Good point it was Ok though by all accounts, one of the guys I know was out on a test drive in it (as a passenger) said it's awesome
Aw come on, you'd take this one in a heartbeat LOL. We're all chomping at the bit to get ours here in the US.
knowing how busy the pubs get over there on Fridays, I'd definitely wait for a Monday car. Or maybe even Tuesday.
InsideLine.com has posted a reprint of the OCTANE article along with 52 hi-res digital images of the pair. 2012 McLaren MP4-12C vs. 1995 McLaren F1 >8^) ER
Brilliant photos. I actually bought the paper issue, b/c I had to have the photos for my collection. These extra online pics are just awesome.
A very good article on the carbon chassis topic, with some direct comparisons of the 12C vs. Aventador processes. Also, some interesting info about BMW's plans to have carbon chassis electric cars in the mass market by 2013. http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/innovation/2011/0325/1224292679603.html
okay you Brit fellas.. why so quiet!? Don't you get to drive the 12C in a couple of days? You should be hootin' and hollerin'! What's the latest scoop?
First drive experience on the Mclarenlife forum http://www.mclarenlife.com/forums/showthread.php?t=150&page=2
I think it lost a wheel somehow and ended up the wrong way around. It doesn't appear to have hit another car.
' You could be right. I picked that up from another website. "I was driving on HY-99 Northbound at about 1PM wondering why traffic was so congested. To my surprise I saw 3 Seattle Police cars and 2 DOT trucks behind a wrong way facing Mclaren. It turns out the rear passenger wheel was separated from the car." But, for sure he got turned around the wrong way on a pretty narrow and relatively high traffic road without being able to turn himself around. Image Unavailable, Please Login
cant sleep!! how pathectic am i,still 36 hours to go,and a 550 mile round trip,i hope they dont put a ban on pictures
I'm not sure what happened with the car but the passenger side wheel looks fine and the car looks balanced so I don't think the driver side wheel came off either. http://sportscarforums.com/showthread.php?p=1012479
Some funny reactions from earlier today. I guess people are starting to see the cars on the way to and from the customer demo events: F1TestPrincess Annika Göcke My date of today. Isn't he sexy? (Even if I prefer orange...) But yes I am in love #McLaren MP4-12C http://twitpic.com/4hmguh 4 hours ago sumiturok Sumit @ChrisKincaid79 mclaren is my fav..!! My fav. car is the Mclaren Mp4 12C and the Mclaren F1 6 hours ago F1TestPrincess Annika Göcke On ma way back. It's a shame that I had to leave this beauty of a car already. Pics to follow later! #McLaren MP4-12C 8 hours ago pwchapman Paul Chapman Just wet myself a bit after seeing 3 McLaren Mp4-12c's in Alfold on their way to the top gear test track. Absolutely amazing car! #McLaren 12 hours ago Kazuzzle KazuzzleFuzzleWuzzle Holy sh!tballs!!!! Just saw my 1st (and probably only) McLaren MP4-12C on the road. It was black, on the M40. My day made. 12 hours ago
Well have to say the sun was shining and it was a great start to the day with a drive out in the Ferrari to a very hard to find Dunsfold airfield. What a sight greeted me, three MP4-12C and the Mclaren PR machine well in gear. It was a nice touch that the drivers were those involved with the development of the car so knew the product inside out, also some of the senior European managers all keen to ensure the day went well and to hear feedback both positive and negative. Now to the car, we went out on a road drive in N mode Auto, very smooth compliant ride but did find the turbo kicked in quite agressivley as the car rides in 7th gear at 40mph so runnng at very low revs and when pushed on the revs rise sharpley and the turbo kicks in. Overall a great ride and one which you would be happy to use on a daily basis and streets ahead of a Gallardo. On track you went out for a couple of recce laps in N mode but in manual, even in N the acceleration is awesome brakes are spot on ( steel stoppers ) turn in is very sharpe and the throttle can be nailed on the way out and the rear just digs in and powers out. The paddles need a firm positive tug to change gear not like Ferrari paddles which you can just flick. Next lap we upped the setting to S, the suspension stiffened up and the ride became firmer. the car dived less under hard breaking and it all seemed to get more sharpe. Next we moved to T this really quickened the throttle and the suspension became even firmer, you could feel the small stones you drove over, the turn in became unbelievable and the throttle could be balanced in the turn and hammered much earlier than you would in other cars. The car blew every driver away, my only critisisum would be that the two tone dash that the car had reflected badly in the windscreen and made it difficult to see in the sun light, so be careful if you spec the dual leather dash. In fairness the Mclaren guy said they would look into it as most of their drivers are short race car drivers and had not noticed it, Im about 6'3" so not race car driver material but fitted in very comfortably Image Unavailable, Please Login
just got back,long day for me!,everything 360 has said i concour,great fun to play with the different modes,on the road auto n handling and track powertain was fantastic as it gave you the full exhaust sound without having to think too much,on that note im now glad i didnt get the sports,it might be a bit much as a daily driver. coming to the brakes,i was lucky to spend alot of time with chris goodwin and he was explaining how much work they had put in on the steel rotors and the cooling for them i rode in both cars today one with steel ,one with ceramic,and as you can imagine they were getting alot of hammer,i couldnt find a difference between them,and as chris said they still stop you quicker than a 458. i also asked him about what he said about the iris track mode for downloading suspension settings for different tracks,he said that the way the system is set up this was a possibilty for the future when they have more time to go to each track to get optimum settings!!! The topgear track time! when he said they had beaten the laptime,he meant for cars with doors and a roof,so not the atom,but the bug super sport The ring time they havent set as the season was finished before the car was signed off,but they know what the car will do because of the sim,which as he said is only a couple of tenths off for formula 1 setups,and he also said he beat the sims time at dunsfold anyway.they will go later in the season to get a true ring time,but as a team they have to have a cage in it ,so someone might get there first,lets hope one of the german mags. Two of the guys there had 458.s and scuds,and they both said they wouldnt stand a chance against it,in a different class altogether
