Back into a McLaren, our Volcano Red GT

[JerryEXE]

CyCy said:

Holy crap, Jerry, you live down the road from me - was looking at the car until I noticed the neighbourhood! I believe you're the third McLaren owner in the area - the chap in the gated area next to you has one too! 570S last I saw.

Small world, let me know if you are passing and I’ll make you an espresso in a McLaren Bristol cup

The car just down the road is a 570GT.

[CyCy]

Ah yes, perhaps it is! 2 years ago I dropped by to check out a house for sale in that little gated group, and turned up in my 720S - the chap living in that house came dashing outside and invited me into his garage to check out his car, was a really lovely interaction.

[DeejRC]

Sir wishes to know some decent “local” roads. Ping me a mail Jerry and I shall be delighted to help you out.

I’m Oke way with an almost sensible Italian pony.

[JerryEXE]

CyCy said:

Ah yes, perhaps it is! 2 years ago I dropped by to check out a house for sale in that little gated group, and turned up in my 720S - the chap living in that house came dashing outside and invited me into his garage to check out his car, was a really lovely interaction.

We were driving a diesel Merc courtesy of Hertz when we viewed so didn’t even get a second glance. The house we ultimately bought had a lovely GT3 RS under a cover in the garage and this prompted the inevitable discussion about cars with the agent …
Agent: “and one of the neighbours has a McLaren, the only one in town I think”
Me: “really, we’ve also got one. What model is it?”
Not sure he believed me at the time.

Have had a lengthy chat about McLarens with the guy you mention.

[JerryEXE]

DeejRC said:

Sir wishes to know some decent “local” roads. Ping me a mail Jerry and I shall be delighted to help you out.

I’m Oke way with an almost sensible Italian pony.

Will do, thanks.

Edit … your setting do not allow email contact.

[JerryEXE]

Six months and just over 1700 miles in and therefore about time I updated this thread.

Other than some very minor issues, which I’ll cover later, the car has performed well. It has been used for short local blasts, long day trips and various weekends away. As it’s supposed to be a GT I’ll write more about the latter 2. The 400 mile day trip really showed what the car is capable of and, if required, I could have driven for longer and further at the end of the day. Set the cruise control on the motorway at a sensible speed and it’ll achieve 35 mpg whilst being a bright, airy and very comfortable place to be. Even at 35 mpg you do occasionally have to stop and refuel and I’ve got to admit that this becomes a rather interesting experience. I can no longer dash into the services, refuel and then dash out again but have to allow 10-15 minutes for questions and photos at each stop. Get off the motorway and the car makes very easy work of A and B road overtaking opportunities. When you do reach your destination you then need to find the end parking space away from everyone else and I’m becoming very good at this …



Weekends away have seen us testing the luggage carrying capabilities and this is something that requires a fair bit of trial and error. Although there is a lot of space under the rear hatch the area immediately above and behind the rear wheels is rather shallow and therefore best suited to soft bags, lap top bags, suit carriers, coats and that type of thing. Carry on type bags get lashed down behind the rear seats (but this then does impact the view in the rear view mirror) or go into the front boot (my preferred option). You can get a lot of stuff in but, as said, requires some trial and error. I would not be surprised if I were to replace a lot of our luggage with pieces measured to fit better.

First trip away saw me again bagging an end parking space …



I didn’t realise our room overlooked this space, but was not complaining …



And I then get to make sure it’s still there first thing in the morning …



Another trip away and another end space …



Only a couple of minor issue to date.

The front number plate fell off soon after I got the car home. McBristol would have collected the car and sorted this out but it hardly seemed worth bothering them for such a minor thing. I sourced some double sided tape from Amazon and reattached it myself … on reflection I should have bent it a little more before before refitting as a couple of weeks later and the edges started to come away again. I decide to remove the plate and have another go … as I’m sawing through the remaining double sided tape with a piece of string I’m thinking “do not damage the paint work, do not damage the paint work” and then when the plate pops off I fumble it and drop it onto the front splitter. The sharp edge of the plate catches the edge of the splitter and I now have an a small scratch there! It’s not large and not visible from a distance but was absolutely furious with myself.

There have also been minor glitches with steering wheel and seat sensors not working and hence affecting the comfort entry and exit. I’m putting this down to limited use for now and will monitor over the coming months as the weather allows the car to be used more.

I can forgive the minor glitches and continue to really enjoy the car. Mrs Jerry recently stated that “we definitely bought the right car” which is a first for her and something that I absolutely agree with.

[paralla]

Pictures really don't do Volcano Red justice.

A couple of years ago GVE had a 650S (I think, McLarens all look the same to me) in the showroom and it looked so good I wanted to lick it.

[supersport]

Nice, it's a stunning colour.

How did you convince the number plate to stay bent? I have a similar issue.

[justin220]

I bent my front plate with a hairdryer.. Worked really well

Edited by justin220 on Monday 4th April 16:22

[JerryEXE]

paralla said:

Pictures really don't do Volcano Red justice.

A couple of years ago GVE had a 650S (I think, McLarens all look the same to me) in the showroom and it looked so good I wanted to lick it.

