Flemke - Is this your McLaren? (Vol 5)

[S1KRR]

flemke said:

... As has been said, the tight point for a passenger (at least for one who is not fat) is at the shoulders - you're pretty well squeezed in there, with little scope for being thrown around.


…


With its open shoulders, the driver's seat is much more comfortable than the passengers' seats are.

You've never sought to have this changed? If only for the comfort of close family/friends. Or do you so infrequently have passengers along that it's irrelevant?

[flemke]

S1KRR said:

flemke said:

... As has been said, the tight point for a passenger (at least for one who is not fat) is at the shoulders - you're pretty well squeezed in there, with little scope for being thrown around.


…


With its open shoulders, the driver's seat is much more comfortable than the passengers' seats are.

You've never sought to have this changed? If only for the comfort of close family/friends. Or do you so infrequently have passengers along that it's irrelevant?

If you mean the width for the passengers' shoulders, on the outside is the door and on the inside is the fuel tank. They define the outer limits.
You can open up the space by stripping out the padding, as was done in the LM, but that has implications for noise and general comfort. (The increase in noise is irrelevant in the LM, as everything gets drowned out by the straight-cut gears anyhow.)
I'd rather keep it as is and ask my passengers to grin and bear it. So far I have had few complaints.

LM:

[F1natic]

flemke said:

The angle accommodates different length legs.

Thank you for confirming this detail Flemke.

I have noted that some interior shots have carpet that wraps from the foot panel around the tub spars and down onto the side of the drivers well (as per the photo above), whereas others have the carbon spars exposed. Was there a factory option for this detail?

Also thank you for giving so much time and care to this thread and keeping it alive with more detail than any other source I have found. I truly appreciate your dedication to answer the range of questions you get asked, even the ones on footwell carpet!

[thegreenhell]

flemke said:

Patrick Bateman said:

This may well have been asked before but have you ever considered lending your car to Harry Metcalfe for the day...?

A Harry's Garage on the McLaren F1 would be pinnacle.

...
I don't know what this "Harry's Garage" thing is. I suppose I should check it out.

Almost on cue, Harry publishes a review of the Carrera GT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWbjvcDML7A

[TyrannosauRoss Lex]

thegreenhell said:

flemke said:

Patrick Bateman said:

This may well have been asked before but have you ever considered lending your car to Harry Metcalfe for the day...?

A Harry's Garage on the McLaren F1 would be pinnacle.

...
I don't know what this "Harry's Garage" thing is. I suppose I should check it out.

Almost on cue, Harry publishes a review of the Carrera GT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWbjvcDML7A

It'd be great for him to do a McLaren F1 one, wouldn't it

[ArgonautX]

New member here, read the whole thread, awesome to share experience with such an iconic car.

Just watched Harry's garage review on the Carrera GT. Harry weighed it at 1386 kg "wet", which means it's only about 100 kg heavier than a F1, fine result for a bigger, newer car. Shame, IMHO, that they did not use the evolution of that V10 in the 918 - the RS Spyder based V8 if fine, but nowhere near as charismatic as the V10.

[Patrick Bateman]

More like around 200kg, assuming the quoted F1 weight is also 'wet'.

[ArgonautX]

Patrick Bateman said:

More like around 200kg, assuming the quoted F1 weight is also 'wet'.

According to Flemke himself, F1 weighs in around 1250-1280 kg, depending on equipment, wet on the road. So it's closer to around 100 kg weight difference.

[waremark]

ArgonautX said:

New member here, read the whole thread, awesome to share experience with such an iconic car.

Just watched Harry's garage review on the Carrera GT. Harry weighed it at 1386 kg "wet", which means it's only about 100 kg heavier than a F1, fine result for a bigger, newer car. Shame, IMHO, that they did not use the evolution of that V10 in the 918 - the RS Spyder based V8 if fine, but nowhere near as charismatic as the V10.

Many people have found the 918 to be a less involving and rewarding drive that the CGT - even if, and partly because it is much easier. In spite of that I seem to remember that Flemke commented very favourably on the 918, compared to the P1 which he had at the time.

I have only had a brief drive in a 918, but I found the experience of going through a village silently on electricity, and then hearing the wonderful exhaust note from the V8 barking into life from the exposed exhausts just behind your head exhilarating.

I look forward to watching Harry's CGT video.

[isaldiri]

ArgonautX said:

Patrick Bateman said:

More like around 200kg, assuming the quoted F1 weight is also 'wet'.

According to Flemke himself, F1 weighs in around 1250-1280 kg, depending on equipment, wet on the road. So it's closer to around 100 kg weight difference.

The car in Metcalfe's video had to have fumes in the tank (90litres) as fully fuelled the cgt would be a bit over 1450kg in most customer cars.

[ArgonautX]

isaldiri said:

The car in Metcalfe's video had to have fumes in the tank (90litres) as fully fuelled the cgt would be a bit over 1450kg in most customer cars.

I had a look at the video again, and you're right. At some point there is a shot of the dash and the petrol gauge is in the lower half

[flemke]

F1natic said:

flemke said:

The angle accommodates different length legs.

Thank you for confirming this detail Flemke.

I have noted that some interior shots have carpet that wraps from the foot panel around the tub spars and down onto the side of the drivers well (as per the photo above), whereas others have the carbon spars exposed. Was there a factory option for this detail?

Also thank you for giving so much time and care to this thread and keeping it alive with more detail than any other source I have found. I truly appreciate your dedication to answer the range of questions you get asked, even the ones on footwell carpet!

When I got my car it had the wrap-over carpet, which I had them change for three separate floor mats with no wrap-over at the fronts of the spars. It's not something that I have studied in other F1s, but I thought the wrap-over was standard and, looking at various images on Google, pretty much all the standard cars except mine have it.

