MP4-12C photos and review/comparison
Discussion
GFWilliams said:
sjr-997 said:
Anyone heard the rumour circulating that maclaren are about to recall, as the rear window is breaking at over 120 due to cabin pressure suddenly changing when either window is dropped down ?
I believe that has already been recalledclorenzen said:
I really wanted to like this car but it goes from bad to worse. I hope that customer services are up to the task because i would be fuming. Electrical gremlins are quite ok but cars that leave you stranded and where rear windows blow out should not be released.
It's not as if it's 100% going to blow the rear window out if you put the side windows down, a bit like it wasn't 100% that a 458 was going to set on fire...GFWilliams said:
clorenzen said:
I really wanted to like this car but it goes from bad to worse. I hope that customer services are up to the task because i would be fuming. Electrical gremlins are quite ok but cars that leave you stranded and where rear windows blow out should not be released.
It's not as if it's 100% going to blow the rear window out if you put the side windows down, a bit like it wasn't 100% that a 458 was going to set on fire...MoBeanz said:
There's a bulkhead between the cabin & the glass engine cover so how would cabin presure affect that? Do they mean the little window in the middle?
Yes,the middle window,no customer cars were effected,it happened on a test vehicle and the window securing system was modified before any customers got there hands on the carANDYCLAX said:
Yes,the middle window,no customer cars were effected,it happened on a test vehicle and the window securing system was modified before any customers got there hands on the car
More bad publicity for Mclaren though, something they could do without right now. I'm constantly amazed every time I come onto this forum, it seems like there's new problems every day. Is it just me who thinks Mclaren are firefighting niggles and problems on cars that - if I'm being frank - still appear to be pre-production models rather than the finished article? They should be basking in the glow of a successful car launch of a game-changing supercar, not slinging out signed photos of F1 drivers and thinking up workaround solutions to whatever new problems that crop up. I think this may have been remarked on previously, but it's almost as if Mclaren are using their very first (and therefore keenest / most likely to be forgiving?) customers as some sort of very risky real-world beta testers for the car. I don't want to seem naive or negative, but if I'd shelled out £200k+ on an MP4-12C, and given Mclaren's insanely hubristic pre-release claims to world domination, I'd be astonished if told there's a chance a window might fall off at speed, or the doors don't work etc! But I still believe in the car, and if I'd the means, I'd be very interested in owning an MP4-12C. GFWilliams's latest batch of great photos also demonstrate that, given the right paint tone, lighting and photographer, the car can look as good as a 458. Hopefully in 6-12 months time, threads like this will be a distant memory...
BelfastBoy said:
ANDYCLAX said:
Yes,the middle window,no customer cars were effected,it happened on a test vehicle and the window securing system was modified before any customers got there hands on the car
More bad publicity for Mclaren though, something they could do without right now. I'm constantly amazed every time I come onto this forum, it seems like there's new problems every day. Is it just me who thinks Mclaren are firefighting niggles and problems on cars that - if I'm being frank - still appear to be pre-production models rather than the finished article? They should be basking in the glow of a successful car launch of a game-changing supercar, not slinging out signed photos of F1 drivers and thinking up workaround solutions to whatever new problems that crop up. I think this may have been remarked on previously, but it's almost as if Mclaren are using their very first (and therefore keenest / most likely to be forgiving?) customers as some sort of very risky real-world beta testers for the car. I don't want to seem naive or negative, but if I'd shelled out £200k+ on an MP4-12C, and given Mclaren's insanely hubristic pre-release claims to world domination, I'd be astonished if told there's a chance a window might fall off at speed, or the doors don't work etc! But I still believe in the car, and if I'd the means, I'd be very interested in owning an MP4-12C. GFWilliams's latest batch of great photos also demonstrate that, given the right paint tone, lighting and photographer, the car can look as good as a 458. Hopefully in 6-12 months time, threads like this will be a distant memory...
GFWilliams said:
Very true 
If it was a TVR they'd call it character
Dare I say it feels like you guys bought into a very expensive kit car.If it was a TVR they'd call it character
When the GTO came out, I don't remember reading/hearing about the car falling apart like this - yet very tre they experienced millions of daily commute miles w/ the 599s
BelfastBoy said:
More bad publicity for Mclaren though, something they could do without right now. I'm constantly amazed every time I come onto this forum, it seems like there's new problems every day. Is it just me who thinks Mclaren are firefighting niggles and problems on cars that - if I'm being frank - still appear to be pre-production models rather than the finished article?