All of the volcano colours looks sooooo much better in real life, especially in direct sunlight. The one show is indeed a 650S.

[JerryEXE]

supersport said:

Nice, it's a stunning colour.

How did you convince the number plate to stay bent? I have a similar issue.

Mine has metal (aluminium?) plates so I clamped one end in a workmate and simply used brute force to bend the other end. I bent it slightly further than necessary to stop the ends springing out again.

[RSbandit]

JerryEXE said:

Six months and just over 1700 miles in and therefore about time I updated this thread.

Other than some very minor issues, which I’ll cover later, the car has performed well. It has been used for short local blasts, long day trips and various weekends away. As it’s supposed to be a GT I’ll write more about the latter 2. The 400 mile day trip really showed what the car is capable of and, if required, I could have driven for longer and further at the end of the day. Set the cruise control on the motorway at a sensible speed and it’ll achieve 35 mpg whilst being a bright, airy and very comfortable place to be. Even at 35 mpg you do occasionally have to stop and refuel and I’ve got to admit that this becomes a rather interesting experience. I can no longer dash into the services, refuel and then dash out again but have to allow 10-15 minutes for questions and photos at each stop. Get off the motorway and the car makes very easy work of A and B road overtaking opportunities. When you do reach your destination you then need to find the end parking space away from everyone else and I’m becoming very good at this …



Weekends away have seen us testing the luggage carrying capabilities and this is something that requires a fair bit of trial and error. Although there is a lot of space under the rear hatch the area immediately above and behind the rear wheels is rather shallow and therefore best suited to soft bags, lap top bags, suit carriers, coats and that type of thing. Carry on type bags get lashed down behind the rear seats (but this then does impact the view in the rear view mirror) or go into the front boot (my preferred option). You can get a lot of stuff in but, as said, requires some trial and error. I would not be surprised if I were to replace a lot of our luggage with pieces measured to fit better.

First trip away saw me again bagging an end parking space …



I didn’t realise our room overlooked this space, but was not complaining …



And I then get to make sure it’s still there first thing in the morning …



Another trip away and another end space …



Only a couple of minor issue to date.

The front number plate fell off soon after I got the car home. McBristol would have collected the car and sorted this out but it hardly seemed worth bothering them for such a minor thing. I sourced some double sided tape from Amazon and reattached it myself … on reflection I should have bent it a little more before before refitting as a couple of weeks later and the edges started to come away again. I decide to remove the plate and have another go … as I’m sawing through the remaining double sided tape with a piece of string I’m thinking “do not damage the paint work, do not damage the paint work” and then when the plate pops off I fumble it and drop it onto the front splitter. The sharp edge of the plate catches the edge of the splitter and I now have an a small scratch there! It’s not large and not visible from a distance but was absolutely furious with myself.

There have also been minor glitches with steering wheel and seat sensors not working and hence affecting the comfort entry and exit. I’m putting this down to limited use for now and will monitor over the coming months as the weather allows the car to be used more.

I can forgive the minor glitches and continue to really enjoy the car. Mrs Jerry recently stated that “we definitely bought the right car” which is a first for her and something that I absolutely agree with.

Must say I really like the look of these especially the rear 3/4 view, a 2 yr old one is priced below older 720's and 600Lts so they've come on my radar as a potential replacement for my 570s.
I'm sure its rapid but how do you find the noise? Any videos I've seen it sounds more like the 12c/650s than the later sports/super series cars.
Any other likes/dislikes? Any plans to track it at some point? Think I need to take one for a test drive ....seems this is the forgotten McLaren model which is a shame as its actually quite a cohesive design to my eyes.

[JerryEXE]

RSbandit said:

Must say I really like the look of these especially the rear 3/4 view, a 2 yr old one is priced below older 720's and 600Lts so they've come on my radar as a potential replacement for my 570s.
I'm sure its rapid but how do you find the noise? Any videos I've seen it sounds more like the 12c/650s than the later sports/super series cars.
Any other likes/dislikes? Any plans to track it at some point? Think I need to take one for a test drive ....seems this is the forgotten McLaren model which is a shame as its actually quite a cohesive design to my eyes.

I agree with you on both the rear 3/4 view and also that 2 year old cars are now starting to look like ”good” value compared to the other cars in the range. I think the spec on some of the 2 year old cars may be a little variable as I read a lot of stuff only became standard on the 2021 update to make them look like better value. I think the 2021 cars also had something done with the brakes to give more feel (though I’d question if that was totally successful).

The car is blisteringly quick, I’d say on a par with the 650S we had but it’s almost 2 years since I last drove a 650S and my driving style is much more sedate since we moved back to the UK so my memory could be playing tricks. Keeping that fact in mind, the noise … I’d say very different to the 12C/650S. To me the GT is much more obviously turbocharged when driven hard with the whistling and whooshing being very apparent and I don’t remember this being as apparent in the 650S. This could be due to the 650S having a sports exhaust and the GT a standard exhaust and hence the exhaust note being more muted in the GT? The GT does have an active exhaust and this can be quite noticeable, it definitely sounds like a V8 … a turbocharged V8 and I like it a lot.

