The official MP4-12C Thread

It gets even better: the app got updated last night. I bought it, downloaded it but could not install it and today it just disappeared.

 

Correction: it works now.

 

"...The Porker snacks on 458s to kill time when it's not nailing corporate jets.."

That's in reference to the 0-300 time. Great read. Lots of little snarky comments.

The best part, though, and it clinches it for me now:

"...He (or she) benefits from delectable steering, which has far more feel than a 458's and which adds weight as the chassis firms up..."

Case closed. Ferrari can go hang.

However, there is one big negative: Due to lack of LSD, once you turn off esp, the car will be reluctant to play.

 

Well it depends on what you are looking for in the car. Clearly, for Harris the looks are a big problem. He also complains about the synthetic sound (exact same complaint he had against Italia when in RS comparison). The issue of how special the car feels compared to Italia all comes down to looks, though. Ferrari went big time for day to day usability ending up with something lardy and isolating/numb, while getting a great look.

I personally like the look and from the reviews it looks like the car is light, feelsome (steering, chassis) and devastatingly quick. The only downside is lack of play with esp off. It does not matter on the track, but can be fun.

Overall, to me the verdict is obvious: if the looks don't bother you, then this is the car to have.

One comment on WSJ review: it's clearly a review of somebody in love with their own writing. More showing off than any insight.

 

Am I the only person on the planet who actually DOESN'T like the look of the 458?

I think the Macca looks fantastic and something tells me it will only look better in the flesh.

Here's an interesting article about Apple and "the experience of the product" future of post-PC thinking....interesting if you plugged in McLaren and Ferrari for Apple and PC's, respectively, except in this case the McLaren is also better in terms of performance.

Now if McLaren can only get the customer service thing nailed down, they will have the TOTAL experience package.

From ENGADGET.com:
On Wednesday, Apple introduced the world to the iPad 2. A beautiful device, to be sure. Feature packed? You bet. Soon to be selling like hotcakes? Absolutely. But the introduction of an iteration on an already existing product wasn't the most notable piece of the event, nor was the surprise appearance of Steve Jobs. No, Wednesday's event was significant because it introduced the world to Apple's real vision for the foreseeable future, a theme the company has hinted at but never fully expressed. This week, Apple showed everyone where it was headed, challenged competitors on that direction, and made it clear that the company not only has staked a claim in that space, but is defining it.

This week, Apple stepped into the "post-PC" era of computing -- and there's no looking back, at least not for the folks in Cupertino.

By joining the company's ongoing vision of a "different" kind of computing with a soundbite friendly piece of marketing-speak, Apple has changed the rules of the game, and made the competition's efforts not just an uphill battle, but -- at least in the eyes of Steve Jobs and co. -- essentially moot. But what exactly is the "post-PC" world? And why is it significant? Let me explain.

In this new world, Apple no longer has to compete on specs and features, nor does it want to. There is no Mac vs. PC here -- only "the future" versus "the past." It won't be a debate about displays, memory, wireless options -- it will be a debate about the quality of the experience. Apple is not just eschewing the spec conversation in favor of a different conversation -- it's rendering those former conversations useless. It would be like trying to compare a race car to a deeply satisfying book. In a post-PC world, the experience of the product is central and significant above all else. It's not the RAM or CPU speed, screen resolution or number of ports which dictate whether a product is valuable; it becomes purely about the experience of using the device. What that means is that while Motorola and Verizon will spend millions of dollars advertising the Xoom's 4G upgrade options, CPU speed, and high-resolution cameras, Apple need only delight consumers and tell them that specs and and speed are the domain of a dinosaur called the PC. Apple isn't claiming victory in the Space Race -- it's ceding space to the competition.

But guess who gets Earth all to itself? Apple's not saying that it beats other tablets on the market. It's saying "we do one thing, and these guys do something else altogether." They're not competition -- they're not even playing the same game!

That's not to say Apple has given up on PCs, and in fact, the company's laptop sales are consistently exceeding expectations. But take a look at what's creeping around the corner. There's Lion, with its iOS-like interface, its simplified experience. If Apple has its way, and if the sales of its mobile devices carry on in the manner they have up until now, a post-PC outlook will even fit devices that look alarmingly like... PCs.

