Discussion
Ken Figenus said:
Paul - how do you find the road noise (on Pirellis)? I'm finding my right ear a bit hammered by road noise and wondered if it is std or maybe I have some poor seals or something? My feeling is that this is how they are on Pirellis but it is not very GT like at 80 on some surfaces. Other than that of course love it but definitely far far road noisier noisier than my Rapide or Taycan.
I switched to Continental SC7 from the Pirelli and noticed an absolutely enormous reduction in tyre-related road noise. Despite the internal foam etc etc they are a very very noisy tyre.
Paulsd said:
Not sure what tyres to go for when the Pirelli’s are done. Was thinking about PS4S.
I'm v happy with the PS4S on my 570GT, work well even in cold and wet weather and seem to have plenty of grip. I think they'd limit the car on track, but for mainly road use in the UK they're really good.Just thought I’d come back with an update on my experience which has been largely great but took a significant turn for the worse on Friday…
We were travelling to Antibes via Eurotunnel. Got to the first booth just before security and had more errors pop up than I’ve ever seen on a car. Parking brake, transmisssion, dampers, TPMS, limp home, plus others (13 messages according to display).
Stopped engine and restarted OK but it wouldn’t go into gear. Ended up with Eurotunnel recovery who tried disconnecting battery twice plus a few other things so went to McLaren assistance who sent two guys out (no prestige techs available unfortunately).
Couldn’t get the car to move at all - either in gear or brake stuck on.
Second AA guy stuck with it but said he wasn’t allowed to use skates as they wouldn’t fit so called for a HIAB which was proving hard to find so it might have to wait until the next day!
By this time the battery had completely died, locking our luggage and passports in the car. It did have the semi-happy consequence of releasing the brake so he could then load it.
Dropped us back at home and took the car to Sevenoaks where David, the genius tech there got it open and retrieved our luggage.
It was a bit sketchy on that hill with no parking brake so they were using blocks of wood to stop it rolling away!
So, we did the sensible thing and left them to it
.
Jumped on a hastily booked flight to Nice, hired a car and we’re now on holiday!
Will hopefully get an update tomorrow.
I suppose it could have been much worse - dying on the train or on a French autoroute!
We were travelling to Antibes via Eurotunnel. Got to the first booth just before security and had more errors pop up than I’ve ever seen on a car. Parking brake, transmisssion, dampers, TPMS, limp home, plus others (13 messages according to display).
Stopped engine and restarted OK but it wouldn’t go into gear. Ended up with Eurotunnel recovery who tried disconnecting battery twice plus a few other things so went to McLaren assistance who sent two guys out (no prestige techs available unfortunately).
Couldn’t get the car to move at all - either in gear or brake stuck on.
Second AA guy stuck with it but said he wasn’t allowed to use skates as they wouldn’t fit so called for a HIAB which was proving hard to find so it might have to wait until the next day!
By this time the battery had completely died, locking our luggage and passports in the car. It did have the semi-happy consequence of releasing the brake so he could then load it.
Dropped us back at home and took the car to Sevenoaks where David, the genius tech there got it open and retrieved our luggage.
It was a bit sketchy on that hill with no parking brake so they were using blocks of wood to stop it rolling away!
So, we did the sensible thing and left them to it
.Jumped on a hastily booked flight to Nice, hired a car and we’re now on holiday!
Will hopefully get an update tomorrow.
I suppose it could have been much worse - dying on the train or on a French autoroute!
Edited by Paulsd on Sunday 22 October 22:11
Edited by Paulsd on Sunday 22 October 22:12
How awful for you but like your spirit! Had just that in Gaydon, on a pilgrimage with the Aston - went home on a flat bed! Dodgy con block...
In the old days id have said 'bad earth' too but having seen the amount of earth connections on the loom in Mat Armstrong's 720S rebuild its unlikely.
Had a great Mid Wales blast with mine and some other rapid machinery and was stunned how well it performed - we definitely bonded! A 911 was losing grip but this was so planted and confidence inspiring throughout - even on the disliked Pirellis. It was superb.
Hope you get yours sorted quickly and first time.
In the old days id have said 'bad earth' too but having seen the amount of earth connections on the loom in Mat Armstrong's 720S rebuild its unlikely.
Had a great Mid Wales blast with mine and some other rapid machinery and was stunned how well it performed - we definitely bonded! A 911 was losing grip but this was so planted and confidence inspiring throughout - even on the disliked Pirellis. It was superb.
Hope you get yours sorted quickly and first time.
Ken Figenus said:
How awful for you but like your spirit! Had just that in Gaydon, on a pilgrimage with the Aston - went home on a flat bed! Dodgy con block...
In the old days id have said 'bad earth' too but having seen the amount of earth connections on the loom in Mat Armstrong's 720S rebuild its unlikely.
Had a great Mid Wales blast with mine and some other rapid machinery and was stunned how well it performed - we definitely bonded! A 911 was losing grip but this was so planted and confidence inspiring throughout - even on the disliked Pirellis. It was superb.
Hope you get yours sorted quickly and first time.
Lovely looking car!In the old days id have said 'bad earth' too but having seen the amount of earth connections on the loom in Mat Armstrong's 720S rebuild its unlikely.
Had a great Mid Wales blast with mine and some other rapid machinery and was stunned how well it performed - we definitely bonded! A 911 was losing grip but this was so planted and confidence inspiring throughout - even on the disliked Pirellis. It was superb.
Hope you get yours sorted quickly and first time.