My biggest “dislike” so far are the brakes … iron discs and 4 piston callipers at the front and they do need a mighty shove to have the effect you’d like. Is that because I’ve got used to driving overly servoed, slower cars (I almost put myself through the windscreen driving my in-laws Note after swapping out of the GT ) or is it that the ceramics of the 650S were significantly better? I don’t know but I do know that I don’t miss the horrible squealing of the 650S brakes (particularly after been driven hard). I do miss the fact that the ceramics don’t create significant brake dust … that’s just a pain.

I suspect I will take the car along to a Pure day (or 2) this year and that will allow me to really make a judgement on the brakes. However, I’m not expecting it to be on a par with the 650S on track and will, no doubt, drive accordingly.

I’d certainly recommend taking a test drive.

[RSbandit]

Ceramics weren’t an option then or no one went for them if they were? last few cars I’ve had have had ceramics the brake dust from steel rotors is a pain alright!

[JerryEXE]

Ceramics are an option but do seem to be rare on the GT. I saw a couple of such cars advertised when we were looking but it definitely was not the norm.

[DRZ]

I just put an update in my ownership thread comparing and contrasting the GT to the 720S I'm currently driving around in. I have to say, as good as the 720S is, I did buy the right car when I picked the GT.

Options wise they are all over the place - I believe the 2022 cars basically have done away with all the option packs to add the stuff that really should have been there from the start. IMO, the bare minimum is a Lux with the practicality pack but the premium pack is a very nice to have. Mine is a Lux with both packs and some MSO bits but not CF overload which is probably the sweet spot. I personally don't understand why anyone would ever want the Pioneer spec in these cars and it is telling that most of the ones that sit around in the lower part of the market are Pioneer spec cars...

Brakes, yes they do take some getting used to in terms of quite how hard you need to press the pedal but once you're over that I find them to be very good at hauling the car to a stop. They aren't as immediate as the carbon ceramics on the 720S but they are enough to be confident with, at least that's my view on them. I've only had mine since the beginning of March but I've already done about 800 miles and I'd say the brakes were the thing I most needed to adjust to.

[JerryEXE]

DRZ said:

I just put an update in my ownership thread comparing and contrasting the GT to the 720S I'm currently driving around in. I have to say, as good as the 720S is, I did buy the right car when I picked the GT.

Options wise they are all over the place - I believe the 2022 cars basically have done away with all the option packs to add the stuff that really should have been there from the start. IMO, the bare minimum is a Lux with the practicality pack but the premium pack is a very nice to have. Mine is a Lux with both packs and some MSO bits but not CF overload which is probably the sweet spot. I personally don't understand why anyone would ever want the Pioneer spec in these cars and it is telling that most of the ones that sit around in the lower part of the market are Pioneer spec cars...

Brakes, yes they do take some getting used to in terms of quite how hard you need to press the pedal but once you're over that I find them to be very good at hauling the car to a stop. They aren't as immediate as the carbon ceramics on the 720S but they are enough to be confident with, at least that's my view on them. I've only had mine since the beginning of March but I've already done about 800 miles and I'd say the brakes were the thing I most needed to adjust to.

I spotted your 720S comparison … very well written and informative so thank you for that. It appears that we both agree that we bought the right car (folks agreeing on PH, wherever next ).

Afraid that I don’t agree with you on the Lux vs Pioneer though, I specifically wanted a Pioneer as I wanted some alcantara on the seats (and the only difference between the 2 specs is leather vs alcantara). But I guess we cannot agree on everything.

Anyone looking at GTs and wondering what each options pack contains, this should help …

Edited by JerryEXE on Wednesday 6th April 17:16

[JerryEXE]

Nine months and 3000 miles into ownership and the car is just back from it’s first annual service at McBristol. Only non-routine items were a small piece of external trim that was loose being reattached and a safety recall on the driver’s airbag. (The steering column sensor issues I mentioned early in this thread having gone away and not present in the car’s memory). £777 in total which was slightly less than I had anticipated and included the use of a fairly new Audi A6 whilst my car was with them (said Audi being more than adequate, and actually a fairly nice place to be, for trudging up and down the M5). The car was filthy when I dropped it off as we were just back from a 500 mile weekend trip but looked like new when collected earlier today. All things considered, I’m very happy.

[DRZ]

JerryEXE said:

Nine months and 3000 miles into ownership and the car is just back from it’s first annual service at McBristol. Only non-routine items were a small piece of external trim that was loose being reattached and a safety recall on the driver’s airbag. (The steering column sensor issues I mentioned early in this thread having gone away and not present in the car’s memory). £777 in total which was slightly less than I had anticipated and included the use of a fairly new Audi A6 whilst my car was with them (said Audi being more than adequate, and actually a fairly nice place to be, for trudging up and down the M5). The car was filthy when I dropped it off as we were just back from a 500 mile weekend trip but looked like new when collected earlier today. All things considered, I’m very happy.

Out of interest, what trim was loose?

[JerryEXE]

DRZ said:

Out of interest, what trim was loose?

One of the pieces between the glass and the hatch, I could feel that it wasn’t attached properly when pressing down on it.