Autocar’s Steve Sutcliffe has driven the McLaren MP4-12C over 2,000 miles on normal roads and the racing track. The video shows the review and the verdict with respect to the first ever McLaren to be released in the new century.
Steve is quite clear with his conclusion, which is similar to Chris Harris’ opinion about the McLaren sports car. Although it is faster than the McLaren F1 and handles better than a Ferrari 458 Italia, both guys are missing some kind of thrill seeking feeling connected to the sports car.
Of course, we cannot agree nor disagree with both the journalists until we have driven the car ourselves.
a tad emotionless or less emotion??
Well, ain’t that a little bit of bullshitting ?
A car is faster or slower, nothing more, nothing less. Everything else is poetry…
Apart from that, my opinion is that the look of the McLaren is more innovative and less vulgar than the F458’s one.
If I had the money, I’d go for the McLaren :)
No the car can not be judged just by speed. If you don’t feel that you are in control of a car, with all electronics interfering, that would be like playing a football match and the opponents are sitting in the middle of the pitch drinking beer while you score. You don’t feel that you are the one who made that car go fast.
The other thing is about design. If anything, McLaren’s design is not innovative. It looks like a car that could easily be produced in the 2001.
It might be a faster car and better looking (which is in the eyes of a person), but more innovative- nah!
I really want to love this car.
It seems McLaren didn’t want to even try to make the car attractive. It’s kinda sad.
Sure, it’s faster than the 458. But it has no charisma. It really bothers me.
I disagree, there’s always a time, at the limit of the car, when all electronic stuff gets useless and you just need to handle the thing.
And yes, trying not to awake the ABS / ESP connection when braking to chase the last tenth of a seconds is pure driving skill (try to drive a 997 c2s pdk on a racetrack and you’ll understand : you need to be so precise not to loose time).
My laptime at Magny Cours is what counts : I like better a formule renault than a GT3RS and I am sure I would enjoy that McLaren more than the F458 if it’s faster :)
I’m torn! See, I like when the car is made to be top notch. The best acceleration, the best braking, the best cornering, fastest on the track. But on the other hand the thing that makes me to fall in love with a car is the looks, the sound and the whole sensation of the car. Here McLaren lose badly to 458. The design is just ordinary, when I look at it I get the same feeling just like when I look at Audi R8. Everything but thrill. And the noise of the McLaren is… well it’s just ordinary. It sounds like 4 cylinder hot hatch. The engine is too low reving and these turbochargers… 458 Italia makes this parts right. Looks stunning, sounds mindblowing and maybe it’s not the fastest, but I think it’s the thrillest and that counts more to me. And I am shure Ferrari will beat McLaren with 458 ‘430 Scuderia’ analog.
McLaren for life.
When I first heard it will be turbocharged instead of proper naturally aspirated v8/v10/v12, I knew it will not have the same appeal as the other Italian, German and even British supercars.
The car is good, but as kris said, it is sits in the same league with R8. And R8 was not disappointment, because no one expected it to be as cool and ludacris as Ferrari or Lambo.
Mclaren is top exotic and they should do this by the book. Instead they chose a road of revenue calculations, cost effectiveness, environmental regulations, and all those things took away part of its soul.
They could and should made a true high revving exotic.
What is this obsession with the soul of the ferrari everyday the soul of the ferrari is getting more and more diluted with more and more models