Still more replies to McLaren F1 questions and com
Discussion
Flemke
Seeing as you have made everything adjustable that, the factory produced as static - are they (the factory) interested in your results?
Surely you must be one of the first if not the only person to venture down this road and your results would surely be interesting to those with similar cars..?
Cheers
Seeing as you have made everything adjustable that, the factory produced as static - are they (the factory) interested in your results?
Surely you must be one of the first if not the only person to venture down this road and your results would surely be interesting to those with similar cars..?
Cheers
flemke said:
I would not be going to VMAX. As mentioned, the car is still under development. I have never done a standing-start blast either - in-gear acceleration is kinder to the car and, to me, a lot more exhilirating.
Vmax is not really about a standing start, it's quite possible to gentley ease down the first short straight, take the very wide corner at 70mph (probably 100+ in your case) then nail it down the long straight and through the timing gates.
It would be brilliant if you could attend.
flemke said:
Hans-Joachim Stuck, driving the M3-GTR in which he was shortly to win this year's 24-hour race, was filmed doing an absolute blinder of a lap. The DVD of it is available on some German website (Can someone help here with the address? If not, and anyone's interested, I'll try to locate it).
http://renn.tv/shop/product_info.php?products_id=30&language=de
As flemke says well worth a purchase - I have this DVD and it's amazing to watch
Not too shabby for a 700bhp 996 Turbo!
Buffalo -
The folks at the factory are car enthusiasts and good people. I think of them as friends and I hope they think the same of me.
I told them about my intentions before I embarked on the project (having previously over a long period sought to engage them to do it, which they declined), and I have kept them updated since then. Everything's in the open - in fact, I spent quite a bit of time with them a few days ago and they helped me to sort out some non-suspension matters.
Once all the suspension stuff is done I shall take the car to them and they will judge for themselves.
They are interested in what I am up to, but they have their own way of doing things and I very much doubt that anything that I have done would influence what the factory does to customers' cars.
>> Edited by flemke on Saturday 9th October 19:34
john p - Thanks for posting the address. The way that J-H shifts gears in that car is just the greatest, isn't it? Did you notice that there are, I think it is, three points on the Nordschleife in which he is in first? Special ratios, but still...
Muncher - Thank you for the encouragement and assurances, but in addition to the reasons that I cited, the car is not in the UK at present and I would not be prepared to drive it there for this event, I don't care for Bruntingthorpe because its abrasive surface devours tyres and you get more stone damage there than anyplace that I have been to, and, even without the above, I am a miserable curmudgeon who tends to keep to himself.
bor - Thank you for the reminder. TUV is being dealt with: it does not apply to most of the changes and for others (such as applicability of a road-legal but non-specified tyre) it is waived if the car owner has formally acknowledged that a non-TUV'd part has been fitted. At least that's what they tell me, and these guys know the rules.
Muncher - Thank you for the encouragement and assurances, but in addition to the reasons that I cited, the car is not in the UK at present and I would not be prepared to drive it there for this event, I don't care for Bruntingthorpe because its abrasive surface devours tyres and you get more stone damage there than anyplace that I have been to, and, even without the above, I am a miserable curmudgeon who tends to keep to himself.
bor - Thank you for the reminder. TUV is being dealt with: it does not apply to most of the changes and for others (such as applicability of a road-legal but non-specified tyre) it is waived if the car owner has formally acknowledged that a non-TUV'd part has been fitted. At least that's what they tell me, and these guys know the rules.
No one has that I have noticed.
On a circuit the car's suspension has been ineffective, which is part of why I have undertaken the insane project of changing it. Things would be different on a high-speed circuit, but what like that is there in Europe, the Lausitzring or Rockingham? I have not taken it to Spa, but even there I should think that a properly-driven GT3 would have its measure. Taking a normal, wing-less road-going F1 through Eau Rouge or Blanchimont at speed does not bear thinking about.
I only got it as a road car anyway and, in fairness to McL., that is what it was intended to be.
On the road it does not get overtaken except when the driver allows it, if you know what I mean. Once in Oxfordshire I found myself in a lovely run in tandem with a biker. We were both pushing on but in an entirely cooperative way. When we finally got to a T-junction he stopped to give me a thumbs-up. That is the only time to my knowledge that someone has made an effort to stay with me. (I am not saying that no one else could have done. As good a performer as the car is, I think that folks tend to presume that it is untouchable. That might be true in some ways, but along other dimensions the car is compromised, as I have tried to explain on PH.)
If it was on the damp Friday and the car was blue then it was mine.
Later that day it took what seemed like an hour to clean the grass clippings out of every nook and cranny.
