McLaren MP4-12C roadtest
Discussion
So had a go in the MP4-12C this morning
Just to be able to do a real comparison I took my 458 over.
First thing you notice is that they have put the seat controls are in a different place and they work in a different way to every other car on the planet – anyway minor point.
So as you set off the steering feels very light. Next thing you notice is that the pedals have a really good feel to them. I’ve always felt that the brake pedal in the 458 feels too soft – the Mclaren is better. Next thing you of course notice is the airbrake that pops up and down all the time.
I know some journalists have said they don’t like the forced induction sound that you get in the cockpit but I thought it was fine. Sure the exhaust isn’t loud with all the gurgling and popping that you get with the 458 but my neighbours will probably appreciate this fact.
Ground clearance is fine – didn’t have any issues going over speed bumps etc
Next thing you notice is that the grip is phenomenal and as a result you quickly start driving the car like you are on a racetrack. I was coming into corners way to fast and braking at the last second.
In fact for some reason the car made me drive like a complete hooligan – overtaking everyone and driving way too fast. The other car that makes you do this is the Veyron.
Once we were on that big 6 lane Surrey racetrack they car cruised along with very good cabin noise. Where as in the Ferrari the engine/road noise drown out your passenger’s voice, in the Mclaren you can talk normally.
Criticisms – and none of these are major points
The speedo is hard to read – its too low on the dial. Just as with the 458 you really have to take you eyes off the road to read it.
Personally I felt you need too much movement to change gear – with Ferrari you only need a tiny pull to action the egear – with the MP4 its more movement and a click.
At high speed I thought the steering felt a bit light
Conclusion – a seriously good car to drive which is stupidly fast on the road.
I’m really looking forward to getting my car in the not to distant future
Many thanks to McLaren London
Just to be able to do a real comparison I took my 458 over.
First thing you notice is that they have put the seat controls are in a different place and they work in a different way to every other car on the planet – anyway minor point.
So as you set off the steering feels very light. Next thing you notice is that the pedals have a really good feel to them. I’ve always felt that the brake pedal in the 458 feels too soft – the Mclaren is better. Next thing you of course notice is the airbrake that pops up and down all the time.
I know some journalists have said they don’t like the forced induction sound that you get in the cockpit but I thought it was fine. Sure the exhaust isn’t loud with all the gurgling and popping that you get with the 458 but my neighbours will probably appreciate this fact.
Ground clearance is fine – didn’t have any issues going over speed bumps etc
Next thing you notice is that the grip is phenomenal and as a result you quickly start driving the car like you are on a racetrack. I was coming into corners way to fast and braking at the last second.
In fact for some reason the car made me drive like a complete hooligan – overtaking everyone and driving way too fast. The other car that makes you do this is the Veyron.
Once we were on that big 6 lane Surrey racetrack they car cruised along with very good cabin noise. Where as in the Ferrari the engine/road noise drown out your passenger’s voice, in the Mclaren you can talk normally.
Criticisms – and none of these are major points
The speedo is hard to read – its too low on the dial. Just as with the 458 you really have to take you eyes off the road to read it.
Personally I felt you need too much movement to change gear – with Ferrari you only need a tiny pull to action the egear – with the MP4 its more movement and a click.
At high speed I thought the steering felt a bit light
Conclusion – a seriously good car to drive which is stupidly fast on the road.
I’m really looking forward to getting my car in the not to distant future
Many thanks to McLaren London
Edited by traxx on Friday 5th August 12:08
Was 'yours' a modified one? IIRC, for all customer cars they have changed the induction noise (louder), and the gear change (softer). I guess the bigger movement in the gears is for the 'pre-cog' thing, so the gear selector needs two steps each way instead of one for the 458?
Thanks for the insight!
Thanks for the insight!
Nice write-up, good to see some actual real-world opinions (including what it's like to have a passenger and actually talk to them - shock) instead of the incessant white noise of track tests and journos who think that 'throttle adjustability' is a good way to say which one you actually prefer. And not one mention of 'soul' either, just that the McLaren made you drive it hard!
Do you think it will perhaps be a more satisfying ownership experience as a whole due to its big positives?
Do you think it will perhaps be a more satisfying ownership experience as a whole due to its big positives?
DayTrader said:
A question for you Traxx...imagine the world has gone tits up (rather like the markets are now) and your wealth has decreased to such a pitiful level you could only have either the 458 or MP...which would you pick based on your experience of each so far?
