The official MP4-12C Thread

It's from New York two weeks ago, the McLaren screening of the Senna documentary. I was there.

 

Wire: BLOOMBERG News (BN) Date: May 4 2011 7:00:12
McLaren Offers $500,000 Race Model of Ferrari-Rivaling Supercar


By Steven Rothwell
May 4 (Bloomberg) -- McLaren Group unveiled a 310,000-pound
($500,000) track version of the 200-mile-per-hour MP4-12C
supercar in a bid to establish race credentials for its rival
to the Ferrari 458 and Lamborghini Gallardo.
The GT3 racer is priced at double the cost of the road car
and will make its competitive debut in an endurance event at the
Navarra circuit near Pamplona, Spain, on May 22, McLaren said
after presenting the model at its base in Woking, near London.
“We want to do things properly so that McLaren will be seen
as the gold standard in super sports cars,” Antony Sheriff,
managing director of McLaren Automotive, said today in an
interview. “We’re not trying to sell a few cars over a short
period; we’re building a brand and we’re here long term.”
McLaren, best-known as the most successful Formula One team
after Ferrari, said the new model will do most of its racing in
Europe’s FIA GT3 competition. The series currently features cars
from Aston Martin, Audi, BMW, Ferrari, Ford, Lamborghini and
Porsche, as well as the $500,000 gull-wing SLS supercar from
Daimler AG’s Mercedes-Benz, new to the circuit this year.
About 20 McLaren GT3 variants will be delivered to customer
teams in Europe in 2012, and the car may also be entered in the
24 Hours of Spa endurance race and other events worldwide.
The MP4-12C road car, successor to the McLaren F1, the
world’s costliest auto in the 1990s and the fastest at 240 mph,
has racked up 1,700 orders even before being displayed at 35
global dealerships due to open this year, Sheriff said.
“It’s rising on a daily basis,” he said. “We have seen a
fairly linear increase since we opened for orders last summer.”

U.S. Boost

Concern that the car might struggle to win buyers in North
America, where Formula One has a lower profile than elsewhere in
the world, was misplaced, Sheriff said, adding that, “if
anything, demand in the U.S. has been even higher.”
The model will be available for viewing at McLaren’s
showroom in Hyde Park, London, next month. In the U.S., the No.
1 supercar market, it will go on show in August in Greenwich,
Connecticut, a town known for its concentration of hedge funds.
McLaren will initially have nine U.S. dealers in cities
including Beverly Hills, Chicago, Dallas, Miami and New York.
The MP4-12C takes its name from the MP4 designation given
to all of McLaren’s race cars since 1981, the latest being the
MP4-26 driven by Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton. The “C”
indicates the road car’s carbon construction and the “12” is a
reflection of “internal performance criteria” including weight,
aerodynamics, power and down force, Sheriff said.

For Related News and Information:
Formula One news: NI FORMULA1 <GO>
For Top Sports Stories: ISPO <GO>
Top Transport News: TRNT <GO>

--Editors: Chris Jasper, Chris Reiter.

To contact the reporter on this story:
Steven Rothwell in Woking, England, at +44-20-7673-2365 or
[email protected]

 

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hqdTHzOucI[/ame]

 

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Foix9m20oUE[/ame]

 

The McLaren MP4-12C GT3 race car has a go-around on the Circuito de Navarra in Spain ahead of its debut race in the 2011 season.

In the video, we see McLaren Group CEO Martin Whitmarsh explaining how the GT3 racer was conceived and how it benefits from the design of the road-going variant. The car also goes out for a test run with its street-legal sibling the standard MP4-12C.

Interesting how McLaren espouses a philosophy of delivering a race-experience derived supercar to the customer and then turning that back around to create this GT3 racer that it will offer to private race teams next year.



[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=en0n-XD03TA[/ame]

 

Thanks for the post!

 

My spec:

Pearl White or Ice Silver (was going to go Volcano Orange but decided it wasn't dark enough)
CF mirrors
CF vanes
CF interior
lightweight wheels in black
orange calipers
IRIS
parking sensors
leather sport interior, orange space fabric
orange contrast stitching

It was helpful to have a car at the dealer to reference when doing the spec, the standard fabric interior is actually very good and IMHO better than the alcantara, which I think may be overdoing it. It's too bad they don't have the sport seat option though.

 

Sounds beautiful, congrats.

 

First time I’ve seen the MP4-12C in red and assume it’s the Volcano Red.

My dealer has said that Volcano Red car looks fantastic in the flesh and it is currently my most probable choice.

That said, I was a little underwhelmed by it in the video, which whilst not that hi-res, it didn’t stand out like the Volcano orange.

Off to MTC next week to spec my car and so hopefully can see many different variants.

Will also query delays and when the MPC is due to be finished.

Would love the hydraulic jacks to be an option on the road car!

 

That's strange. As recently as two weeks ago, the factory staff used to say that the new factory construction was on plan. I would rather suspect a component supply issue due to the Sendai earthquake. All car makers appear to be facing similar problems as Japanese car part manufacturers work for virtually every make in the world.

 

My spec is Volcano Red. I hope that's the color in the video because it would confirm my opinion that it's the best color for me if so. Volcano Orange is awesome but may be a little over the top for me. Volcano Red seems just a bit more demure.

 

Superquant is most concerned about aesthetics? Would have assumed it was all about the numbers

 

This seems to make sense, when I had the factory tour I was told that initial production for first 6-9 months would be built on the SLR line - don't know if that has changed?

 

They have told me that the vip cars and dealership cars are to be built on the SLR line,but that the customer cars will only be built in the new factory,i would assume this could easily change if there is a delay at the factory??

 

Hi,

Does anyone have a close-up picture of the standard seats? Does the performance fabric apply only to the dashboard while the space fabric is for the seat inserts?

Those who have sat in standard seats, how's the feel?


Looking to spec the car soon, hence would appreciate some feedback.

 

The standard seats are very supportive and comfortable,from what i could see they are no different from the electic seats,so thats why i specced them,as for the performance fabric
i think its on the dash and doors,the only leather you get on the standard trim is on the seats,also the space fabric is on the door inserts

 

Hi Andy, appreciate your response. I'm wondering if it is possible to change the colour of the leather on standard seats? So far, the configurator shows black as the only option. Will check with my dealer this coming week!

 

Hi Douglas.i think if you want to change the leather colour you will have to pick one of the upgrades,the only things you can change colour on in the standard trim are the space fabric and the performance fabric,i can see their point,but why would you want brown performance fabric without being able to change anything to complement it??
good luck with your dealer, maybe you can do a deal if its just for a small bit of seat leather you want to change,please let us know the outcome

 

Yes, I will post the outcome here. I'm wavering between standard trim and leather seats.

Anyone knows what other functions does the IRIS come with? I read from Evo mag that McLaren is actually developing an on-board GPS system that recognises the track the car is on and tunes the car specifically for the track. Am hoping this might be a software update in the near future!

 

I've heard first 600 cars will be built on SLR line.
Some of them should go to "normal" customers......

 

Philip told you there is a delay? He just told me this week that everything is on track.

 

This was one of the key points i asked chris goodwin about when i tested the car at dunsfold in april.he told me it would be possible to do ,but nothing was set in stone at the moment as they were already testing the next two models on the sim,and they would have to spend time at each track to upload the info,time which they do not have at the moment,but i think the iris is a must,in some regions it is already not an option so im lead to believe

 

Im finding out on monday as some of the dealers had a production update this week at the MTC.