RE: Driven: McLaren MP4-12C Spider
Discussion
Drove (rode) alongside a new silver coupe for a few miles a couple of weeks ago.
First one I've seen in 3D and it will probably be a long time before I see another based on where I live (Wisconsin, USA).
Wasn't sure what it was at first (couldn't discern the double side scoops) and as it pulled alongside it had a yellow shield on its shoulder that had me thinking F car. I've never seen any pics of an MP4 with this decal before?
It looks like an exotic, but it really doesn't have the visual wow factor of an F car or an Esprit for that matter.
It's certainly not ugly, (like an NSX was, imo), but falls far short of what I would want if I were spending the money it takes to get one.
First one I've seen in 3D and it will probably be a long time before I see another based on where I live (Wisconsin, USA).
Wasn't sure what it was at first (couldn't discern the double side scoops) and as it pulled alongside it had a yellow shield on its shoulder that had me thinking F car. I've never seen any pics of an MP4 with this decal before?
It looks like an exotic, but it really doesn't have the visual wow factor of an F car or an Esprit for that matter.
It's certainly not ugly, (like an NSX was, imo), but falls far short of what I would want if I were spending the money it takes to get one.
falconhoof said:
gaucimiura said:
sgq89 said:
I'd still take the Ferrari 458 every single day of the week. The performance difference is nominal, the Ferrari is 100 times better looking in my opinion, both inside and out, and I'd look forward to getting in it. To me, this just looks like a big Lotus, pretty bland styling. Good luck to you if you have one, but doesn't move me in the slightest. Car design in general is at an all time low I feel!
Couldn't agree more. The MP4 does nothing for me. Don't know why exactly because the Mac F1 still ranks as one of the finest cars ever conceived and created. The MP4 just seems to lack soul. A car like this should move you just by looking at it. Also, I worry when you can start choosing how your car sounds from a list of three options. I know most modern supercars' exhaust notes are tuned but surely a car should sound how it sounds? A car as a PC. Upload the updates as and when. Give me a 458 every time. Or even an 355.Note to self - must get new thesaurus. Pull quotes from the story, they don't seem especially luke-warm to me.
“blinding bit of kit.”
“I really couldn't feel any difference on the road or the track" (between coupe and spider)
“intriguing, talented, banzai-fast”
“This really is an anytime, anywhere machine.”
“it copes with changing surfaces better than any other car of its type and the driver has several different configurations to chose from - most of which are actually usable”
“in manual mode it feels as fast as anything I've driven this year. It also now sounds far more aggressive.”
I just prefer the coupe, which is my favourite car in that class now after the powertrain updates. I seem to remember doing a video about how much I liked the 12C Coupe - at a time when many people were misunderstanding it. Ah yes: I did! here it is....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mKB-8WUB5k&lis...
“blinding bit of kit.”
“I really couldn't feel any difference on the road or the track" (between coupe and spider)
“intriguing, talented, banzai-fast”
“This really is an anytime, anywhere machine.”
“it copes with changing surfaces better than any other car of its type and the driver has several different configurations to chose from - most of which are actually usable”
“in manual mode it feels as fast as anything I've driven this year. It also now sounds far more aggressive.”
I just prefer the coupe, which is my favourite car in that class now after the powertrain updates. I seem to remember doing a video about how much I liked the 12C Coupe - at a time when many people were misunderstanding it. Ah yes: I did! here it is....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mKB-8WUB5k&lis...
Chris Harris said:
Note to self - must get new thesaurus. Pull quotes from the story, they don't seem especially luke-warm to me.
“blinding bit of kit.”
“I really couldn't feel any difference on the road or the track" (between coupe and spider)
“intriguing, talented, banzai-fast”
“This really is an anytime, anywhere machine.”
“it copes with changing surfaces better than any other car of its type and the driver has several different configurations to chose from - most of which are actually usable”
“in manual mode it feels as fast as anything I've driven this year. It also now sounds far more aggressive.”
