, but as a replacement for the already-excellent 650S it is nothing short of extraordinary – yet another amazing leap for a brand that seems to have come a very long way in a relatively short space of time. Never before has so much speed, quality, refinement and entertainment been available under just one roof. Ferrari’s 488 has company, and how."

"Stepping in to the 720S' was, tiny irritants aside, a rather transformative experience. The technology, pace, handling and feel of the thing makes not only its predecessor, the 650S, feel outdated (even though it's still a stunning machine), but pretty much everything else feel a bit old as well. Your move, everyone else."

"But the Lambo doesn’t have the unique-in-class carbon chassis, or the exotic doors that McLaren’s rivals reserve for their halo models. It can’t match the 720’s obscene performance, friendly but engaging handling or practicality. Tot the points up and the 720S is clearly ahead of the competition. But this time, it has the emotional appeal of proper knockout aesthetics – the thing the 12C sorely lacked - to back the decision up."

"It shouldn’t happen. But it has. In only McLaren’s seventh year as a car manufacturer, it has built a new-generation model that answers nearly every criticism thrown at the car it succeeds.

The 720S is a world class supercar, no question. It may even be the world’s best supercar – we'll find out soon enough."

"That said, it’s hard to believe sometimes that as a proper car company, McLaren Automotive is just seven years old. This year it will sell over four thousand cars and now poses as a genuine rival to Ferrari and Lamborghini. The 720S is proof of the company’s new-found maturity. It not only successfully distances itself from the 570, it also threatens the supremacy of the seminal Ferrari 488GTB. There can be no higher compliment."

 

Amen...not worth that risk.

 

Henry Catchpole's review of the 720S on Drive Tribe

http://bit.ly/2qIFvKa

This best sums up his review:

"This feels more like a return to the numbers-driven early days of the MP4-12C... A supercar should be spine-tingling in its sensations, yet as we went through a long, echoey tunnel on the way back to the airport there wasn’t even a temptation to change down a few gears, let alone crack the windows open as you would with the turbo V8s of 488 GTB or AMG GT under your right foot."

Looks like another win for the 488 GTB against the 720S in terms of engagement.

 

Just buy a new gt3. Manual transmission, NA, higher performance than a 488 on a track.

 

So, you are saying that the new GT3, especially in manual guise, will be 2-4 sec / lap quicker than the track special GT3 RS? Because that's what it takes to beat the 488... Sorry, not a chance!

Vehicles
Ferrari 488 GTB V S Porsche 911 GT3 RS (991)
Fastest lap on the track :
Hockenheim short 1'07"00 barre 1'08"50
Autocar 1'08"00 barre 1'09"90
Nürburgring nordschleife 7'21"00 barre 7'20"00
Le Mans - Bugatti 1'44"28 barre 1'47"52
Anglesey Costal 1'12"80 barre 1'13"60


http://www.zeperfs.com/en/duel5623-5670.htm