Just as an update, I got the car back on Tuesday afternoon. It turned out that two fuses had been swapped round - Tracker (3 amp) and one for a control module (7 amp) that tells various other modules to power up (Parking brake, TPMS, Transmission, etc) which explains it all.
A very annoying fault that shouldn't have happened but it least it wasn't some dodgy software fault.
The holiday - we had a great time and the travel insurance covered all the additional costs - flights, hotel, airport parking, car hire
In hindsight, I think it the McLaren would have been a bit of a pain with the car parks and narrow streets we needed to navigate. Would have been nice to get photos outside the casino in Monaco but we've got a good excuse to go back!
Edited by Paulsd on Thursday 9th November 14:47
Hi, thinking of going for one too! But some trepidation, given all the negative reliability stories, especially with the older cars. Just wondering what the servicing costs are like and costs to extend the warranty after the 12 month period. Also it won't be a daily, used maybe once a week and in spring/summer perhaps twice a week with some long runs up to Northumberland from Hertfordshire - does it need to be kept on a trickle charger, or can the battery cope with this usage? Thanks
Edited by peter777s on Friday 10th November 14:45
Thanks for posting back. Really sorry it messed up your holiday, although in principle anything can be made unreliable by fitting the wrong fuse. I wonder if some freelance monkey was commissioned to fit a tracker to the car, and that was when the mistake was made?
The reason people talk about it as a problem is (a) being supercars, they're more likely to sit unused for a few months eg in the bleak midwinter and (b) if you do manage to actually kill the battery by leaving it drained, it's £3k for a replacement, so the stakes are higher. But it's not the case that they're particularly bad at being left for normal amounts of time between drives.
If I were you'd I'd look to skip the extended warranty and have V Engineering in Thatcham look after the car, they'll most likely keep it fit and healthy for less than the ~£3k/year that McLaren will charge for the warranty alone.
peter777s said:
Hi, thinking of going for one too! But some trepidation, given all the negative reliability stories, especially with the older cars. Just wondering what the servicing costs are like and costs to extend the warranty after the 12 month period. Also it won't be a daily, used maybe once a week and in spring/summer perhaps twice a week with some long runs up to Northumberland from Hertfordshire - does it need to be kept on a trickle charger, or can the battery cope with this usage? Thanks
Weekly use is fine, IME McLarens will stand at least 3 weeks unused without an issue.The reason people talk about it as a problem is (a) being supercars, they're more likely to sit unused for a few months eg in the bleak midwinter and (b) if you do manage to actually kill the battery by leaving it drained, it's £3k for a replacement, so the stakes are higher. But it's not the case that they're particularly bad at being left for normal amounts of time between drives.
If I were you'd I'd look to skip the extended warranty and have V Engineering in Thatcham look after the car, they'll most likely keep it fit and healthy for less than the ~£3k/year that McLaren will charge for the warranty alone.
peter777s said:
Hi, thinking of going for one too! But some trepidation, given all the negative reliability stories, especially with the older cars. Just wondering what the servicing costs are like and costs to extend the warranty after the 12 month period. Also it won't be a daily, used maybe once a week and in spring/summer perhaps twice a week with some long runs up to Northumberland from Hertfordshire - does it need to be kept on a trickle charger, or can the battery cope with this usage? Thanks
The more you drive it, the better it will be. I had some initial trouble in no small part because it had been standing around for a while before I bought it. 20,000 miles later and I had barely any trouble with it at all. I have had more issues with my BMW M cars over similar mileage... One time I had a low pressure fuel pump (the one in the petrol tank) fail which was very inconvenient at the time but that was it.They are more reliable than the Internet would have you believe and at least as reliable as other marques, just not as good at those issues being forgiven by the public at large vs Ferrari, Lamborghini etc etc.
Familymad said:
Any updates from GT owners welcomed. Looking hard at a new or lightly used one.
Since the slight mishap in October, everything has been fine aside from a wierd issue where the driver's side climate control only blew hot. Passenger side was working fine. It resolved itself after a week!I've got it booked in for it's first service (under my ownership) and first MOT in a couple of weeks - just before the manufacturer warranty expires. There's still 3 months extended warranty to go after that. Cost doesn't seem too bad.
Only small issue is that the Sevenoaks satellite service centre has now closed so Ascot are trailering it for a discount as I moaned about the lack of comms on the Sevenoaks closure.
Still love (maybe a little embarassed
) at the attention it gets. We went to London a couple of weeks ago and drove through Trafalgar Square and Picadilly Circus at 4pm and had quite a few people taking photos while we were stopped at traffic lights.Familymad said:
Any updates from GT owners welcomed. Looking hard at a new or lightly used one.
I've had mine for 18 months, no issues at all, very easy to live with, yet brutally fast when you dial things up, a real Jekyll & Hyde machine. McLondon/Ascot seem to do well with them, always a good range in stock. Had mine since Aug 2023. Car is seismic and so stunning. Can't recommend it enough. It is is far more supercar than GT mind - it's a bit of a misnomer for the car! But if you get it you get it (unlike most EVERY journo) as its just very slightly dialled back from the harder core models in the range - which suits me perfectly as I don't want a Bentley GT type proper GT that is nowhere near it in chassis dynamics.
Had one issue - ESC fault limp home yesterday (although there was no limping...) but a mate said give it 10" before you start it so as all the ECU's have time for a chat and it then cleared.
Do it.
Had one issue - ESC fault limp home yesterday (although there was no limping...) but a mate said give it 10" before you start it so as all the ECU's have time for a chat and it then cleared.
Do it.
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