RE: Watch The McLaren Launch Live On PH

[graemel]

I will be amazed if the Maca does not set a completely new benchmark for all others to aspire to. I believe they have worked incredibly hard to break the mould and produce something that is incredibly special and obtainable for a good few people. The original Maca F1 at it's launch was £650K back in 1995 from memory. I am waiting with bated breath and I don't think I'll be dissapointed.

[cathalm]

Chaps I work in Hammersmith, just arrived at the office in a rather jolly mood as to what I just saw. Waiting at the lights on Fulham Palace road, first a matte black MP4-12C went right past me. Then right behind it a Ferrari 458. Funny thing was, the Ferrari also had some Matte black parts along the bottom of the doors and at the front. The two cars were clearly together so most interesting. Mclaren testing the 12C against a 458 in rush hour traffic? In which case, what's with the altered parts on the Fezza? Did they break it earlier or are they experimenting with what can be achieved ultimately on the Ferrari? Very interesting I must say and the Mclaren looked a bit bigger than the Ferrari to my eyes.

[FraserLFA]

no pics!?

[Shmee150]

cathalm said:

Chaps I work in Hammersmith, just arrived at the office in a rather jolly mood as to what I just saw. Waiting at the lights on Fulham Palace road, first a matte black MP4-12C went right past me. Then right behind it a Ferrari 458. Funny thing was, the Ferrari also had some Matte black parts along the bottom of the doors and at the front. The two cars were clearly together so most interesting. Mclaren testing the 12C against a 458 in rush hour traffic? In which case, what's with the altered parts on the Fezza? Did they break it earlier or are they experimenting with what can be achieved ultimately on the Ferrari? Very interesting I must say and the Mclaren looked a bit bigger than the Ferrari to my eyes.

Seriously? Lucky person. Must find out asap as to why and where they are going, need to go see them!

[nonuts]

Will be interesting to see, especially once the hype dies down a bit which is the best of the current crop of supercars.

[Frik]

Rich_W said:

bhja said:

... that had lower per unit warranty costs than Mercedes S class...

I don't doubt that's accurate. But it's a misleading statistic. It's much easier to build 1200 £330K cars properly than thousands of S Classes. In fact a Google shows there are more S65 AMGs than SLRs

SL 65 AMG Production

2005 651
2006 390
2007 144
2008 120

On a side note, SLR had a few engines let go and there was an "issue" with the rear diff at one point. But that was because it was the one from another Merc. IIRC either SL or S Class. Also that little thing about the Alternator setting fire to the car.Resulting in a safety upgrade/recall

Your post doesn't make sense. The warranty costs are per unit so this is a very impressive statistic, especially given that most of the parts are much more expensive on the SLR. You'd expect fewer faults per unit on a car you're building more of.

[clarki]

Im sure itll be a technical masterpiece and im looking forward to tuning in tomorrow...

but...

lets be honest here, it aint a looker!!

You just wouldnt turn back and gaze at that due to the sheer beauty of the thing. To me it does look a bit farbio/ascari/whateverish. Ferrari do seem to be able to pull off making their cars look that extra bit special, the new model being no exception.

However, if Mr Dennis would like me to drive his new car round for a few days so everyone can have a good look at it in the flesh, well the my number is..........

[HFLagos]

I saw a couple of development MP14's (black and white swirl paint/wrap) on the A3 near McLaren HQ a few months ago, they had different exhaust arrangements. We were stuck in a bit of traffic near Guildford and the development drivers were happy to show off the noise of the engine, really sounded good.

This afternoon I saw an orange (it looked more like a flat Papaya Orange than the metallic looking orange in the official pics) MP14 being driven on the M40 near High Wycombe, there were quite a few cars in a convoy around it.

Rear view is nice and distinctive, though the front does look like an Evora to be honest. Overall size appears pretty compact.

[LCR270]

Impossible not to be compared to the original, and like most sequels it just isn't as good or exciting.

i'm pretty shocked at how dull it is, with other recent supercars, just leaves me bored looking at it - maybe we've been spoiled in recent years, but it just looks plain jane, no doubt it will be quick, and sound great but the looks ? ? ? ?

