Tuesday 23rd November 2010

Video: McLaren Designer On The MP4-12C

Frank Stephenson chats to PH about McLaren's new supercar

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For all those PHers who didn't win a chance to visit McLaren Automotive in our amazing competition recently, here's another chance to see some of the great stuff you missed out on.

We don't just want to rub it in (as if...), because this video edit of McLaren's design director Frank Stephenson talking about the new MP4-12C to our fortunate winners offers revealing insights into the genesis of our new British supercar.

The new film was compiled and edited just for PH by the in-house media team at McLaren, who have already sent us this movie covering the winners' tour. (Thanks again guys, but you're starting to embarrass us with all this good stuff!)

This movie mixes elements of Frank's spiel with more fab factory footage, and there are even some extra snippets of track action we've not seen before too. If you really want to know what the new MP4 -12C is all about, you can't get much closer to the project than this.

Although you really should have been there with us to meet Frank in person. (We'll stop now...)

 

[GTWayne]

nice
I like silver cars

Edited by GTWayne on Tuesday 23 November 12:42

[ravon]

Really interesting video, thank you !

[DeadMeat_UK]

Great access. thanks guys.

This car puts my work-life balance in some disarray. There I was quite happy with my 9-5 with a reasonably good lifestyle. But all of a sudden I can't afford this car. And I really really really really want one. Now.

[sunsurfer]

I don't usually do red cars but I thought the red Mac was stunning.
Styling looks better the more I see it. There is a certain lightness and fit-for-function look about it.

[Joe911]

I gotta say I didn't warm to that guy - I felt he was waffling.

He kept talking about transfer of F1 technology.
What F1 tech. was in fact incorporated?

(I'm not saying there wasn't any, I'd just like to know what specifically)

[dvance]

Joe911 said:

I gotta say I didn't warm to that guy - I felt he was waffling.

He kept talking about transfer of F1 technology.
What F1 tech. was in fact incorporated?

(I'm not saying there wasn't any, I'd just like to know what specifically)

My suspicion is that there is no exact F1 tech that's been fitted to the car, but rather the design/production process was done in the way they design their F1 cars i.e. used same tools, know how, and engineers. That's probably where his statement that they designed around the chassis and that intakes etc were where the engineers wanted them to be so no compromise in performance to achieve looks fits in.

Edited by dvance on Tuesday 23 November 13:19

[Joe911]

dvance said:

Joe911 said:

I gotta say I didn't warm to that guy - I felt he was waffling.

He kept talking about transfer of F1 technology.
What F1 tech. was in fact incorporated?

(I'm not saying there wasn't any, I'd just like to know what specifically)

My suspicion is that there is no exact F1 tech that's been fitted to the car, but rather the design/production process was done in the way they design their F1 cars i.e. used same tools, know how, and engineers. That's probably where his statement that they designed around the chassis and that intakes etc were where the engineers wanted them to be so no compromise in performance to achieve looks fits in.

Right. That then just sounds like marketing tosh to me.

I'm a very big McLaren fan and I'm sure the car is awesome - I just dislike bullst, and I was smelling some. (not that bullst is a novel thing when selling supercars)

Edited by Joe911 on Tuesday 23 November 13:25

[charliebaja]

You have to remember that Frank Stephenson was the man who designed this car, so he can waffle, as you put it, as much as he likes!

[Joe911]

charliebaja said:

You have to remember that Frank Stephenson was the man who designed this car, so he can waffle, as you put it, as much as he likes!

I was hoping he'd have something more insightful and meaningful to say. He sounded more like a sales drone. IMHO

[MoBeanz]

Joe911 said:

Right. That then just sounds like marketing tosh to me.

There are some F1 inspired systems on the 12C... the brake steer system, for example, is something that McLaren introduced to F1 in 1997. Their know-how is transferred from the track to the road. If you were expecting to find carry over parts from the MP4-25 you are on crack sir. :-b

[rob.e]

IIRC the paddle shifter works in exactly the same way as their F1 car - ie its a single piece of carbonfibre so works like a see-saw - means you can push away with the opposing paddle instead of pulling for an upchange.

The shape of the steering wheel (positioning of the thumb indents) is also copies from the f1 car.

I expect there's a lot more stuff besides this.

[markbigears]

I still can't get over the ferrari 360 front end, the lotus elise side and that god awful rear. The styling of original F1 is just starting to grow on me though .....

[Insight]

I met Frank Stephenson last night when I went to ‘Driving Dreams’ lecture that was put on by http://www.justgiving.com/Jon-Hall in aid of the Trishna Water Project charity at the Royal Commonwealth Club in central London. Neil Laughton heightened our expectations of what a great speech was as he spoke first about the 2009 Parajet SkyCar expedition that he led from London to Timbuktu. Then Frank took to the stage.

