When McLaren offered to answer questions about its new 12C from PHers, unsurprisingly we got a flood of suggestions via the forum.
In order to make the situation a little more manageable, we got the PH HQ censorship... er, editing pencil out, and fiddled around until we'd arrived at a list that fairly and accurately reflected the thoughts of as many PHers as possible. (Which is our way of saying sorry if your question wasn't included, but thanks for taking part and we hope you understand!)
More importantly we'd like to pass on a big vote of thanks to the trio of experts from McLaren Automotive who took time out to provide these answers. In spite of being quite busy launching a brand new supercar.
The trio of McLaren Automotive experts are:
Paul Burnham - Vehicle Dynamics Manager
Richard Farquhar - Function Group Manager, Powertrain
Neil Patterson - Chief Designer
Read on for PHQs (&As)...
Paul Burnham - Vehicle Dynamics
Q1. How many different settings are there for the traction control?
PB: There are different settings for 'Normal', 'Sport', 'Track' and 'Off' modes.
Q2. How many different settings are there to adjust the suspension (from soft to hard)? Is the suspension itself adjustable? e.g. ride height, camber, rear toe etc..?
PB: There are 3 main suspension settings:
'Normal' - the most comfortable setting
'Sport' - the best compromise between ride and handling for road use
'Track' - the best settings for optimum track performance
Q3. Are these two on separate controls (so, for example, you can keep full soft suspension while ordering the TC to intervene less)? Or are they linked on the same control like they are on my Ferrari, which is really, really annoying?
PB: Suspension stiffness (roll stiffness and damping) are controlled by the 'Handling' switch along with traction control and stability control settings. There is another 'Powertrain' switch which controls gearbox and engine settings.
Q4. Was the forced-induction born out of regulatory necessity or packaging?
Given the inherent advantages of naturally-aspirated engines (throttle response, high-revving, linear power delivery), how happy is McLaren with the compromise? Or do you not think that it is a compromise?
RF: The all new 12C engine and it's control system has achieved an uncompromised power unit which has a high rev range for a turbo charged engine (8,500rpm), sporty transient response and progressive power delivery - all within a small and light weight package which benefits the vehicle as a whole . Couple to the seamless shift gearbox the powertrain has achieved class leading levels of efficiency and performance.
Q5. Currently recognised supercar brands each have perceived strengths - Porsche's drivability and durability whilst remaining almost anonymous, the exotic, 'special' nature of Ferrari and the explosive, OTT Lamborghini image. Which qualities are you hoping will be bestowed upon the MP12 and future road going McLarens?
The target has been to make the 12C a very comfortable and easy-to-drive car, whilst ensuring it has huge performance when the driver wants to use it (including on a track). We would hope that the 12C is recognised as being the best ultra-high-performance car bar none, but which is also a realistic proposition as an everyday car.
Q6. Without an LSD, and with brake-steer, how will the car behave over-powering out of a corner? What electronics mechanisms will be installed to prevent over exuberant throttle positions in wet or poor grip situations? Have there been any particularly clever designs incorporated to assist with traction when deploying full power?
PB: The brake steer system is transparent to the driver - the car feels like it has a torque-vectoring differential with excellent traction and no tendency to power understeer. It is, of course, possible to break traction in some circumstances and the behaviour of the car then depends on the 'handling' mode selected (due to different traction control settings), varying between safe and stable in 'Normal' mode, up to allowing very driftable powerslides in 'Track' mode.
The 'Proactive Chassis Control' suspension system fitted to the 12C naturally gives the car very good traction due to the ability of the wheels to absorb bumps even while the car is cornering hard, so no other specific measures were necessary to improve traction.
Q7. How much of an aero compromise is there, in terms of high end speed and handling? For example, in order to hit headline grabbing figures and make a car slippery for high speed (say 150mph+), how much of a disadvantage does this place on lower speed handling?
PB: Since aero does not start to have an effect until higher speeds the car still has to have good mechanical grip and handling at low speeds, and there is no conflict between this and achieving even better performance at higher speeds once the downforce is also contributing to grip. It is just important to ensure that the downforce is well balanced and matches the mechanical setup of the car (hence the use of an airbrake).
Richard Farquhar - powertrain
Q8. What have you been able to do with the engine that will set it apart from the competition?
RF: Both the performance and the efficiency that have been achieved with the engine put the 12C in a very strong position in the market. There have been many areas which have had intense focus in design to achieve these goals including package and integration of internal & external components on the engine, intelligent use of materials, turbo charger design & application and optimised performance right across the rev range from low speed idle and response, a wide & full torque range and high speed power. Acoustically the engine also delivers a high level of sporty sound quality from a turbo charged engine both internally and externally.
Q9. What will be the front to rear weight distribution?
PB: 42.5% front, 57.5% rear
Q10. Why doesn't the car have a mechanical limited slip differential?
PB: When we started the 12C project, we looked at all the technologies available and there was a clear performance benefit from new technologies such as torque vectoring differentials, compared to older differential technologies. However, brake steer (as found in the 12C) was chosen because it offers all the performance benefits of a torque-vectoring differential without the extra weight (which would have been 20-30 kg).
Q11. Why are the front control arms in the exploded picture the wrong way round? An answer to the NSX's compliance pivot?
PB: It is a screenshot taken from the end of the 'explosion' animation on the McLaren Automotive website (www.mclarenautomotive.com) - if you look at the beginning of the animation the wishbones are the right way round!