Great question! I drove the car on Wed morning too. Let’s start with the good points & I’ll skip over some of the stuff that has already been reported on in the car magazines: I loved driving the car. One of the things that makes this car so much better than a Ferrari is it’s the correct size for a sports car & although, as we left the hotel, I was driving somebody else’s nearly £200,000 worth of car for the first time & through lots of traffic on narrow B roads, I felt completely relaxed. By contrast, my Ferrari can feel as awkward as a Transit van in these situations.
I loved the driving position. I like to sit close to the floor with the steering wheel right up close to me (racing driver style). Most cars are designed with the wheel far too close to the pedals for this (unless you’re 5ft tall) but McLaren have built in plenty of adjustment so I can have the steering wheel where I want it and still have the seat far enough back to get my legs comfortable – well done McLaren. The wheel’s narrow oval shape section makes it very comfortable to hold. It’s nice & high too – I hate those cars where the wheel is down in your lap (Lotus Elise, etc).
I was a bit concerned by the reports of the 12C’s super smooth ride as, for me, the feeling of connection to the road & the signals a car gives its driver about how much grip there is left are two of the most important aspects of a car’s appeal. However, my concerns soon melted away as we trundled down the bumpy B road that took us away from the hotel entrance – all the bumps can be felt but in a comfortable way. The trick suspension really starts doing its work at speed, when bumps & changes in surface can still be felt & are still being communicated to you, however, they’re being smoothed out so the car is more settled and has more grip than you’d otherwise expect. The faster I went, the better the car felt.
The worst thing about the car is the way the brakes feel (the test car had the standard brakes). When you press the pedal there’s a big soggy squelch before the brakes start doing anything – so I found it difficult to brake gently and know exactly how much braking I was going to get from pushing the pedal. No doubt I’d get used to this, given enough time in the car but I think it would still annoy me as, for me, the perfect brake pedal is rock hard & barely moves at all – I want the braking to be all about how hard my foot is pushing against the pedal, whereas with the 12C it seems the amount of retardation is governed by the position of the pedal as it squelches through a long arc on its way towards the floor. When braking hard it feels better but it’s still nowhere near the feeling I want.
The brakes are very good at retarding the car & I made three quick stops from high speed to see how the car felt & it felt good & behaved well under hard braking on uneven roads – it’s just the pedal feeling I don’t like.
The speedo is a bit rubbish – the position is OK but it needs to be a dial rather than a digital read out.
I loved the driving position. I like to sit close to the floor with the steering wheel right up close to me (racing driver style). Most cars are designed with the wheel far too close to the pedals for this (unless you’re 5ft tall) but McLaren have built in plenty of adjustment so I can have the steering wheel where I want it and still have the seat far enough back to get my legs comfortable – well done McLaren. The wheel’s narrow oval shape section makes it very comfortable to hold. It’s nice & high too – I hate those cars where the wheel is down in your lap (Lotus Elise, etc).
I was a bit concerned by the reports of the 12C’s super smooth ride as, for me, the feeling of connection to the road & the signals a car gives its driver about how much grip there is left are two of the most important aspects of a car’s appeal. However, my concerns soon melted away as we trundled down the bumpy B road that took us away from the hotel entrance – all the bumps can be felt but in a comfortable way. The trick suspension really starts doing its work at speed, when bumps & changes in surface can still be felt & are still being communicated to you, however, they’re being smoothed out so the car is more settled and has more grip than you’d otherwise expect. The faster I went, the better the car felt.
The worst thing about the car is the way the brakes feel (the test car had the standard brakes). When you press the pedal there’s a big soggy squelch before the brakes start doing anything – so I found it difficult to brake gently and know exactly how much braking I was going to get from pushing the pedal. No doubt I’d get used to this, given enough time in the car but I think it would still annoy me as, for me, the perfect brake pedal is rock hard & barely moves at all – I want the braking to be all about how hard my foot is pushing against the pedal, whereas with the 12C it seems the amount of retardation is governed by the position of the pedal as it squelches through a long arc on its way towards the floor. When braking hard it feels better but it’s still nowhere near the feeling I want.
The brakes are very good at retarding the car & I made three quick stops from high speed to see how the car felt & it felt good & behaved well under hard braking on uneven roads – it’s just the pedal feeling I don’t like.
The speedo is a bit rubbish – the position is OK but it needs to be a dial rather than a digital read out.
tony993 said:
I drove the car on Wed morning too. Let’s start with the good points & I’ll skip over some of the stuff that has already been reported on in the car magazines: I loved driving the car. One of the things that makes this car so much better than a Ferrari is it’s the correct size for a sports car & although, as we left the hotel, I was driving somebody else’s nearly £200,000 worth of car for the first time & through lots of traffic on narrow B roads, I felt completely relaxed. By contrast, my Ferrari can feel as awkward as a Transit van in these situations.