[Rich_W]

Frik said:

Your post doesn't make sense. The warranty costs are per unit so this is a very impressive statistic, especially given that most of the parts are much more expensive on the SLR. You'd expect fewer faults per unit on a car you're building more of.

Take a piece of paper. Make a basic paper plane from it. Now repeat it 20,000 times. I bet there's a fair degree of margin for error. IMO Cost per unit is not a good indicator when comparing a small niche vehicle to the hundreds of thousands Merc have produced in the same time frame.

[Mazda Baiter]

LCR270 said:

Impossible not to be compared to the original, and like most sequels it just isn't as good or exciting.

i'm pretty shocked at how dull it is, with other recent supercars, just leaves me bored looking at it - maybe we've been spoiled in recent years, but it just looks plain jane, no doubt it will be quick, and sound great but the looks ? ? ? ?

It's not really.

The F1 was designed to be the ultimate supercar. There were no cost worries, they designed and built the best product they could. The MP4 12C is totally different. It is the middle rung on the McLaren ladder. They are planning a successor to the F1 in due course but this car is not it. They are also planning an entry level model. That is the one that will be the most interesting for me.

So it is actually possible not to compare this to the original (McLaren road car).

[threespires]

LCR270 said:

Impossible not to be compared to the original, and like most sequels it just isn't as good or exciting.

In the same way that an R8 is compared to the Veyron ?

or an SLK to a McLaren Mercedes ?

[Frik]

Rich_W said:

Frik said:

Your post doesn't make sense. The warranty costs are per unit so this is a very impressive statistic, especially given that most of the parts are much more expensive on the SLR. You'd expect fewer faults per unit on a car you're building more of.

Take a piece of paper. Make a basic paper plane from it. Now repeat it 20,000 times. I bet there's a fair degree of margin for error. IMO Cost per unit is not a good indicator when comparing a small niche vehicle to the hundreds of thousands Merc have produced in the same time frame.

Still disagree. In your example you would get more extreme examples of "wrongness" but you'd also get better at it. I'd expert less errors per drawing.

[BSC]

Warranty cost per unit is also dependent on the usage the vehicle gets. The S class is a business express that accumulates easily 30,000 miles per annum while the SLR will be garage jewellery of most owners. So no surprise a vehicle that's been driven carefully in the sunshine on some Sunday mornings has less warranty claims than a car that is rushed from one appointment to the next.

[Frik]

Fair point.

[cpufreak]

cathalm said:

Chaps I work in Hammersmith, just arrived at the office in a rather jolly mood as to what I just saw. Waiting at the lights on Fulham Palace road, first a matte black MP4-12C went right past me. Then right behind it a Ferrari 458. Funny thing was, the Ferrari also had some Matte black parts along the bottom of the doors and at the front. The two cars were clearly together so most interesting. Mclaren testing the 12C against a 458 in rush hour traffic? In which case, what's with the altered parts on the Fezza? Did they break it earlier or are they experimenting with what can be achieved ultimately on the Ferrari? Very interesting I must say and the Mclaren looked a bit bigger than the Ferrari to my eyes.

I was there too... and unfortunately only had my iPhone... so apologies for the poor quality of the shots..

458 was on dealer plates... I'm pretty sure it was press in both cars.










also saw a McLaren F1 GTR (yellow P reg, no shots, as was driving) this evening over on royal hospital road) this evening, circa 9pm


cathalm: who do you work for?

[ess]

On the topic of McLaren Carbon excellence.....

http://www.establishedandsons.com/#/SignatureColle...

[FraserLFA]

cpufreak said:

I took photo's

Well done Chap. Interesting shots. Can't wait for the unveiling now

Thanks

[cpufreak]

FraserLFA said:

cpufreak said:

I took photo's

Well done Chap. Interesting shots. Can't wait for the unveiling now

Thanks

np, cheers

[Mazda Baiter]

40 minutes to go.