I just prefer the coupe, which is my favourite car in that class now after the powertrain updates. I seem to remember doing a video about how much I liked the 12C Coupe - at a time when many people were misunderstanding it. Ah yes: I did! here it is....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mKB-8WUB5k&lis...
All good points well made. But this particular piece does seem more like you are writing for What Car? “blinding bit of kit.”
“I really couldn't feel any difference on the road or the track" (between coupe and spider)
“intriguing, talented, banzai-fast”
“This really is an anytime, anywhere machine.”
“it copes with changing surfaces better than any other car of its type and the driver has several different configurations to chose from - most of which are actually usable”
“in manual mode it feels as fast as anything I've driven this year. It also now sounds far more aggressive.”
I just prefer the coupe, which is my favourite car in that class now after the powertrain updates. I seem to remember doing a video about how much I liked the 12C Coupe - at a time when many people were misunderstanding it. Ah yes: I did! here it is....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mKB-8WUB5k&lis...
Did you write it? Maybe you are using ghost writers ? Works well for Katie Price and , after all, you are a busy chap.
Chris Harris said:
Note to self - must get new thesaurus. Pull quotes from the story, they don't seem especially luke-warm to me.
“blinding bit of kit.”
“I really couldn't feel any difference on the road or the track" (between coupe and spider)
“intriguing, talented, banzai-fast”
“This really is an anytime, anywhere machine.”
“it copes with changing surfaces better than any other car of its type and the driver has several different configurations to chose from - most of which are actually usable”
“in manual mode it feels as fast as anything I've driven this year. It also now sounds far more aggressive.”
I just prefer the coupe, which is my favourite car in that class now after the powertrain updates. I seem to remember doing a video about how much I liked the 12C Coupe - at a time when many people were misunderstanding it. Ah yes: I did! here it is....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mKB-8WUB5k&lis...
Indeed! The monkey in my head narrated this article just like a proper piece of Harris prose. All the better for it. Well done McLaren for producing the all round supercar. Are there any other drop tops that have more luggage space than their coupe counterparts?“blinding bit of kit.”
“I really couldn't feel any difference on the road or the track" (between coupe and spider)
“intriguing, talented, banzai-fast”
“This really is an anytime, anywhere machine.”
“it copes with changing surfaces better than any other car of its type and the driver has several different configurations to chose from - most of which are actually usable”
“in manual mode it feels as fast as anything I've driven this year. It also now sounds far more aggressive.”
I just prefer the coupe, which is my favourite car in that class now after the powertrain updates. I seem to remember doing a video about how much I liked the 12C Coupe - at a time when many people were misunderstanding it. Ah yes: I did! here it is....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mKB-8WUB5k&lis...
Chris Harris said:
Note to self - must get new thesaurus. Pull quotes from the story, they don't seem especially luke-warm to me.
“blinding bit of kit.”
“I really couldn't feel any difference on the road or the track" (between coupe and spider)
“intriguing, talented, banzai-fast”
“This really is an anytime, anywhere machine.”
“it copes with changing surfaces better than any other car of its type and the driver has several different configurations to chose from - most of which are actually usable”
“in manual mode it feels as fast as anything I've driven this year. It also now sounds far more aggressive.”
I just prefer the coupe, which is my favourite car in that class now after the powertrain updates. I seem to remember doing a video about how much I liked the 12C Coupe - at a time when many people were misunderstanding it. Ah yes: I did! here it is....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mKB-8WUB5k&lis...
You have probably highlighted how difficult your job is as the written word is much less emotive than the spoken one, especially if video is involved. I have to say that having just read the review in Autocar by Steve Sutcliffe before reading yours on PH I actually got the impression that Steve loved the car and you weren't particularly moved by it. Maybe it was this which made me think you felt that way - "According to the rule, that must make it a blinding bit of kit." I read that as meaning that the rule said it, but rules don't always work.“blinding bit of kit.”
“I really couldn't feel any difference on the road or the track" (between coupe and spider)
“intriguing, talented, banzai-fast”
“This really is an anytime, anywhere machine.”