[flemke]

ArgonautX said:

isaldiri said:

The car in Metcalfe's video had to have fumes in the tank (90litres) as fully fuelled the cgt would be a bit over 1450kg in most customer cars.

I had a look at the video again, and you're right. At some point there is a shot of the dash and the petrol gauge is in the lower half

The car manufacturers never tell us whether they weigh the reference car with or without fire extinguisher, warning triangle, spare tools, puncture sealant, floor mats, sound system (if only optional). There is a specification for "fuel level", but that varies from one standard of kerb weight to another and is therefore misleading. One could argue that dry weight is a better reference than kerb weight, because at least we know that dry weight includes nothing.
The original, official numbers for F1s were dry weights. The guys at MSO tell me that, in practice with an almost full tank plus all the above paraphernalia, a normal F1 weighs between 1250 and 1280. That has been my experience too.
As for CGT, although mine was corner-weighted I don't have the numbers to hand. In 2004 Car & Driver weighed one and came up with 1430, which seems about right.
https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/a15132548/por...

[ArgonautX]

flemke said:

The car manufacturers never tell us whether they weigh the reference car with or without fire extinguisher, warning triangle, spare tools, puncture sealant, floor mats, sound system (if only optional). There is a specification for "fuel level", but that varies from one standard of kerb weight to another and is therefore misleading. One could argue that dry weight is a better reference than kerb weight, because at least we know that dry weight includes nothing.
The original, official numbers for F1s were dry weights. The guys at MSO tell me that, in practice with an almost full tank plus all the above paraphernalia, a normal F1 weighs between 1250 and 1280. That has been my experience too.
As for CGT, although mine was corner-weighted I don't have the numbers to hand. In 2004 Car & Driver weighed one and came up with 1430, which seems about right.
https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/a15132548/por...

Have you ever driven a Lamborghini Sesto Elemento? I vaguely remember they supposedly made 20 of them, but I never saw one in RL. Supposedly 999 kg, I'm guessing dry.

[Sway]

ArgonautX said:

Have you ever driven a Lamborghini Sesto Elemento? I vaguely remember they supposedly made 20 of them, but I never saw one in RL. Supposedly 999 kg, I'm guessing dry.

I'd take any numbers like that from Lamborghini with an immense pinch of salt - especially when referring to a car made in such small numbers...

[flemke]

ArgonautX said:

flemke said:

The car manufacturers never tell us whether they weigh the reference car with or without fire extinguisher, warning triangle, spare tools, puncture sealant, floor mats, sound system (if only optional). There is a specification for "fuel level", but that varies from one standard of kerb weight to another and is therefore misleading. One could argue that dry weight is a better reference than kerb weight, because at least we know that dry weight includes nothing.
The original, official numbers for F1s were dry weights. The guys at MSO tell me that, in practice with an almost full tank plus all the above paraphernalia, a normal F1 weighs between 1250 and 1280. That has been my experience too.
As for CGT, although mine was corner-weighted I don't have the numbers to hand. In 2004 Car & Driver weighed one and came up with 1430, which seems about right.
https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/a15132548/por...

Have you ever driven a Lamborghini Sesto Elemento? I vaguely remember they supposedly made 20 of them, but I never saw one in RL. Supposedly 999 kg, I'm guessing dry.

Nope; no interest in those cars. I gather that it is a track-only car, which makes any attempt to compare it to real road cars nugatory.

[flemke]

Sway said:

ArgonautX said:

Have you ever driven a Lamborghini Sesto Elemento? I vaguely remember they supposedly made 20 of them, but I never saw one in RL. Supposedly 999 kg, I'm guessing dry.

I'd take any numbers like that from Lamborghini with an immense pinch of salt - especially when referring to a car made in such small numbers...

Agreed, but I just had a quick look at the description of the car and could see how they might get to that dry weight. No seats, air-con, sound system or carpet; carbon suspension parts (which are highly vulnerable to structural damage from stone-chipping, which is why they are never used in road cars); no side lights; probably no reversing light, fog light, indicators, or horn. Probably no air-bags or side impact structures, perhaps no silencing.
If you remove enough stuff that people actually want, eventually you can get down to nothing!

[Sway]

flemke said:

Sway said:

ArgonautX said:

Have you ever driven a Lamborghini Sesto Elemento? I vaguely remember they supposedly made 20 of them, but I never saw one in RL. Supposedly 999 kg, I'm guessing dry.

I'd take any numbers like that from Lamborghini with an immense pinch of salt - especially when referring to a car made in such small numbers...

Agreed, but I just had a quick look at the description of the car and could see how they might get to that dry weight. No seats, air-con, sound system or carpet; carbon suspension parts (which are highly vulnerable to structural damage from stone-chipping, which is why they are never used in road cars); no side lights; probably no reversing light, fog light, indicators, or horn. Probably no air-bags or side impact structures, perhaps no silencing.
If you remove enough stuff that people actually want, eventually you can get down to nothing!

Very true!!

I'd still take a kilo pinch of salt, even so...

Oh, and meant to thank you for your tips on colour experiences - reached out to a local art group, and now have a couple of great 'colour charts' a couple of members made for me, using oils and gouache. At the moment, it's a challenge just trying to learn how to process what I'm seeing - but even so, I am absolutely adoring the beauty and vibrancy in the world, even under the UK's crap light in winter...

[bolidemichael]

Glasgow was luminous one morning last
week.

[isaldiri]

flemke said:

As for CGT, although mine was corner-weighted I don't have the numbers to hand. In 2004 Car & Driver weighed one and came up with 1430, which seems about right.
https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/a15132548/por...

Iirc the sport auto supertest car weighed around 1470kg and they do it with full fuel.