Replies to McLaren F1 questions and comments
Discussion
There was quite an amazing stat recorded during one of the more publicised F1 runs - it was either Tiff's Top Gear bowl cruise or Andy Wallace's now legendary 240mph run at Nardo - can't remember which.
Anyway, the upshot was that from about 180mph-200mph (or something in that region), the standard McLaren F1 road car accelerated faster in the same speed range than the Formula 1 car of its day.
So, in short, it was stupendously quick.
R
Anyway, the upshot was that from about 180mph-200mph (or something in that region), the standard McLaren F1 road car accelerated faster in the same speed range than the Formula 1 car of its day.
So, in short, it was stupendously quick.
R
I would like to echo everyone's thoughts and thanks to another owner gracious enough to take the time to share his experience with us. It was a very informative post and I am grateful for the insight. I am from across the pond have spent quite a bit of time reading on other forums including Automotive Forums
www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=332 . This is my first post here and just want to learn all I can about the penultimate road car the McLaren F1. Sort of a dumb question, but does the McLaren have an odor in the cockpit, like the smell of a new car that greets the senses?
Thanks again Flemke.
www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=332 . This is my first post here and just want to learn all I can about the penultimate road car the McLaren F1. Sort of a dumb question, but does the McLaren have an odor in the cockpit, like the smell of a new car that greets the senses?
Thanks again Flemke.
Flemke,
First of all I'd like to thank you for your posts - informative, interesting and compelling reading. One thing I did want to ask, not really McLaren F1 related:
I'm sure I recall you mentioning the road from Troyes to Dijon in one of your previous posts as being one of your best F1 drives. I'm heading to Nice shortly and wanted to take in that road as part of the route, having had a quick look at the map it seems it may be the N71?
First of all I'd like to thank you for your posts - informative, interesting and compelling reading. One thing I did want to ask, not really McLaren F1 related:
I'm sure I recall you mentioning the road from Troyes to Dijon in one of your previous posts as being one of your best F1 drives. I'm heading to Nice shortly and wanted to take in that road as part of the route, having had a quick look at the map it seems it may be the N71?
trackdemon:
No doubt other PH'ers know a lot more about the subtleties of French traffic policing than I do. For what it's worth, I try to stay away from "N" roads, which are roughly equivalent to British green-signed "A" roads and get a modicum of police attention. Meanwhile the "D" roads are lightly-used, barely scrutinised and generally in good condition.
If I was going north-south across that part of France I would take the A26 (beware of frequent police speed traps from J's 4-8, specifically intended to catch out Brits) to J12, then go east 15m to Marie, D946. Take D946 south/east to near Verdun, then N3 west 10m to D982 south. Take D982 to Vitry-le-Francois. At Vitry get on D396 south (it's hard to find, so try to have the large scale Michelin mapbook with you). Ater 40m the 396 morphs into the D996, which you continue on for another 10 mi. As you approach Recey on the 996, you should get on the D959. The 959 goes for another 50-ish m. until you're level with Dijon.
Despite the minimum of policing and other traffic, the D roads may take longer than the parallel N roads, and of course they take much longer than the Autoroute. If you've got the time to spend, however, they are great. Especially the 959.
Oddly enough, there are a lot of great roads around Dijon that bear Porsche model numbers - 959, 996, 956, 901, 944, 928.
One detail - on the D roads at times it can be hard to locate an open fuel station (esp. on a Sunday), so you may need to divert towards one of the larger towns if you're running low.
You will love the country roads in this area.
No doubt other PH'ers know a lot more about the subtleties of French traffic policing than I do. For what it's worth, I try to stay away from "N" roads, which are roughly equivalent to British green-signed "A" roads and get a modicum of police attention. Meanwhile the "D" roads are lightly-used, barely scrutinised and generally in good condition.
