PH in Dubai - Ferrari vs McLaren
458 Challenge and 12C Sprint compared, via an invitation from Dragon Racing; Dale suits up
Rivalry casts a long shadow ... well, wing does
Namely, to drive comparable examples of McLaren and Ferrari's customer racing products. The McLaren 12C Sprint and Ferrari 458 Challenge. Back to back. On the Dubai Autodrome GP circuit.
Sand is like water
Standing in the blazing November sun of Dubai Autodrome, I'm all suited and booted and we're going to start with my baseline, the McLaren 12C Sprint. I ask for some passenger laps first - just something to bridge the gap from simulator laps at home to the real thing.
Not a bad way to get your eye in at a new track
"Just treat it like a dry line, with damp patches off-line," explains Dragon's director of racing and coaching, Rob Barff. "It's no different to a wet morning start at any race track. The sand is almost identical to water as it's just an interface between your tyres and the road. It's just harder to see."
With those words in my head, it's time for my first laps.
As liveries go this is a pretty cool one
Like most of the car, the McLaren's cockpit is pretty much visually identical to the 650S Sprint and all carbon fibre and brushed aluminium. Turbos spool, the V8 hollers, and we're propelled out on to the circuit, a grin already spreading across my face.
Lap by lap the McLaren shows me the way around Dubai's curves and crests. It's not a flat track but, like the 650S I drove previously, this Sprint has a habit of making things feel easy. That ability to put down 625 horsepower without drama remains astonishing. Earlier and earlier on the gas and the only response is a little smudge of understeer. It's only when we run wide enough to touch the sandiest of areas that the 12C truly starts to misbehave.
Let me quantify that. I'm not talking about armfuls of lock, like an Audi TT on remoulds. I'm just saying that the first axle to lose traction is the front. That's it. And from our race at Donington I know raising the rear ride-height can eliminate this, albeit at the cost of some stability.
12C is immediately exploitable ... and fast
What's next Leon?
The Godfather
The 458 Challenge is the go-to car for the gentleman racer. Ferrari has a strong history in 'customer' racing cars, going back to the 355 Challenge. The format is constant and one followed by both McLaren and Lamborghini with their own customer race spec supercars; keep the best, most reliable bits of the road car, then add all the little bits you need to go racing. And this 458 has the 2014 EVO pack fitted too. Every year, every iteration, these cars get faster and sexier. The selling point of the original 458 Challenge was that it was only tenths of a second slower than an FXX around Fiorano. Now, with the EVO pack, I'm willing to bet it's faster.
Ferrari counters with a more focused set-up
Paddles are fixed to the wheel on the Sprint. The Italians prefer them fixed to the column. Buttons on the wheel? No way for McLaren, it keeps everything on the dash. Ferrari? It loves 'em. No wrong answers, no right answers. Personally I'd pick and mix from both approaches. I like shift paddles on the wheel, but I also like my traction control on there too.
This polarisation of design continues under the skin too.
On paper, the 458 is underpowered against the turbocharged McLaren. Not only is it lacking that massive wallop of mid-range torque, but it's 'only' making 570hp too. So imagine my surprise when that razor-sharp naturally-aspirated V8 pins me into the seat and winds the speedo a couple of mph past the McLaren at the end of each straight.
Time to crunch some data
If I had the spare mental capacity to be shocked, I would be. But the 458 is a bit of a Challenge (see what I did there?). The quick steering rack and razor-sharp geometry feel tangibly more direct than that McLaren. The front tyres find grip where the McLaren doesn't, though by contrast the rears seem to struggle. Nowhere is that more apparent than the excitingly-named Turn 13.
It's a flat-out left-hander shifting from fifth to sixth. Immediately followed by a massive braking zone.
Both cars go into it full-gas, but where the McLaren bleeds speed and energy simply by turning into it, the seemingly stiffer 458 holds the speed better. And where the 12C feels as steady as a rock, even if you accidently lift off while still completing the previous turn, the Ferrari is a little more aggressive.
It's not a wet November at Silverstone is it?
To boil it down a little more, the Ferrari makes the McLaren feel like it has skinnier front tyres when in reality they run identically sized rubber. Deliberate edginess to cool the boots of less experienced drivers? Maybe.
Compare and contrast
Lunch offers a chance to ponder a morning spent in these two seemingly similar but actually quite different cars. Both hailing from manufacturers with formidable racing heritage and expertise and yet each using different technology, be that the McLaren's carbon fibre monocoque and turbos or Ferrari's seemingly more old-school aluminium space frame and revvy normally aspirated engine.
Close call but it's Italy's day this time round
So here it comes. Like an iceberg on the horizon, the tumbling half-brick falling off the lorry in front of you. The verdict. And, though I just want to be friends with everybody, I've got to call it one way or the other. And the Ferrari edges it.
Would the answer be the same for the lighter, wide-bodied GT3 versions of each car? There may yet be a follow-up to this story...
Ferrari 458 Challenge onboard video lap
FERRARI 458 CHALLENGE EVO
Engine: 4,499cc V8
Transmission: 7-speed dual-clutch auto, rear-wheel drive
Power (hp): 570@9,000rpm
Torque (lb ft): 398@6,000rpm
0-62mph: under 3 seconds (claimed)
Top speed: unknown
Weight: 1,277kg (dry)
MPG: n/a
CO2: n/a
Price: circa £200,000
Manufacturer info
McLaren 12C Sprint onboard video lap
MCLAREN 12C SPRINT
Engine: 3,799cc V8, twin-turbo
Transmission: 7-speed dual-clutch auto (SSG), rear-wheel drive
Power (hp): 650@7,500rpm
Torque (lb ft): 500@6,000rpm
0-62mph: under 3 seconds (claimed)
Top speed: 207mph (claimed)
Weight: circa 1,300kg (claimed)
MPG: n/a
CO2: n/a
Price: from £198,860
Manufacturer info
PH in Dubai:
The track day
Dune bashing
The Dream Drive
Pic Of The Week
The GT3 showdown
Thanks to Dragon Racing; Photos: David Benson
I thought it sounded better than the Ferrari, which to me sounded like a VTEC Honda Type R with an aftermarket air filter. Not a bad thing in its own right, just unexpected. 
PH is a business and the articles make up part of the deliverables. If the stories are of poor quality then everyone (I.e. PH and the readers) loses out.
Think you need longer in the car(s) though
......... I propose an extended test drive in the Dubai 24hr race, same cars same track on 9/10th Jan !! ..... get your flight booked.
PH is a business and the articles make up part of the deliverables. If the stories are of poor quality then everyone (I.e. PH and the readers) loses out.
PH is a business and the articles make up part of the deliverables. If the stories are of poor quality then everyone (I.e. PH and the readers) loses out.
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