Car Magazine - 458 Vs MP4-12C

[Johnny]

Seems to be a fairly comprehensive 26 page feature in the Septermber issue...

Have it sat here in front of me but am at work and haven't really got time to get too stuck in to it. Nice mix of tech and journalistic viewpoint from first perusal though. And pretty pictures

Just a heads-up for those that are interested.

[Rich_W]

Without seeing the magazine.

How can they compare a car in production and with owners. To a car that is having one of the most protracted and long winded "launches" of all time. And you an't take delivery of any time soon or even know what the ACTUAL specs of the thing is? (As in genuine independent ones)

[CraigyMc]

Rich_W said:

Without seeing the magazine.

How can they compare a car in production and with owners. To a car that is having one of the most protracted and long winded "launches" of all time. And you an't take delivery of any time soon or even know what the ACTUAL specs of the thing is? (As in genuine independent ones)

Having seen the magazine (subscriber) - they had access to a lot of mclaren and ferrari people and information. It's not a bad set of articles.

C

[iAlex]

If I could guarantee it wouldn't burst into flames... I'd always take the 458. Nothing since the 355 has captured me in such a way.

[Rich_W]

CraigyMc said:

Rich_W said:

Without seeing the magazine.

How can they compare a car in production and with owners. To a car that is having one of the most protracted and long winded "launches" of all time. And you an't take delivery of any time soon or even know what the ACTUAL specs of the thing is? (As in genuine independent ones)

Having seen the magazine (subscriber) - they had access to a lot of mclaren and ferrari people and information. It's not a bad set of articles.

C

So once again

"McLaren say their car is brilliant SHOCKER"

[Ozzie Osmond]

I believe Noble make a similar claim. I'll take the McLaren. No I won't, make that a 458 unless and until the real things are out on the road.

[foz01]

Except it's not really a test is it!

Like the RS5 vs M3 test from last year, which they hadn't driven either, vowed never to buy the mag again after that nonsense,

[CraigyMc]

Rich_W said:

So once again
"McLaren say their car is brilliant SHOCKER"

The article isn't written like that at all.
Example - on one page they show the two layouts of suspension and steering, and compare them. The mclaren folk explain their thinking on suspension setup and layout (btw: the MP4-12 has no rollbars) and the ferrari people explain their thinking on their setup and why they think it's better than the way McLaren are doing it.

Fell free not to thumb through the mag, or buy it. I thought the article was OK, and having actually read the damn thing I'm in a better position to give an opinion than you...

C

[Deerfoot]

foz01 said:

Except it's not really a test is it!

And nowhere do they say that it is a test.

[ClintonB]

Deerfoot said:

foz01 said:

Except it's not really a test is it!

And nowhere do they say that it is a test.

Plus, of course, all other magazines never do anything like this. Articles/reviews are always based on extensive road tests and are never regurgitated guff.

Haven't really read it yet, just flicked through, but from what I can see, it just looks a touch lightweight in places rather than any attempt to claim to be a thorough test.

[Piginapoke]

I have just bought the mag and it is, indeed, excellent.

[CraigyMc]

ClintonB said:

Deerfoot said:

foz01 said:

Except it's not really a test is it!

And nowhere do they say that it is a test.

Plus, of course, all other magazines never do anything like this. Articles/reviews are always based on extensive road tests and are never regurgitated guff.

Haven't really read it yet, just flicked through, but from what I can see, it just looks a touch lightweight in places rather than any attempt to claim to be a thorough test.

Car isn't Racecar Engineering, and doesn't attempt to be. It's just a general interest car mag with occasionally nice photography and the odd bit of interesting info. The MP4-12/F458 article reflects that.

To be honest, I recon the soul of that mag died with LJK Setright.

C

[Fittster]

CraigyMc said:

To be honest, I recon the soul of that mag died with LJK Setright.

C

Pseuds Corner for Mr Setright, Russell Bulgin was the man to read in Car.

[CraigyMc]

Fittster said:

CraigyMc said:

To be honest, I recon the soul of that mag died with LJK Setright.

C

Pseuds Corner for Mr Setright, Russell Bulgin was the man to read in Car.

Each to their own I suppose. The old beardy one was a bit of an oddball I'll grant, but I recon he had style. I recall one anecdote where a subeditor complained about his dense use of language (occasional smatterings of latin). LJK's reply? He did the whole article in Latin and submitted it for publishing.

I'm quite embarrassed to say I forgot about Bulgin (I always associated him with Evo, though he wrote for car too). What does that say about me? He was a great writer.

C

[Deerfoot]

Fittster said:

Pseuds Corner for Mr Setright, Russell Bulgin was the man to read in Car.

I often found Setright quite difficult to understand, I remember he did a cracking column on steering one month though.

Bulgin was excellent, as was George Bishop and the young (at the time) James May. His `England made me` columns were a delight.

CAR really lost it`s way when Jason Barlow was editor. When he departed things started to pick up.

[Rodimus]

just bought the magazine today. Will be interesting to see what they say about both cars. So in the meantime, i am gonna ignore this thread and avoid spoilers

[CraigyMc]

Deerfoot said:

CAR really lost it`s way when Jason Barlow was editor. When he departed things started to pick up.

My observation: he wanted to be editor of GQ, but couldn't get that job, so he tried to turn Car into GQ instead.

What we have now is the reconstituted reminants of what was once actually a pretty sound publication which knew what it was. Ever notice the sidebar advertorials* for things like high end watches?

C


. *I was sick a little when I wrote this word

Edited by CraigyMc on Wednesday 25th August 22:35

[ClintonB]

CraigyMc said:

ClintonB said:

Deerfoot said:

foz01 said:

Except it's not really a test is it!

And nowhere do they say that it is a test.

Plus, of course, all other magazines never do anything like this. Articles/reviews are always based on extensive road tests and are never regurgitated guff.

Haven't really read it yet, just flicked through, but from what I can see, it just looks a touch lightweight in places rather than any attempt to claim to be a thorough test.

Car isn't Racecar Engineering, and doesn't attempt to be. It's just a general interest car mag with occasionally nice photography and the odd bit of interesting info. The MP4-12/F458 article reflects that.

To be honest, I recon the soul of that mag died with LJK Setright.

C

True it most certainly isn't and has always been the one magazine with a readble broad brush approach. However, over the time I've been reading it (mid 80s, so certainly remember Leonard & Co) it has gravitated to bigger, prettier pictures and fewer words with a more simplistic writing style.

[10JH]

Read it yesterday, excellent feature.

Great to read about the development that goes into these cars. Particularly interesting how much use they make of computer simulators.

Got me excited about the McLaren for the first time too.

[CraigyMc]

ClintonB said:

True it most certainly isn't and has always been the one magazine with a readble broad brush approach. However, over the time I've been reading it (mid 80s, so certainly remember Leonard & Co) it has gravitated to bigger, prettier pictures and fewer words with a more simplistic writing style.

Like the childhood progression Duplo->Lego->Technik; but in reverse. Yes.

Mass media being dumbed down is a sad fact of life these days in most formats.

I wonder, what would Kubrick's 2001 be like if remade in 2010 by the big movie system?

C