If I was going north-south across that part of France I would take the A26 (beware of frequent police speed traps from J's 4-8, specifically intended to catch out Brits) to J12, then go east 15m to Marie, D946. Take D946 south/east to near Verdun, then N3 west 10m to D982 south. Take D982 to Vitry-le-Francois. At Vitry get on D396 south (it's hard to find, so try to have the large scale Michelin mapbook with you). Ater 40m the 396 morphs into the D996, which you continue on for another 10 mi. As you approach Recey on the 996, you should get on the D959. The 959 goes for another 50-ish m. until you're level with Dijon.
Despite the minimum of policing and other traffic, the D roads may take longer than the parallel N roads, and of course they take much longer than the Autoroute. If you've got the time to spend, however, they are great. Especially the 959.
Oddly enough, there are a lot of great roads around Dijon that bear Porsche model numbers - 959, 996, 956, 901, 944, 928.
One detail - on the D roads at times it can be hard to locate an open fuel station (esp. on a Sunday), so you may need to divert towards one of the larger towns if you're running low.
You will love the country roads in this area.
Thanks to Flemke's (highly valueable) advice I've since had the pleasure of enjoying those very roads in the NSX and I can indeed confirm that they are truly superb, everything described.
I'll never drive France nth-sth again without taking in this little interlude - I'll always be able to justify the extra couple of hours it adds to a journey!
I'll never drive France nth-sth again without taking in this little interlude - I'll always be able to justify the extra couple of hours it adds to a journey!
I saw (and heard ) an F1 under going break testing at the Millbrook bowl years ago, mental acceleration and beyond mental retardation!! The performance was phenominal, then (about '96 IIRC) and the sound of it at full chat was awsome. The engineer types with the car were doing repeated 0-150-0 brake testing with the car fully ballasted (to simulate max payload). I had a brief chat with one of them when they were downloading the telemetry data, he said that a customer in Germany had complained of brake problems :Yikes:
Awsome car, the likes of which will never be seen again IMHO.
Mark
) an F1 under going break testing at the Millbrook bowl years ago, mental acceleration and beyond mental retardation!! The performance was phenominal, then (about '96 IIRC) and the sound of it at full chat was awsome. The engineer types with the car were doing repeated 0-150-0 brake testing with the car fully ballasted (to simulate max payload). I had a brief chat with one of them when they were downloading the telemetry data, he said that a customer in Germany had complained of brake problems :Yikes: Awsome car, the likes of which will never be seen again IMHO.
Mark
shirley temple said:
and the sound of it at full chat was awsome.
At either a BPR or FIA GT endurance race at Brands a few years ago, there was a situation where there were 3 Mclaren F1s dicing for position for a few laps (unusual in endurance racing as they tend to get spread out).
The sound as they all went down the long straight out into the woods is still my favourite "racing car noise" memory...
Frik said:
polarbert said:
it is a true racing car for the road, i agree that we wont see anything like it, nowadays they would put a flappy paddle gearshift in that ala SLR
Is this a joke?
Nahhh..
What has a hazelnut in every bite.........Squirrel Shit!!
Now THAT's a joke
>> Edited by anniesdad on Thursday 17th February 16:16
I've only just found this thread.
Flemke, you are a gentleman and a scholar. So many supercars get hidden away and never driven - only surfacing to change hands for huge sums of money in New York auction houses.
It is so good to hear that someone who has one of these cars is prepared to use it in the way Gordon Murray intended. He must spit feathers when he reads that one of his cars is offered for sale, having done less than 100 miles a year.
I have a question... I bought a 5 litre Chimaera because I finally got to the stage with my previous car when I was willing it to go a bit faster. I only had the Chimaera for a year and I'm sure I never got close to its limits, but I got to a point that, at least in a straight line, I wished it would accelerate a little bit faster. I've sometimes wondered if there is a car out there that can accelerate faster than its owner expects, every time, however long he's owned it... So, is it fast enough?
Flemke, you are a gentleman and a scholar. So many supercars get hidden away and never driven - only surfacing to change hands for huge sums of money in New York auction houses.
It is so good to hear that someone who has one of these cars is prepared to use it in the way Gordon Murray intended. He must spit feathers when he reads that one of his cars is offered for sale, having done less than 100 miles a year.