“it copes with changing surfaces better than any other car of its type and the driver has several different configurations to chose from - most of which are actually usable”
“in manual mode it feels as fast as anything I've driven this year. It also now sounds far more aggressive.”
I just prefer the coupe, which is my favourite car in that class now after the powertrain updates. I seem to remember doing a video about how much I liked the 12C Coupe - at a time when many people were misunderstanding it. Ah yes: I did! here it is....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mKB-8WUB5k&lis...
The comment you have made here that it is your favourite car in the class didn't come across to me in your review so thanks for the clarification.
Rawwr said:
jl34 said:
Fabulous car. However what crap journalism!!
Read Steve Sutcliffe report in Autocar, he manages to convey the emotions felt when experiencing this car. Chris Harris is not driving a Porsche so is incapable of putting his personal preferences aside for the benefit of us less fortunate readers
The trouble is, if you take a man who has only ever driven a Ford Escort and then put him in any supercar, that car will automatically become THE BEST CAR IN THE WORLD EVER! If you take a man who has driven everything, he'll be harder to impress and a hell of a lot more likely to be objective about what he's driving. So, because Chris Harris hasn't filled his boxers with semen at just the thought of driving this, we can probably assume that it maybe isn't as exciting and interesting as other vehicles available.Read Steve Sutcliffe report in Autocar, he manages to convey the emotions felt when experiencing this car. Chris Harris is not driving a Porsche so is incapable of putting his personal preferences aside for the benefit of us less fortunate readers
Your mileage may vary.
Don't like convertibles at the best of times and I think the coupe asthetically looks better but if it's as good as Harris says it is I do admire it!
In the rain forest that is the west country at the moment I'd save the £20k and put that towards running it and some day trips / track days surely?!
In the rain forest that is the west country at the moment I'd save the £20k and put that towards running it and some day trips / track days surely?!
toppstuff said:
gaucimiura said:
sgq89 said:
I'd still take the Ferrari 458 every single day of the week. The performance difference is nominal, the Ferrari is 100 times better looking in my opinion, both inside and out, and I'd look forward to getting in it. To me, this just looks like a big Lotus, pretty bland styling. Good luck to you if you have one, but doesn't move me in the slightest. Car design in general is at an all time low I feel!
Couldn't agree more. The MP4 does nothing for me. Don't know why exactly because the Mac F1 still ranks as one of the finest cars ever conceived and created. The MP4 just seems to lack soul. A car like this should move you just by looking at it. Also, I worry when you can start choosing how your car sounds from a list of three options. I know most modern supercars' exhaust notes are tuned but surely a car should sound how it sounds? A car as a PC. Upload the updates as and when. Give me a 458 every time. Or even an 355.I would never buy a modern Ferrari. Ever. Just don't like the image. Don't the like the whole Tifosi, bella machina, rosso red with creme, pasta carbonara , ciao baby b
ks that goes with the brand. McLaren every time for me. Built by no-nonsense men in a factory in Surrey. Stiff upper lip, carry on chaps, upwards and onwards.
In short, McLaren are Ron Dennis in a grey suit, or Andy Green in his RAF overalls.
Ferrari is Borat in a lime green mankini and Sheikh Abdul Muhammed in Ferrari world in Abu Dhabi. Or 14 year old boys that never grow up.
McLaren every time. No contest.
Back on topic - I must say that this is not Chris Harris' finest work. He seems to have phoned it in.
gaucimiura said:
Couldn't agree more. The MP4 does nothing for me. Don't know why exactly because the Mac F1 still ranks as one of the finest cars ever conceived and created. The MP4 just seems to lack soul.