To be honest I think people were naive to think this car was going to be faultless from the start. They are creating a whole new car company. They’ve created virtually every component from scratch; nothing has been carried over from other models or borrowed from other car manufactures.It really is quite incredible, I can think of the last time this happened but I don’t think it has happened for a very long time.
Although I may feel differently if I’d spent £250k.
jontysafe said:
Belfastboy, it`s like you didn`t even read the post above yours. If something goes wrong in testing, and it put right before release how is that bad publicity? Isn`t that what testing is for????
Of course I read the previous post, I even quoted it! The point is that, rightly or wrongly, mud seems to be sticking right now where the MP4-12C is concerned. If anything goes wrong in testing, I'd suggest that something like the potential 'window falling out' problem should never even become public knowledge. In some ways its irrelevant that the problem was apparently rectified in advance, the point is that rumour and whispers will simply add another problem to the current list. How many 458s actually went on fire? A tiny handful, but no matter how good that car is, it'll always be remembered for that reason!Of course Mclaren have taken on a very ambitious task in designing and mnaufacturing a car themselves, but they have made road cars before in one form or another so while it may be their first attempt at a mass-production supercar, they're not starting totally from scratch. I have to keep coming back to Mclaren's own pre-release hype which was - IMO - sailing a bit too close to smug arrogance - based on their own promises and the ill-advised hyperbole from the likes of Autocar, the MP4-12C SHOULD be perfect, should be better than anything else. Who can honestly say that it is at present? In time I hope that it will be remembered as a great car, let me make that clear.
You're the one making a mountain out of these issues. All new, low volume cars have teething problems, and they're generally a result of changes between what the pre-production and production cars are made from. It's worse with a new car as you have so many new suppliers to deal with.
The critical thing is not the issues themselves but how McLaren deal with them.
The critical thing is not the issues themselves but how McLaren deal with them.
ANDYCLAX said:
Yes,the middle window,no customer cars were effected,it happened on a test vehicle and the window securing system was modified before any customers got there hands on the car
That's not true Andy. my car was delivered on 17th August. I was out of the country so didn't collect the car until 2nd September. The replacement screen was fitted between the 17th and the 2nd. Had I been in the country to take delivery, my car would have been recalled to have a new window fitted. Mine was the third in the country from that dealer so I have to assume that at the very least, the two before me had their cars recalled.911Thrasher said:
Dare I say it feels like you guys bought into a very expensive kit car.
When the GTO came out, I don't remember reading/hearing about the car falling apart like this - yet very tre they experienced millions of daily commute miles w/ the 599s
Don't agree with the kit car comment at all. It's build quality is very very high and it feels like a proper product. Doesn't feel like a kit car at all.When the GTO came out, I don't remember reading/hearing about the car falling apart like this - yet very tre they experienced millions of daily commute miles w/ the 599s
Frik said:
You're the one making a mountain out of these issues. All new, low volume cars have teething problems, and they're generally a result of changes between what the pre-production and production cars are made from. It's worse with a new car as you have so many new suppliers to deal with.
Whilst I agree some of that may well be true - and I can imagine just how difficult getting going must have been - my gut reaction is that it isn't a low volume car. 1,000 units were originally proposed to be built this year. It's also part of a 12-year offensive of new models to compete with established brands. 'Low volume' has the kind of kit car connotations they wanted to stay away from. When it was originally launched they said it would be revolutionary, exceed the standards of every other manufacturer and that they already had significant experience of road cars and dealing with customers. Unfortunately along the way they have made changes from the car they originally wanted to launch due to consultations with customers, had various production issues and recall problems of what many would think of as being basic issues, and have annoyed a fair few customers who let's not forget are shelling out £170k+.
If you promise the Earth you need to deliver it.
Lambo FirstBlood said:
ANDYCLAX said:
Yes,the middle window,no customer cars were effected,it happened on a test vehicle and the window securing system was modified before any customers got there hands on the car
That's not true Andy. my car was delivered on 17th August. I was out of the country so didn't collect the car until 2nd September. The replacement screen was fitted between the 17th and the 2nd. Had I been in the country to take delivery, my car would have been recalled to have a new window fitted. Mine was the third in the country from that dealer so I have to assume that at the very least, the two before me had their cars recalled.This is not a dig at other manufacturers,it small volume production and problems happen,its how they are delt with that makes the difference,im more interested in the 98% that is world beating tecnology rather than the 2% that they have got wrong,but that is the British way wether it is a public or press attitude.And they will get it right,it just takes time
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