Discussion
_tc said:
Stumbled across this today. i think its the first i have seen in the flesh. had a sit in it too. very special.
Myself and a good friend made a 5 hour round trip to the same garage this morning, with me taking about 195 pics and my friend a few less but also of others in the showroom - we both found the sales people very accomodating but asked us not to post pics on the 'net.
Edited by hurstg01 on Saturday 14th April 21:48
Edited by hurstg01 on Sunday 15th April 07:14
identti said:
Wow! And you got to sit in it too. Did the central driving position feel weird?
The position felt so right. not weird at all. its so small that you can see all around the front of the car. I dont wish to belittle the cars at all but it felt just like my S2 Exige when in the drivers position...Perfect.
The side seats felt a bit cramped and i wouldnt like to be shifting in one in those seats. Im sure it would be fine but i would rather be in the middle (like most people).
_tc said:
identti said:
Wow! And you got to sit in it too. Did the central driving position feel weird?
The position felt so right. not weird at all. its so small that you can see all around the front of the car. I dont wish to belittle the cars at all but it felt just like my S2 Exige when in the drivers position...Perfect.
The side seats felt a bit cramped and i wouldnt like to be shifting in one in those seats. Im sure it would be fine but i would rather be in the middle (like most people).
I don't have a 'recaro' arse so found the seats 'close round the bum'. The passenger seat was surprisingly comfy, seeing as the material is only like 3mm thick;, the driving seat was quite close to perfect position for me, though the pedals were a tad too far away but the sterring wheel was spot on perfect.
Church of Noise said:
Flemke,
What's the story behind the second picture?
I'm quite sure it'll be a McLaren as well (I guess M6 or M8, but my knowledge of these cars is rather limited I'm afraid).
Thanks for the great information, stories & pictures you've already shared!
Alex
What's the story behind the second picture?
I'm quite sure it'll be a McLaren as well (I guess M6 or M8, but my knowledge of these cars is rather limited I'm afraid).
Thanks for the great information, stories & pictures you've already shared!
Alex
Alex,
Actually, it's not a McLaren, it's a "Murray", so to speak.
It's the first race car that Gordon Murray designed as a professional. He designed it in late '71-'72 at night whilst he was working at Brabham during the day at a junior draughtsman. It is known as the "Duckham's Special".
He designed it for the "Ecurie Evergreen" team run by Alain de Cadenet. The car's first race was '72 Le Mans, where it was driven by de Cad and Chris Craft. With less than two hours left in the race, Chris had just gone into 4th place when a sudden torrential rainstorm (with car still on slicks) caused him to aquaplane off and into a barrier. He got the car into the pits and they made repairs, but the marshalls refused to let him back onto the track for "safety reasons" (earlier in the race Jo Bonnier had been killed, so they were understandably cautious). They allowed the car back onto the circuit for the ultimate lap, so that it could be classed as a finisher, in 12th, despite having missed 90 minutes of racing.
For this race the car was sponsored by Duckham's Oils. It was a very light and efficient design, and it had a DFV. It was the first car to complete an endurance race with a DFV, which obviously was designed for short races.
They went back to Le Mans in '73 but had aero problems (at this point, Gordon was no longer involved with the project.)
They returned to Le Mans in '74. De Cad couldn't drive, so Chris teamed with John Nicholson. They were running 3rd during the night when either a hub or bearing failed, owing to their being forced to use a different brand of tyre for the race.
RobDickinson said:
haggle said:
i know everyone says the breaks on the F1 are bad but in what perspective generaly bad or bad for something that is a rocket ship on wheels ? and surely there have been some upgrades for this i know that owners of such cars like to keep the stock but surely some carbon cermaics would be nice
I doubt the breaks are all that bad but relative to more modern supercars arnt that good? Flemke has stated a few times that any break upgrade cant use fancy materials (carbon/ceramic) without the addition of brake servo's which he's not willing to install.
To add to what Rob's saying:
Part of the brake issue came from the fact that you need a system that will work properly when stone-cold, but also after repeated high-speed stops.
Another issue is that the brakes are not assisted. Pads that are hard enough to last through several big stops have difficulty generating the heat to stop you when they're cold. You can get around this by adding force, but that requires either a huge right thigh or a servo.
Carbon/ceramic composites have this same problem and require a servo.
Everything on the car was designed to be as light as possible, including the brake calipers. They're aluminium and were, IIRC, the first example of a monobloc ally caliper on a road car. Technology moves on.
elster said:
Spare Parts
Now the F1 is a few years old, what is it like to get spare parts for whenever anything is needed?
Do McLaren have a large stock? or do most owners get custom replacements?
Now the F1 is a few years old, what is it like to get spare parts for whenever anything is needed?
Do McLaren have a large stock? or do most owners get custom replacements?
McLaren are great in having everything either available in inventory or accessible.
As most of the cars don't get driven that much, they don't need a lot of anything apart from the consumables.
In general, you can get from them whatever you need.
ilovevolvo said:
Hi Flemke have you ever done any racing or been in a racing team i wondered if you had gained any of you knowledge from being in the racing world ?
Russ
Russ
Have done a modest amount of racing.
Through that I've learned a bit that has helped my driving, and very little regarding technology.
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