I think a normal, randomly-generated reg. number suits the car. Pretentious numbers belong on 360 Spyders, RR Phantoms, and whatever Flavio Briatore is driven in (which is probably both of the aforementioned).
Some people may consider the F1 pretentious. To me it seems honest, and that is part of its appeal.
Later that day it took what seemed like an hour to clean the grass clippings out of every nook and cranny.
I think a normal, randomly-generated reg. number suits the car. Pretentious numbers belong on 360 Spyders, RR Phantoms, and whatever Flavio Briatore is driven in (which is probably both of the aforementioned).
Some people may consider the F1 pretentious. To me it seems honest, and that is part of its appeal.
The mention of Goodwood reminds me of something that happened relating to last year's FoS.
Maybe a month before the 2003 event, someone at one of the UK car magazines called me and said that they had been retained by Goodwood to put together that year's selection of road cars that sit on the lawn beside Goodwood House and do demonstration runs up the hill. He wanted to know if I would bring the F1 to be part of that. It seemed harmless, and I recalled how much I had enjoyed seeing an F1 in that place prior to when I got mine, so I was happy to oblige. I figured that in due course he would contact me with instructions.
It was, however, with only a few days left before the event that he called me again. He sheepishly said that when the magazine had presented their list of secured cars to the FoS managers, the managers rejected the F1. The FoS audience would not be interested in it, they said, because the F1 was "yesterday's car".
Ironic, is it not, that this was the response from the place whose whole reputation, and huge commercial success, have been built on celebrating the history of fast cars?
Lest I worry that Goodwood's standards might be slipping, however, I was reassured to see that amongst the road cars that were selected for the event was a 350Z, driven by Ruby Wax.
Life occasionally has a beautiful symmetry. About six weeks ago I got a phone call from Goodwood management: they were organising an exhibition exclusively for members of the Goodwood Road Racing Club and asked whether I might be willing to let them display my F1. Unfortunately I had to decline because I already had committed to do something else that day - breathing, I think it was.
Ah, the GRRC. A wonderfull organisation which has a piece of car park set aside epecially at the FOS. I arrive with a friend and Member badges for the Race course (The Horse racing course!).
Not having heard of the GRRC, i saw the sign saying GRRC and assumed it was parking for the Racecourse members, waved my badge at the lad, and after giving a confused look, waved us into the private carpark.
Still, no one noticed and it did make me feel rather important !
Not having heard of the GRRC, i saw the sign saying GRRC and assumed it was parking for the Racecourse members, waved my badge at the lad, and after giving a confused look, waved us into the private carpark.
Still, no one noticed and it did make me feel rather important !
Ignorance is bliss, we did'nt clock our mistake until we were inside, The racecoarse members get free tickets to all the big events (FOS,Revival) and my Dad did get his membership badges back.... eventually 
edited to say.. Thread Hijack over!
>> Edited by vixpy1 on Sunday 10th October 00:31
edited to say.. Thread Hijack over!
>> Edited by vixpy1 on Sunday 10th October 00:31
Yep, it was the description of the wing mirrors that reminded me, I was there dropping off another car and saw the F1 in the car park! Great colour by the way. Sorry that the car has now left the UK.
There was another F1 in the same car park this year - black, racing wing, thin red stripe and a B** MAC registration. Any idea who owns that?
Bill
There was another F1 in the same car park this year - black, racing wing, thin red stripe and a B** MAC registration. Any idea who owns that?
Bill
billflin said:Sure it wasn't 13 MAC? This is the car seen most recently on 5th Gear and Top Gear. I'm not sure who owns the car.
Yep, it was the description of the wing mirrors that reminded me, I was there dropping off another car and saw the F1 in the car park! Great colour by the way. Sorry that the car has now left the UK.
There was another F1 in the same car park this year - black, racing wing, thin red stripe and a B** MAC registration. Any idea who owns that?
Bill
Frik said:
Yep, it was the description of the wing mirrors that reminded me, I was there dropping off another car and saw the F1 in the car park! Great colour by the way. Sorry that the car has now left the UK.
There was another F1 in the same car park this year - black, racing wing, thin red stripe and a B** MAC registration. Any idea who owns that?
Bill
Sure it wasn't 13 MAC? This is the car seen most recently on 5th Gear and Top Gear. I'm not sure who owns the car.
IIRC, 13 MAC is owned by Genesis' Manager, Tony Smith.
anniesdad said:Agreed, Brunters is bad on a track day or if you follow another car, but there's no need for that on a VMAX day, as car's go out two at a time (side by side), so in theory, there's minimal risk of stone chips.
I don't care for Bruntingthorpe because its abrasive surface devours tyres and you get more stone damage there than anyplace that I have been to Should be interesting, weather permitting, i'm attending in a friends F40..
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