I had the good fortune to be given the keys to a friends mp4 recently. Soul? Jesus Christ. It oozes character, the performance utterly mind scrambling, the quality of materials, build and engineering peerless, I'm utterly sold after 10 minutes. It's the ONLY modern car I could ever see myself buying. Go drive one and tell me it's souless
fbrs said:
I had the good fortune to be given the keys to a friends mp4 recently. Soul? Jesus Christ. It oozes character, the performance utterly mind scrambling, the quality of materials, build and engineering peerless, I'm utterly sold after 10 minutes. It's the ONLY modern car I could ever see myself buying. Go drive one and tell me it's souless
t.It's the best engineered car out there, and now they've taken the roof off it looks fantastic too.
It could have all the feedback in the world and the verbal garbage 'soul' brigade would still moan.
jl34 said:
Fabulous car. However what crap journalism!!
Read Steve Sutcliffe report in Autocar, he manages to convey the emotions felt when experiencing this car. Chris Harris is not driving a Porsche so is incapable of putting his personal preferences aside for the benefit of us less fortunate readers
I suppose you prefer Chris had gushed over the car, describing every intimate detail about the driving experience? That would be like the movie Groundhog Day...Read Steve Sutcliffe report in Autocar, he manages to convey the emotions felt when experiencing this car. Chris Harris is not driving a Porsche so is incapable of putting his personal preferences aside for the benefit of us less fortunate readers
The Spider is simply a variation of a model that most of us are very familiar with. It would be tiresome if he were to cover all that ground again as if he'd never previously driven the car and we'd never seen or read anything about it. Instead he focused on the differences and unsurprisingly they are only slight.
A couple of things surprised my about this review.
the first was Chris taking issue with McLaren's upgrade strategy.
"This is now version 10 of the McLaren powertrain project, which is something the company is trying to present as a positive example of the way it intends to continuously develop cars throughout their lifetime. It's a nice attempt at parrying criticism of the car not being quite finished at launch, but we're not fooled. In the road car world, one version done well and from the start tends to be preferable."
I personally have a huge amount of respect for any company who can admit when they have perhaps not hit the mark with certain aspects of their product once it is in the hands of the owners and are committed to continually improving things and supplying those improvements to all owners free of charge.
The vast majority of manufacturers would either have arrogantly believed that the owners/press were wrong or basically held back all of the improvements until the next generation of the vehicle is launched.
As an example if you want to upgrade the gearbox/launch software on a 2008-2010 model Nissan GTR to the improved 2012 spec you would need to pay £300+ for the privelege.
My other surprise is that Chris comments that wind noise is quite poor at higher speeds. With McLaren striving for engineering perfection in everything they do it does seem to be rather a large oversight. I wonder if they'll sort it out with an upgrade?
the first was Chris taking issue with McLaren's upgrade strategy.
"This is now version 10 of the McLaren powertrain project, which is something the company is trying to present as a positive example of the way it intends to continuously develop cars throughout their lifetime. It's a nice attempt at parrying criticism of the car not being quite finished at launch, but we're not fooled. In the road car world, one version done well and from the start tends to be preferable."
I personally have a huge amount of respect for any company who can admit when they have perhaps not hit the mark with certain aspects of their product once it is in the hands of the owners and are committed to continually improving things and supplying those improvements to all owners free of charge.
The vast majority of manufacturers would either have arrogantly believed that the owners/press were wrong or basically held back all of the improvements until the next generation of the vehicle is launched.
As an example if you want to upgrade the gearbox/launch software on a 2008-2010 model Nissan GTR to the improved 2012 spec you would need to pay £300+ for the privelege.
My other surprise is that Chris comments that wind noise is quite poor at higher speeds. With McLaren striving for engineering perfection in everything they do it does seem to be rather a large oversight. I wonder if they'll sort it out with an upgrade?
If you read soulless as mechanical perfection then perhaps it makes sense. Something which does everything so well, so competently, time after time, can almost feel robotic.
Living creatures don't do that, they make mistakes and because we understand that, we perceive things that have 'foibles' to have some sort of character, especially when the rear half of them bursts into flames.
Living creatures don't do that, they make mistakes and because we understand that, we perceive things that have 'foibles' to have some sort of character, especially when the rear half of them bursts into flames.
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff