What happens if you total an MP4-12C?

[MJTD]

As the MP4 has a carbon tub it's going to be super expensive to fix - you will basically need a new tub if you damage it substantially, and this will be super expensive will it not?

And going by what happened to Tiff in 5th Gear this is gonna be relatively common occurrence

[Rocksteadyeddie]

I suspect if you whack it hard enough to break the tub it will be a total loss. Therefore, the cost becomes immaterial.

[tercelgold]

if you damage it substantially you'll probably need a new mp4-12c, whereas a 458 most halfords would do.

[Risotto]

It's nothing new really - most cars used to have a separate chassis. Even now, there are all sorts of cars that use a central tub (some are caarbon too like the Carrera GT). You're right - if it gets damaged, you need a new tub - but then if you damage the monocoque of an ordinary car, you need a new shell. I don't think the fact that the MP4-12C's tub is carbon will drastically alter the proportional cost.

Purely in terms of labour, It may be that swapping a carbon tub would involve less work than re-shelling an ordinary car.

Edited by Risotto on Wednesday 29th June 21:06

[AndrewW-G]

If you damage it THAT much, there is a damn good chance that re-shelling / repairing the car, would be of secondary importance at that time, compared with getting out of hospital

[GKP]

Unboltable deformable sections. Relatively localised damage will result meaning an almost straightforward if not expensive repair.

[MJTD]

AndrewW-G said:

If you damage it THAT much, there is a damn good chance that re-shelling / repairing the car, would be of secondary importance at that time, compared with getting out of hospital

True. I know for owners this will not be an issue as the car will be insured, but for Maclaren it could be costly if they have to chuck them all out if pranged, whereas Ferrari will probably fix or reuse whatever parts they can - maybe even stick em on a new car and say nothing to anyone ;-)

[tercelgold]

MJTD said:

True. I know for owners this will not be an issue as the car will be insured, but for Maclaren it could be costly if they have to chuck them all out if pranged, whereas Ferrari will probably fix or reuse whatever parts they can - maybe even stick em on a new car and say nothing to anyone ;-)

So if Maclaren crash them, they will have to pay out for the cars?

[AndrewW-G]

MJTD said:

True. I know for owners this will not be an issue as the car will be insured, but for Maclaren it could be costly if they have to chuck them all out if pranged, whereas Ferrari will probably fix or reuse whatever parts they can - maybe even stick em on a new car and say nothing to anyone ;-)

Having seen the Maranello scrap pile first hand (apparently I had a look on my face, very redolent of Scrooge McDuck’s, just before he took a dip in his money bin!), I can assure you that Ferrari would not reuse parts from a damaged car any more than McLaren would

On a more positive note, the showroom in Knutsford is finished and looks fantastic ahead of tomorrow’s opening of McLaren northwest / Manchester

[Auburn852]

Remember that Enzo which got obliterated by that Swedish guy on Highway 1 in California a few years ago? He apparently crashed into a telegraph pole at over 160mph and got nothing more than a bloody lip. It was the carbon cell which saved him from further injury. Not sure it'll afford him much protection in the California jail he's currently in serving time for defrauding investors in his games company out of squillions.
Not sure what happened to the car, but suspect there wasn't much left to be re-fitted to another car.

[AndrewW-G]

Auburn852 said:

Not sure what happened to the car, but suspect there wasn't much left to be re-fitted to another car.

Sent back to the factory and rebuilt around a new tub, with all the damaged parts ending up in the bin . . . . .

[andy-xr]

tercelgold said:

So if Maclaren crash them, they will have to pay out for the cars?

I never understood why an F1 team made little pushchairs either

[Auburn852]

andy-xr said:

tercelgold said:

So if Maclaren crash them, they will have to pay out for the cars?

I never understood why an F1 team made little pushchairs either

I thought it was just Ferrari that made really tacky merchandise. I obviously live in a Ferrari shaped bubble. Wearing a Ferrari bathrobe, of course.

So when does McLaren open a theme park? What would the theme be? Not "fun" if the MP4 twin tests are anything to go by.

[tercelgold]

Auburn852 said:

I thought it was just Ferrari that made really tacky merchandise. I obviously live in a Ferrari shaped bubble. Wearing a Ferrari bathrobe, of course.

So when does McLaren open a theme park? What would the theme be? Not "fun" if the MP4 twin tests are anything to go by.

I don't think McLaren make pushchairs.

Edited by tercelgold on Wednesday 29th June 21:35

[tank slapper]

I read that when McLaren were crash testing the MP4-12C, the tub was strong enough that they were able to unbolt the damaged sections and replace them for the next test. They used the same tub for three crash tests.

[oobster]

MJTD said:

And going by what happened to Tiff in 5th Gear this is gonna be relatively common occurrence

What happened to Tiff in 5th gear?

[nouze]

oobster said:

What happened to Tiff in 5th gear?

He couldn't change to 4th

[Auburn852]

oobster said:

MJTD said:

And going by what happened to Tiff in 5th Gear this is gonna be relatively common occurrence

What happened to Tiff in 5th gear?

Check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aiqT3sohDZE

Looks like he had a high-side as the MotoGP boys do. Tyre spins, car slides, engine backs off the power, tyres slow down, tyres grip, car gets spun off sideways into the kitty litter by the traction control trying to get the car back in line. Imagine if there wasn't a field there for him to run into? Little worrying.

Compare that to Tiff's mega power slide in the 458: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2VZ7hqxNYI&fea...
The Ferrari is much more composed and clearly has better handling, despite McLaren's claim for some fancy hydraulic suspension.

[Rich_W]

Auburn852 said:

Remember that Enzo which got obliterated by that Swedish guy on Highway 1 in California a few years ago? He apparently crashed into a telegraph pole at over 160mph and got nothing more than a bloody lip. It was the carbon cell which saved him from further injury. Not sure it'll afford him much protection in the California jail he's currently in serving time for defrauding investors in his games company out of squillions.
Not sure what happened to the car, but suspect there wasn't much left to be re-fitted to another car.

Whats interesting to me is that Enzo



and Aventador



Have full CF survival cells that go around the cabin like a roll cage

McLaren only has the bottom part?



Wonder why they did that?

oobster said:

MJTD said:

And going by what happened to Tiff in 5th Gear this is gonna be relatively common occurrence

What happened to Tiff in 5th gear?

Turned everything "off" then had a fairly hefty Tankslapper because a) the systems aren't actually OFF and it tried to "save him" and b) the car doesn't have a proper LSD and is not as progressive/predictable when near it's limits.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPtitpQDZhs

[Auburn852]

I'm sure it won't be long before a Premiership numpty wraps one round a tree and we find out exactly how strong McLaren's carbon tub is.
As twin tests seem to be the flavour of the month, let's see which footballer can't drive it through the tunnel at Manchester airport at 150mph without crashing it. Then we'd have scientific proof of the strength of carbon-fibre vs aluminium.