But right now -- in the tablet space at least -- the problem for Motorola, Samsung, HP, RIM, and anyone else who is challenging Apple becomes infinitely more difficult. Almost any company could put together a more powerful or spec-heavy tablet, but all the horsepower in the world can't help you if you don't find a way to delight the average consumer. Those other tablet makers may have superior hardware (and in the case of the Xoom, some superior software as well), but without that key component of sheer delight, the road for them is long and hard. HP is getting close by touting features like Touch-to-Share, but against experiences like the new GarageBand for iOS and the 65,000 apps (and counting) that currently exist, it's hard to see a clear path to sizable competition. That goes for Google and RIM as well.

What Apple has done by introducing its "post-PC" language into the vernacular is almost more a game of semantics. Now when Motorola boasts the brain-crushing, bone-splitting power of the Xoom, the company could easily come off like the guy who buys the red Ferrari because he has something to prove.

Apple isn't just challenging perceptions of the PC -- they're saying that the age of the PC is over (at least for most people). The company is forcing consumers to ask if they even still want or need something called a PC (while of course making sure to point out that the competition is playing the same old game). And really, that's all part of the plan. Apple is in the process of making the iPad the de-facto standard for what the next stage of computing looks like, from the look and feel to the kind of software and experiences you have on the device. Apple doesn't just want to own the market -- it wants to own the idea of the market. We've seen this act before, and we know how it ends.

There was a time before the iPod too, when companies like HP, Samsung, and even Microsoft fought against Apple for the hearts and minds of the consumer -- but I'll be damned if anyone can remember it."

 

Someone might argue that it's the other way round. Ferrari all about experience while Macca all about the numbers.

However, I do not see it that way, unless supercar experience is all about looks and sound.

And yes, MP4 looks even better in person.

 

Watch this interview with Chris (I am an arrogant ass) Bangle during the Geneva show...he talks about supercars. He does make an interesting, if rambling, point.

http://jalopnik.com/#!5775672/is-chris-bangle-the-charlie-sheen-of-auto-designers

 

OK, so who's going to post the evo article? A couple of you guys have it now, so.....?

I just read the Autoweek review...nothing particularly worthy of scanning and posting, but will do so if someone wants to see it.

 

No, you're not. I think the front is ridiculous and looks like a cross between a cockroach insect face and a french-mustached caricature. And every time I look at the back, for some reason I'm reminded of a dog trying to squeeze out a turd. But there is no point getting into the looks arguments again- it will just start another flame war.

 

Regarding the Apple article- cool stuff. I'm a huge fan of Apple (the products and the company) and have spent a ton of time waxing philosophical about their success. To me, what they have accomplished in such a short time (relatively) transcends anything that a car company could accomplish. Their level of competence in marketing is stratospheric.

As far as the 12C, perhaps it really is just too perfect and therefore missing some pizazz for some folks. But then, I quote Jethro Bovingdon from Car mag's COTY article (keep in mind a comparo that the Italia WON) "For me the Ferrari is a conundrum. Fabulous in almost every way and yet it leaves me a little bit cold. Conversely, the Superleggera, despite many more obvious faults, makes me feel alive". Others in the same test remarked the GT2 RS as providing more excitement than the 458. Others still said the 458's engine and exhaust were too loud. Go figure.

Depends what you want the product to do, I guess. Personally, I am willing to sacrifice a little bit of Superleggera "alive-ness" for near-Veyron performance. That's because I am sure I will feel plenty alive hitting 165+ MPH up Andretti straight at Mosport.

 

Thanks! Where do I send the $5 check?

 

Actually, I think in many respects Macca will feel more alive than the superleggera or any other competitor. Already, Harris mentions the great steering, Roger Green waxes ecstatic about suppleness and the suspension feel. Italia is very dull feeling and remote tool in comparison from the sounds of it. Even, Scuderia's steering feel is not that great, yet much better than Italia's. Italia has fantastic sound, great looks and ancient suspension/chassis .

 

Something tells me $5 just isn't going to cut it.....

 

One great quote from evo is how MP4 was much more neutral and understeered much less in torrential rain than superleggera did on the same track in dry conditions on semi-slick tires. This is just mind blowing.

 

Has anyone seen pictures of the MP4-GT3 release which was at Silverstone today?

 

The Gen 1 Superleggera that I drove on a track understeered quite a lot. Still a fabulous car, though. But you definitely needed a lift mid-corner to tighten the line.

 

Sure, all awd cars do, hey my scud understeers too, especially before proper aligment, but here we are talking torrential rain.

 

I don't much pay attention since he ruined BMW design in the interest of his own ego.