I loved the driving position. I like to sit close to the floor with the steering wheel right up close to me (racing driver style). Most cars are designed with the wheel far too close to the pedals for this (unless you’re 5ft tall) but McLaren have built in plenty of adjustment so I can have the steering wheel where I want it and still have the seat far enough back to get my legs comfortable – well done McLaren. The wheel’s narrow oval shape section makes it very comfortable to hold. It’s nice & high too – I hate those cars where the wheel is down in your lap (Lotus Elise, etc).
I was a bit concerned by the reports of the 12C’s super smooth ride as, for me, the feeling of connection to the road & the signals a car gives its driver about how much grip there is left are two of the most important aspects of a car’s appeal. However, my concerns soon melted away as we trundled down the bumpy B road that took us away from the hotel entrance – all the bumps can be felt but in a comfortable way. The trick suspension really starts doing its work at speed, when bumps & changes in surface can still be felt & are still being communicated to you, however, they’re being smoothed out so the car is more settled and has more grip than you’d otherwise expect. The faster I went, the better the car felt.
The worst thing about the car is the way the brakes feel (the test car had the standard brakes). When you press the pedal there’s a big soggy squelch before the brakes start doing anything – so I found it difficult to brake gently and know exactly how much braking I was going to get from pushing the pedal. No doubt I’d get used to this, given enough time in the car but I think it would still annoy me as, for me, the perfect brake pedal is rock hard & barely moves at all – I want the braking to be all about how hard my foot is pushing against the pedal, whereas with the 12C it seems the amount of retardation is governed by the position of the pedal as it squelches through a long arc on its way towards the floor. When braking hard it feels better but it’s still nowhere near the feeling I want.
The brakes are very good at retarding the car & I made three quick stops from high speed to see how the car felt & it felt good & behaved well under hard braking on uneven roads – it’s just the pedal feeling I don’t like.
The speedo is a bit rubbish – the position is OK but it needs to be a dial rather than a digital read out.
HI DO YOU KNOW THAT AFTER YOUR DRIVE ABOUT 1PM SOME ONE HIT THE CAR WHEEL AND STOP THE REST OF THE DAYS TEAT DRIVES ( SO I DID NOT GET MINE ! ! DOES ANYONE KNOW WHO DONE IT ? ( NAME & SHAME ) INFO PLEASE ! I loved the driving position. I like to sit close to the floor with the steering wheel right up close to me (racing driver style). Most cars are designed with the wheel far too close to the pedals for this (unless you’re 5ft tall) but McLaren have built in plenty of adjustment so I can have the steering wheel where I want it and still have the seat far enough back to get my legs comfortable – well done McLaren. The wheel’s narrow oval shape section makes it very comfortable to hold. It’s nice & high too – I hate those cars where the wheel is down in your lap (Lotus Elise, etc).
I was a bit concerned by the reports of the 12C’s super smooth ride as, for me, the feeling of connection to the road & the signals a car gives its driver about how much grip there is left are two of the most important aspects of a car’s appeal. However, my concerns soon melted away as we trundled down the bumpy B road that took us away from the hotel entrance – all the bumps can be felt but in a comfortable way. The trick suspension really starts doing its work at speed, when bumps & changes in surface can still be felt & are still being communicated to you, however, they’re being smoothed out so the car is more settled and has more grip than you’d otherwise expect. The faster I went, the better the car felt.
The worst thing about the car is the way the brakes feel (the test car had the standard brakes). When you press the pedal there’s a big soggy squelch before the brakes start doing anything – so I found it difficult to brake gently and know exactly how much braking I was going to get from pushing the pedal. No doubt I’d get used to this, given enough time in the car but I think it would still annoy me as, for me, the perfect brake pedal is rock hard & barely moves at all – I want the braking to be all about how hard my foot is pushing against the pedal, whereas with the 12C it seems the amount of retardation is governed by the position of the pedal as it squelches through a long arc on its way towards the floor. When braking hard it feels better but it’s still nowhere near the feeling I want.
The brakes are very good at retarding the car & I made three quick stops from high speed to see how the car felt & it felt good & behaved well under hard braking on uneven roads – it’s just the pedal feeling I don’t like.
The speedo is a bit rubbish – the position is OK but it needs to be a dial rather than a digital read out.
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