“I don’t know how much you know about me, but this is my mum and dad.” Frank said frankly, showing a picture of a Viking Warrior and a Spanish samba dancer!

“Which is why I’m half precision and half passion.”

Then he detailed his colleagues achievements from the Art Centre College of Design in Pasadena, California and then slowly led into the fact that he designed the BMW X5, the new Mini, the Ferrari 430, the Fiat 500 and then, most recently, the McLaren MP4 – 12C.

Even though he was thirty minutes late (he couldn’t find anywhere to park), Frank’s speech over ran by about an hour. By the end many people were coughing, shuffling in their seats and the organisers were signalling for him to stop, but for those of us who love cars, it was one of the greatest hours of our lives.

He told us of the internal design battle between fifteen BMW design teams to compete separately to design the new Mini – a car that had been untouched by the designers pen since Alec Issigonis first Mini from 1959. The secret to Frank’s success was that he took the ’59 design, thought about the period and re-designed it for ’69, then ’70, then ’89 and then moved on to develop the 1999 design. Clever. Decade by decade the new Mini’s design had evolved, just as the legendary Porsche 911 has done from its own origins in the 356 and formerly the Beetle itself. Frank repeated this stroke of genius again, with the Fiat 500 that was launched in 2008 – a car that turned around the fortunes of the then struggling multi billion pound turnover car company.

So what, then, did I think when I met the man, shook his hand and gushed in his presence after the talk? Well, I first noticed his moustache and then the youth and enthusiasm in his eyes. Here was a finely tailored man who referred to Leonardo de Vinci, Alex Bell and the beauty of nature as his divine inspirations.

One might worry that mating a Viking warrior with a Spanish Samba dancer would produce a schizophrenic rottweiler, but Frank is Darwinian evidence that cross breeding brings it's own rewards, kind of like a labra-doodle, or in the case of a brand, the BMW Rover Mini.

Frank is already a legend himself, time will tell if the MP4-12C can follow in it's creators footsteps.

Edited by Insight on Tuesday 23 November 13:56

[stanwan]

MoBeanz said:

Joe911 said:

Right. That then just sounds like marketing tosh to me.

There are some F1 inspired systems on the 12C... the brake steer system, for example, is something that McLaren introduced to F1 in 1997. Their know-how is transferred from the track to the road. If you were expecting to find carry over parts from the MP4-25 you are on crack sir. :-b

brake steer, active-reactive dampers, cf tub, etc....

[thegobetween]

Didn't Frank Stephenson join McLaren after the MP4 was completed, so had very limited input into the design apart from a mild front restyle and minor detail work?

[450V8]

Thegobetween is right. Frank was engaged to design the P12, well after the P11 was already at the prototype stage.

[Light n Hairy]

Seemed like a curious mixture of genuine passion and blandness.
The car and the speech both.

[Tadite]

Light n Hairy said:

Seemed like a curious mixture of genuine passion and blandness.

Totally agree. I just can't understand why they made it look so generic.

[Plotloss]

Tadite said:

Light n Hairy said:

Seemed like a curious mixture of genuine passion and blandness.

Totally agree. I just can't understand why they made it look so generic.

It's beautiful in the flesh.

[Joe911]

MoBeanz said:

Joe911 said:

Right. That then just sounds like marketing tosh to me.

There are some F1 inspired systems on the 12C... the brake steer system, for example, is something that McLaren introduced to F1 in 1997. Their know-how is transferred from the track to the road. If you were expecting to find carry over parts from the MP4-25 you are on crack sir. :-b

I wouldn't expect or want specific parts to be carried across - anything right for F1 probably isn't right for a road car. Clearly - there will be some 'know how' carried across. I just couldn't see any similarity with the gearbox, engine (which is a badged unit - right), brakes, suspension, etc.

Brake steer - I'll have to look that up (oh OK, right). Is it still used in F1 - doesn't look like it - banned, right?

The carbon tub was a unique idea for a road car many years ago - and came from F1.
It looks to be very clever, and high tech, anything about it directly from modern F1?

rob.e said:

IIRC the paddle shifter works in exactly the same way as their F1 car - ie its a single piece of carbonfibre so works like a see-saw - means you can push away with the opposing paddle instead of pulling for an upchange.

The shape of the steering wheel (positioning of the thumb indents) is also copies from the f1 car.

Not sure I'd count those as carrying over tech. - it's just mildly similar.

Anything else that was carried over?