Flemke - Is this your McLaren?
Discussion
360boy said:Not a descendant, rather a long-time admirer of the late EF senior (not to take anything away from the son, who is also an accomplished racer).
I am intrigued to know if you are descended from the modified stock car racer, Eddie Flemke, or whether your PH name is (as I suspect) just a tribute to the great man.
flemke said:
Flemke,I know it's a rare beast here in Europe,but ever driven the NSX type R?
I was specifically advised by Honda UK that it is insane to do a personal import of a Type-R. Their words were, "We implore you not to try it!"
It seems that it took them six months and a mass of hassles (such as having to install a different gearbox!) to get the one SVA'd.
Over the winter I had a good look at that UK one when it was offered for sale. With no disrespect to the owner, it looked very tired.
I thought that, at £100k, the vendor was also asking quite a lot - although the fact that it isn't advertised any longer seems to imply that he sold it for something not far off!
William
tcf said:That is not what happened.
Flemke,I know it's a rare beast here in Europe,but ever driven the NSX type R?
I was specifically advised by Honda UK that it is insane to do a personal import of a Type-R. Their words were, "We implore you not to try it!"
It seems that it took them six months and a mass of hassles (such as having to install a different gearbox!) to get the one SVA'd.
Over the winter I had a good look at that UK one when it was offered for sale. With no disrespect to the owner, it looked very tired.
I thought that, at £100k, the vendor was also asking quite a lot - although the fact that it isn't advertised any longer seems to imply that he sold it for something not far off!
William
Flemke, what do you think of replicas such as this one:
www.kitcar.ca/index.php?topic=6604.0
There was also a thread on here a while ago about a guy trying to sell an F1 replica on ebay. I got into a lot of trouble on this site as well telling the guy what I thought of his replica
www.kitcar.ca/index.php?topic=6604.0
There was also a thread on here a while ago about a guy trying to sell an F1 replica on ebay. I got into a lot of trouble on this site as well telling the guy what I thought of his replica
flemke said:
Second, as regards the NSX:
I don't know much about cars; I'm just another guy who enjoys driving whilst lacking any special insight into what's going on as I do so.
In the last few months I've driven a recent-model NSX maybe 2,000 kms, including a number of laps of the 'ring.
The NSX chassis is very poised, and is the best thing about the car. From my position of ignorance I would say that its handling all-round is as good as that of any car I have driven.
You always know where you are with the car. It follows instructions nicely and allows you to control it. Its transitions are gradual and predictable. I've done a lot of laps of the'ring, and at Schwedenkreuz, which is perhaps the circuit's trickiest high-speed bend, I came closer to the car's limits whilst retaining control over it (or at least it seemed!) than I've done in any other car.
I would say that the NSX's primary ride for some people is too harsh, although the secondary ride seems fine.
It could do with a quicker steering rack. (The F1's rack is about equally slow, although that can be justified, I suppose, because the F1 lacks PAS and needs enhanced stability in light of its high max speed. These things do not apply to the NSX, so I don't know why its rack isn't quicker.)
Because of the PAS, you don't get the most surface feedback from the steering, but for an assisted car it's not bad. At the same time, the weighting is nice and the quality of rotational feedback I found to be quite good.
The NSX's brakes aren't the best - they began to fade on my first lap at the 'ring - but they're okay for a road car. They are over-servo'ed, however.
As you say, the engine has a lot of character. It produces something like 85 bhp/litre, whereas current high-performance engines easily generate more than 100/litre. It's not a problem in the upper 2000 rpms, where it's lovely - again, for a road car. It must be said, however, that the NSX really would benefit from more low-to-mid-range torque.
As you say, the engine note is musical. It's entirely different from the F1's but perhaps equally appealing.
The gearbox and shift action is superb - as good as any out there. Unfortunately the clutch pedal bite point is too high, and the bite itself is surprisingly vague (in my experience, that is).
People will have their opinions on the aesthetics; I find them appealingly quirky and in many cases handsome. There are some really nice details such as the external door handles and the interior door handles and leather-trimmed spaces behind them.
One frequently hears the objection that the NSX interior is dated. What an inane comment. Monet's Waterlilies series is dated too - but it's good enough for me!