I have a question... I bought a 5 litre Chimaera because I finally got to the stage with my previous car when I was willing it to go a bit faster. I only had the Chimaera for a year and I'm sure I never got close to its limits, but I got to a point that, at least in a straight line, I wished it would accelerate a little bit faster. I've sometimes wondered if there is a car out there that can accelerate faster than its owner expects, every time, however long he's owned it... So, is it fast enough?
NoisyGriff said:
I have a question... I bought a 5 litre Chimaera because I finally got to the stage with my previous car when I was willing it to go a bit faster. I only had the Chimaera for a year and I'm sure I never got close to its limits, but I got to a point that, at least in a straight line, I wished it would accelerate a little bit faster. I've sometimes wondered if there is a car out there that can accelerate faster than its owner expects, every time, however long he's owned it... So, is it fast enough?
I know this question wasn't directed at me, but I'm curious ... while I can see that you might say that a regular car (Ford POS) might be too slow in a straight line - once you get to a decent high-power performance car it seems somewhat pointless to simply want to accelerate faster in a straight line. If pure straigh-line acceleration is your bag, then I guess you want NOS, or a drag-racer, or one of those aircraft carrier launch sling-shot things. Surely once you get up to TVR, or Porsche, levels of straight-line acceleration you then go looking for something else - like a corner, no?
Of course, that isn't to say that there's no enjoyment being launched at the horizon in a straight line in an F1 occasionally - but the thrill comes in short bursts, whereas a challenging sweeping road can thrill for ages and that requires more (and rewards more) from the car (and driver) than just pure acceleration.
Joe911 said:
I know this question wasn't directed at me, but I'm curious ... while I can see that you might say that a regular car (Ford POS) might be too slow in a straight line - once you get to a decent high-power performance car it seems somewhat pointless to simply want to accelerate faster in a straight line. If pure straigh-line acceleration is your bag, then I guess you want NOS, or a drag-racer, or one of those aircraft carrier launch sling-shot things. Surely once you get up to TVR, or Porsche, levels of straight-line acceleration you then go looking for something else - like a corner, no?
Excellent points there. Being fired at the horizon isn't everything, by a long way, rather it's just one aspect I really enjoyed about the Chimaera. I never got used to the acceleration in 1st and 2nd - that is as fast as any car can accelerate without using some way to increase grip. It's above 50mph that I think I got used to the sensation of acceleration - it was only the visual cues that reminded me just how quickly the speed was piling on.
The question is not really about getting bored with the performance available, as much as about becoming accustomed to it.
On an aside, I read somewhere that, if you ignore air resistance (a big ask), the steam catapults used on the Nimitz class of US carriers could launch a double-decker buss a mile into the air vertically. That is the sort of acceleration I never think you'd get used to.
polarbert said:- Gordon Murray has stated explicitly that he designed a road car not a road going race car.
polarbert said:
it is a true racing car for the road, i agree that we wont see anything like it, nowadays they would put a flappy paddle gearshift in that ala SLR
Is this a joke?
what do you mean by this? i dont understand frik???
- Then as now a semi-auto change would not fit with the original brief (eg no brake servos or power steering).
- The SLR doesn't have any paddles.
frik said:I don't think polarbert was saying that in the current environment G. Murray would choose to make a different, less "pure" car (such as one with paddle shifters or clutchless shifting). Rather, he seemed to be saying that in the current environment a less pure car is the only kind that could end up being produced.
Frik said:
polarbert said:
it is a true racing car for the road, i agree that we wont see anything like it, nowadays they would put a flappy paddle gearshift in that ala SLR
Is this a joke?
what do you mean by this? i dont understand frik???
- Gordon Murray has stated explicitly that he designed a road car not a road going race car.
- Then as now a semi-auto change would not fit with the original brief (eg no brake servos or power steering).
- The SLR doesn't have any paddles.
His point is well taken. After all, Murray and his McLaren colleagues seem to have made a valiant effort to minimise the weight, complexity and fussiness of their latest road car, yet Mercedes ended up giving us the SLR.
It is true that the F1 was meant only to be a road car. Alas.
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