Discussion
Dick Seaman said:
The Veyron Super Sport interior looks like a splendid place to be, but the 'SUPER SPORT' text on the centre console and the seats doesn't do it any favours. A car at that level shouldn't need to identify itself so conspicuously, even the font used is crass.
I think there are myriad examples of this on German cars particularly - I'm not sure why. The typeface used on the new S-Class is horrid, for instance. CraigyMc said:
Monty Python said:
CraigyMc said:
There's a threat on Jalopnik about it at the moment.
What's the threat?And I'm a potato.
Here's the threa
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
HereBeMonsters said:
flemke said:
I'm bound to agree with you about the Super Sport's interior. I was in one a couple of weeks ago and thought that it looked quite classy.
Saying that, whilst they were substantially improving the SS's interior, VW degraded how the car looks from the outside. The standard Veyron suffers from those stupid-looking aluminium air plenums on either side of the rear window, but the openness of the rear window and glass engine cover make the view from the rear both more open and more interesting.
On the SS, you have a much smaller view of the engine, and instead you are confronted with more square feet of body panels, which I think cheapens the look of the car.
Have you ever considered buying one? Either a "standard" or a SS?Saying that, whilst they were substantially improving the SS's interior, VW degraded how the car looks from the outside. The standard Veyron suffers from those stupid-looking aluminium air plenums on either side of the rear window, but the openness of the rear window and glass engine cover make the view from the rear both more open and more interesting.
On the SS, you have a much smaller view of the engine, and instead you are confronted with more square feet of body panels, which I think cheapens the look of the car.
The one aspect of the car that is truly to be respected is the build quality and engineering, which I daresay is to a higher standard than it is on any other (public road) motorcar. Militating against that is the car's bulk - Autocar this week said that, without a driver, they weighed a Super Sport at 1995kg. That is fat.
If they had built a car to the same level of quality, but with half the power and half the weight, one that cost the same as the Bug but had a more handsome exterior design, I would have been very interested. But that is not what they did.
One was not too impressed, however, with the Veyron programme's commitment to building a "maximum" of 300 cars, only for it to turn out that that maximum did not include the 150 cabriolets that they decided to tack on, not to mention the endless "special editions", each new one in worse taste than the previous.
A friend with a Super Sport says that what shows in the car is the ability of the mighty VW technical team, and that this is one of the car's USPs.
I'd accept that, but for the fact that the same ought to be said about, for example, the new GT3 - and yet the entire build run has been recalled because the engine is prone to catching on fire. For all the complaints about the out-of-the-box MP4-12C, I do not believe that one of them was self-induced flammability.
As can be seen in the image, and even better in real life, the Super Sport's interior is stunning: elegant and simple (and without, thank goodness, the silly engine-turned console fascia of the standard cars). It is probably the nicest interior that I have ever seen in a road car. The F1's is better only in its central driving position; as far as the quality and design of the individual interior bits, the Super Sport wins - no contest.
Kolbenkopp said:
Fully agree with the critics of recent Porsche interiors. The Kitsch and bling they felt was needed from the late 90es on really does not suit the cars (IMVHO). How ever well made the kit might be, it just looks cheap an fussy to me.
Sadly, the people behind this sort of stuff
have long gone into retirement, and the historic design ethos (functionality, longevity, 'humility' -- for lack of better words) ins't exactly what helps Zuffenhausen sell cars in the current market.
Hyper/Super cars aside, I'd find it much easier to dump my limited funds into a used Cayman if the interior was closer to this humble transaxle:
The interesting thing about the bottom image is that, although in two dimensions the different elements look dated and clunky, when one is sitting in the car it all works beautifully - something often neglected by designers (or marketers) of the current generation of cars.Sadly, the people behind this sort of stuff
have long gone into retirement, and the historic design ethos (functionality, longevity, 'humility' -- for lack of better words) ins't exactly what helps Zuffenhausen sell cars in the current market.
Hyper/Super cars aside, I'd find it much easier to dump my limited funds into a used Cayman if the interior was closer to this humble transaxle:
Flemke, I have to ask this question based on some of the other threads about the P1 - were you at all interested in the time the car set at the 'ring and if so did it have any influence on your decision to place an order? And one other if you don't mind - do purchasers get to know the time?
I guess I (like many others) am curious to know what the time is, but think I understand why McLaren haven't released it and respect their choice, whilst also having no doubt about the validity of their sub 7-minutes time despite any lack of specific proof.
I guess I (like many others) am curious to know what the time is, but think I understand why McLaren haven't released it and respect their choice, whilst also having no doubt about the validity of their sub 7-minutes time despite any lack of specific proof.
but they might be curious to know as we are tooandyps said:
Flemke, I have to ask this question based on some of the other threads about the P1 - were you at all interested in the time the car set at the 'ring and if so did it have any influence on your decision to place an order? And one other if you don't mind - do purchasers get to know the time?
I guess I (like many others) am curious to know what the time is, but think I understand why McLaren haven't released it and respect their choice, whilst also having no doubt about the validity of their sub 7-minutes time despite any lack of specific proof.
They don't confide to purchasers what the time was. If they did do, it would take less than that lap time for some childish gossipy purchaser (of whom I've no doubt there are many) to attempt to inflate his needy ego for a few moments (again, for less than that lap time) by posting it on the internet. I think this is one of those things which, if one has been confided in by an insider, it would be a breach of trust to reveal to the public, whilst, if one had only heard a tenuous rumour, one would be permitted to repeat it as a tenuous rumour. It is my impression that not many people at McLaren Automotive know what the precise time was.I guess I (like many others) am curious to know what the time is, but think I understand why McLaren haven't released it and respect their choice, whilst also having no doubt about the validity of their sub 7-minutes time despite any lack of specific proof.