The interior functions well - excelllent visibility in all directions except rear quarter. The ergonomics of the steering wheel and gearshift are quite good. The instruments are all legible, although one regrets the lack of an external temperature indication.
I think you could make the argument that the NSX is the most satisfying all-round sports car. If you combined the best of it and the best of the McLaren, you would have an incredible machine.
Cheers.
That's one of the most informative "road" tests I've ever read, here or anywhere else. If you had the time, PetrolTed could do worse than to bring you on board as a reviewer. Now, if you could just do the same for the 355 vs the Tuscan 2, that would help me a lot
m1spw said:
Flemke, what do you think of replicas such as this one:
www.kitcar.ca/index.php?topic=6604.0
There was also a thread on here a while ago about a guy trying to sell an F1 replica on ebay. I got into a lot of trouble on this site as well telling the guy what I thought of his replica
Or how about this one. Not a true replica, more of a looky-likey, with MR2 running gear
More info on this one at www.ddrmotorsport.com
flemke said:
Flemke,I know it's a rare beast here in Europe,but ever driven the NSX type R?
I was specifically advised by Honda UK that it is insane to do a personal import of a Type-R. Their words were, "We implore you not to try it!"
It seems that it took them six months and a mass of hassles (such as having to install a different gearbox!) to get the one SVA'd.
Over the winter I had a good look at that UK one when it was offered for sale. With no disrespect to the owner, it looked very tired.
I thought that, at £100k, the vendor was also asking quite a lot - although the fact that it isn't advertised any longer seems to imply that he sold it for something not far off!
William
As far as I was aware it is still for sale at Chiswick Honda. Do you know differently Flemke?
Hovick said:I don't know this for a fact but I should think that the decision was driven by the larger market amongst LHD countries.
Can you clear something up for me, I've always wondered why did Gordon Murray decide to put the gearstick on the right hand side of the driver? I always thought that made the car a bit more "left hand drive."
Although there are scores of RHD countries, many of them are former British colonies that do not, or certainly fifteen years ago did not, have enough people with enough money to soak up many if any F1s. The UK, Japan, Australia, Brunei and maybe HK and Sing. would have been the main markets. Perhaps I'm overlooking somewhere, but that would be the essence of it.
The LHD candidates would have been Continental Europe, the Mideast and North America. There was obviously a lot more money spent on cars in countries of the second list than of the first.
Whatever the historical reasons for driving on the left hand side of the road, I think it's generally accepted that it is easier to shift gear with one's dominant hand, and obviously for most folks that is the right, so the right will tend to be a default choice.
Finally, I think that it is fair to say that, because most "supercars" have been either Continental European or American in origin, the RHD countries are more accustomed to adapting to LHD cars than vice versa.
The decision of which side for the gearshift would have had to be made early in the programme - I'd guess late '91. Apart from the interior layout, the orientation of the transaxle dictates the gearshift side, and that would have been resolved early on.
My guess is that it was only a considerable time after that that McL. learned definitively that the F1 would not be eligible for U.S. importation.
Perhaps if they had known from the beginning that there would be no U.S. cars, and that the final distribution would go disproportionately to UK, Japan and Brunei, they would have flipped things around.
I have never heard of a single owner complaint that the gearshift is on the right. If it had been on the left, for sure there would have been some complaints.
flemke said:
[quote=Hovick]
My guess is that it was only a considerable time after that that McL. learned definitively that the F1 would not be eligible for U.S. importation.
Perhaps if they had known from the beginning that there would be no U.S. cars, and that the final distribution would go disproportionately to UK, Japan and Brunei, they would have flipped things around.
Aha, I always thought mclaren had no intention of expanding their market into the US. Still though, since the car is British I would have liked to have seen mclaren stay faithful to us good ol brits and gives us a left hand shifter!
Another question, have you ever stalled it?
ilovevolvo said:
Hi flemke have you ever met gordon murray since or before owning your own car ?
Has your Mclaren people that work on your driven it now ? What did they think ?
Yes, I have met GM.
One fellow from the factory has driven it recently. I have not had the chance to discuss it with him but shall do so probably next week. He is not actually a test driver, although he has driven about 3/4 of all the F1s in existence.
After I'm done with everything I'll get together with some people from there and we'll do a back-to-back comparison.
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