Q12. Where was the main focus when designing and producing the chassissuspension geometry and set up and all the factors involved in that? Obviously the car is designed to be very high performance but where was the split between road and track balance and how did this affect both the design and calibration of the final product.
PB: We chose technologies which allowed us to minimise the compromise between road and track, such as the 'Proactive Chassis Control' system - most cars can't change the roll stiffness of the car from one mode to another, or have different stiffness in roll to 'warp' (what you find driving along bumpy roads).
When you can change the whole stiffness of the car from one mode to another you can optimise each mode much more closely to its desired target rather than finding a compromise between all modes - therefore the 12C has better comfort in its road modes than any competitor yet also better body control and handling balance in its track-biased modes.
Q13. What tyres are going to be standard fitment?
PB: Pirelli PZero tyres are the standard tyre, and Pirelli PZero Corsa tyres as an option. There is also a winter tyre option available (Pirelli Sottozero)
Q14. How much power could the chassis handle in its current format? My line of thinking on this question is not in regard to aftermarket tuning but more a case of what other model variants we could potentially see from McLaren themselves. As we all know the first incarnation of any manufacture model invariably leads to some more focussed/ltd edition models later down the line. (It would be nice to see a GTR type version etc with similar looks to those Photoshop pics doing the rounds on the web lately...
PB: We could speculate, but it's not reached the limit in the 12C...
Q15. Which road car (in current or recent production, no McLarens allowed) do you most admire and why?
NP: I think the Audi R8. Audi has long been respected for its build quality, and to bring that quality to the entry-level supercar market would have been a wake-up call to any company that thought it was okay to ship sub-standard cars while relying on the "quirky personality" argument to excuse themselves. We, of course, have great experience of producing high quality cars from our SLR programme, and have carried that forward to the 12C.
Q16. You've stated that every component on the new car is purposed designed by McLaren. I know you have designed your own AC, does this extend to literally every system on the car - window mechanisms, motors, wipers etc?
NP: Yes - every system. The window mechanism system and wipers are all brand new for McLaren. Obviously some individual components such as wiper motors start off as off the shelf parts from suppliers, but what happens is that through development testing we identify where those parts do not meet our specifications as part of the system and introduce changes to meet our sign-off criteria. Corrosion resistance is a good example of that, with many proprietary parts not meeting out exacting standards in this area.
Q17. I'm currently studying motor vehicle mechanics at college and was wondering if you could give me advice on how to get into a company like McLaren? How does McLaren recruit generally?
As you can probably imagine, we get plenty of applications for our vacancies, and an enormous number of CVs sent to us on spec. My best advice for anyone wanting to come and join us is to make sure you are the best in your class. Nothing in life that is worth anything comes to us easily.
Q18. Has development begun on any other models yet?
NP: Yes, it has. Vehicle programmes have a long gestation period, so for all car companies, development of the next car has started long before launch of the current one. We've got a lot of work to do over the next few years, and we'll be employing more people to do that, with 300 new jobs being created to cover the extra workload.
Q19. Which one element of the car has the closest link to the F1 program?
NP: One element? Carbon. It's the one thing that has allowed us to do so much with the car to make it what it is. It has allowed us to reduce frontal area, thus reducing drag and improving CO2 emissions down to 279g/km. At the same time, its properties have meant that we haven't had to reduce cabin space as well. It's allowed to produce a car that weighs in well below the competition, and because the carbon MonoCell's stiffness contributes significantly to overall chassis stiffness, it has meant that we could save weight elsewhere in the chassis on the aluminium frames. It has given us incredibly good results in crash testing, improving occupant safety without adding mass. And as the key part in the chassis, it has given us a flexible and adaptable platform for developing new cars in the future.
Q20. Would you like to go back to Le Mans?
NP: Well, as my grandmother used to say, "Chunto!" Personally, absolutely! As a company, the GT3 racing programme that we are working on with CRS is generating an interesting level of excitement and anticipation around the office - and office which is usually half empty around the Le Mans weekend. I'm pretty sure that some GT3 customers will want to race there, and I can't wait to cheer them on!
Q21. Now the car is finished, is there anything you wish you had done differently?
NP: Finished? It's never finished until you break my pencils! We've got a hugely ambitious and courageous team of engineers, always wanting to bring something new and better to the car - just like the Formula 1 team. You'll see that every time McLaren brings a new model to market, it will feature the latest in innovative engineering and technology.
Q22. Was the performance, styling, user interface (i.e. indicators on the wheel etc) of the Ferrari 458 a surprise? Was the '12C benchmarked against a Ferrari, if so which one?
NP: We benchmarked our car against all the major competitors. Styling is such a subjective matter that I don't want to comment. I was really surprised by the number of controls on the steering wheel of the F458, but the most surprising thing for me was just how light the 12C is in comparison.
Q23. Have you learnt much from Mercedes?
NP: We learned a lot from Mercedes. The SLR was Mercedes' highest quality car, and we are rightly proud of that, but it wouldn't have been without us learning from them. The best part of the whole relationship was learning how to adapt big company procedures which ensure quality and reliability to an agile small company setting.
Q24. What is your aim with the MP4-12C, and what will it be measured against?
NP: I've seen a reasonable amount of comparisons to the Veyron on the PH forums, but the 12C isn't aimed at that market. Without a doubt it will be measured against the F458 and other sports cars cars priced from £125,000 to £175.000. As you can see from our performance figures, future competitor cars will almost certainly be measured against ours. Our aim is to keep raising the bar and that extends to every area; performance, ownership experience, driveability and so on.
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