The precise time had no effect on my decision. IIRC, the time was set after the order book was full, or at least nearly so.
You might say that the lap time as a general concept had an indirect effect on the purchasing decisions of some, in the sense that one knew that the car was bloody quick, and that could in theory be demonstrated by a 'Ring lap time.
flemke said:
They don't confide to purchasers what the time was. If they did do, it would take less than that lap time for some childish gossipy purchaser (of whom I've no doubt there are many) to attempt to inflate his needy ego for a few moments (again, for less than that lap time) by posting it on the internet. I think this is one of those things which, if one has been confided in by an insider, it would be a breach of trust to reveal to the public, whilst, if one had only heard a tenuous rumour, one would be permitted to repeat it as a tenuous rumour. It is my impression that not many people at McLaren Automotive know what the precise time was.
The precise time had no effect on my decision. IIRC, the time was set after the order book was full, or at least nearly so.
You might say that the lap time as a general concept had an indirect effect on the purchasing decisions of some, in the sense that one knew that the car was bloody quick, and that could in theory be demonstrated by a 'Ring lap time.
Hi Flemke The precise time had no effect on my decision. IIRC, the time was set after the order book was full, or at least nearly so.
You might say that the lap time as a general concept had an indirect effect on the purchasing decisions of some, in the sense that one knew that the car was bloody quick, and that could in theory be demonstrated by a 'Ring lap time.
Being a regular at the ring do you think you will try in your P1 ?
Russ
Paddy_N_Murphy said:
I have heard the time from, at the time, a customer with a car on order - now owner, who was told by high command / God of the of the Empire.
It knocks the 918 to Kingdom come.
I think this will be the P1's equivalent of the F1's top speed time which wasn't set / released for quite a long time after the car was released. When it was released it blew all others into the weeds of course.It knocks the 918 to Kingdom come.
Davey S2 said:
Paddy_N_Murphy said:
I have heard the time from, at the time, a customer with a car on order - now owner, who was told by high command / God of the of the Empire.
It knocks the 918 to Kingdom come.
I think this will be the P1's equivalent of the F1's top speed time which wasn't set / released for quite a long time after the car was released. When it was released it blew all others into the weeds of course.It knocks the 918 to Kingdom come.
"Firstly, thanks for a great weekend down in Monaco. I'm now on the train to Canary Wharf and then off to Basingstoke this afternoon (still living the dream)...
But much more importantly I got chatting to a mechanic last night that was supporting a few of the F1cars, but he also works at McLaren in their performance vehicles division working on the next three generations of the road cars. So I had to ask him why they won't publish details of their sub 7 min lap time for the P1. And the answer is because they can't get their road tyres to last a whole lap because the torque rips them apart on the exit of corners. As you know they have to use the standard road tyres for the time to count. So now you know!"
This is fascinating...and prompts many questions!
roygarth said:
A friend and I were at Nice airport last night on way back from Monaco Classic. He was at Terminal 1, me at 2. This is email he sent me this morning:
"Firstly, thanks for a great weekend down in Monaco. I'm now on the train to Canary Wharf and then off to Basingstoke this afternoon (still living the dream)...
But much more importantly I got chatting to a mechanic last night that was supporting a few of the F1cars, but he also works at McLaren in their performance vehicles division working on the next three generations of the road cars. So I had to ask him why they won't publish details of their sub 7 min lap time for the P1. And the answer is because they can't get their road tyres to last a whole lap because the torque rips them apart on the exit of corners. As you know they have to use the standard road tyres for the time to count. So now you know!"
This is fascinating...and prompts many questions!
Interesting comment but not something that had been raised before. However, on the basis that Chris Harris (and others) were able to do a large number of laps when driving the P1 in Bahrain(?) I am not sure that I believe that - pretty sure that there would have been a comment about tyre wear in one of the drive reports or the Autocar test last week."Firstly, thanks for a great weekend down in Monaco. I'm now on the train to Canary Wharf and then off to Basingstoke this afternoon (still living the dream)...
But much more importantly I got chatting to a mechanic last night that was supporting a few of the F1cars, but he also works at McLaren in their performance vehicles division working on the next three generations of the road cars. So I had to ask him why they won't publish details of their sub 7 min lap time for the P1. And the answer is because they can't get their road tyres to last a whole lap because the torque rips them apart on the exit of corners. As you know they have to use the standard road tyres for the time to count. So now you know!"
This is fascinating...and prompts many questions!
I wonder about that. Would be quite surprised if the torque was wrecking the tyres but there is little doubt IMO that the corsas as delivered on the cars currently are not going to be able to hold up to any kind of lap time that is considerably faster than the 918 as Mclaren have been hinting/leaking. The Cup2 is almost certainly better by a good bit on track than a corsa tyre and the 918's tyres were pretty much shot at the end of Lieb's lap.
Trofeo R's are due to be certified for the P1 shortly though from what I understand and my own somewhat crackpot theory is that this is partially why Mclaren have not allowed any sort of lap times to be declared on any track (whether by the factory or magazines) as they want to have the 'fastest' tyre to be officially available first.
Trofeo R's are due to be certified for the P1 shortly though from what I understand and my own somewhat crackpot theory is that this is partially why Mclaren have not allowed any sort of lap times to be declared on any track (whether by the factory or magazines) as they want to have the 'fastest' tyre to be officially available first.
isaldiri said:
Trofeo R's are due to be certified for the P1 shortly though from what I understand and my own somewhat crackpot theory is that this is partially why Mclaren have not allowed any sort of lap times to be declared on any track (whether by the factory or magazines) as they want to have the 'fastest' tyre to be officially available first.
That's very interesting.Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff