RE: McLaren Senna: Driven
Discussion
shortar53 said:
RacerMike said:
Don't be silly. It's a no compromise track car for the road that's 2s slower than a no compromise track car (GT3 car) despite having an extra 300bhp and allegedly 200kg more downforce 
Better hope no-one takes the restrictors off their 650S GT3....
Or puts track slicks on their Senna. Better hope no-one takes the restrictors off their 650S GT3....
WCZ said:
Civpilot said:
Better hope nobody puts slicks on their Senna...
Read the article again, that '2 seconds slower' time is while still wearing road tyres! Which is seriously impressive.
whilst I love the senna it does make me wonder what the results of making a 650s gt3 road legal would be, presumably not far off the senna if it had the same tyres? Read the article again, that '2 seconds slower' time is while still wearing road tyres! Which is seriously impressive.
Stuff like: a passenger seat, pedestrian impact tests (remove aggressive aero addenda), emissions regs, NVH considerations (sound deadening, bushes to absorb some vibration etc.), cooling, gearbox and brakes that work in traffic. Then you have the niceties like nose lift, climate control, sat nav, parking sensors etc.
Strap on some slicks and the Senna should find a couple of seconds to match a GT3.
Put all the above onto a GT3 car and I reckon it’ll add more than 2 seconds to it’s lap time - especially losing the more extreme aero parts.
Yes you could just buy a GT3 car for track work and have another nice road car but there is something very naughty about having a car like the Senna which you can drive on the road, whenever the whim takes you.
At £750k it’s clearly not for everyone but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t fulfil it’s brief perfectly.
Maldini35 said:
WCZ said:
Civpilot said:
Better hope nobody puts slicks on their Senna...
Read the article again, that '2 seconds slower' time is while still wearing road tyres! Which is seriously impressive.
whilst I love the senna it does make me wonder what the results of making a 650s gt3 road legal would be, presumably not far off the senna if it had the same tyres? Read the article again, that '2 seconds slower' time is while still wearing road tyres! Which is seriously impressive.
Stuff like: a passenger seat, pedestrian impact tests (remove aggressive aero addenda), emissions regs, NVH considerations (sound deadening, bushes to absorb some vibration etc.), cooling, gearbox and brakes that work in traffic. Then you have the niceties like nose lift, climate control, sat nav, parking sensors etc.
Strap on some slicks and the Senna should find a couple of seconds to match a GT3.
Put all the above onto a GT3 car and I reckon it’ll add more than 2 seconds to it’s lap time - especially losing the more extreme aero parts.
Yes you could just buy a GT3 car for track work and have another nice road car but there is something very naughty about having a car like the Senna which you can drive on the road, whenever the whim takes you.
At £750k it’s clearly not for everyone but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t fulfil it’s brief perfectly.
I see in Tim's latest GT3 video he says it isn't a great road car as its too track focussed so I don't imagine the Senna will fare any better.
You'll probably see these parked up in circuit paddocks while their owners race their GT3 cars.
RacerMike said:
shortar53 said:
RacerMike said:
Don't be silly. It's a no compromise track car for the road that's 2s slower than a no compromise track car (GT3 car) despite having an extra 300bhp and allegedly 200kg more downforce Better hope no-one takes the restrictors off their 650S GT3....
Or puts track slicks on their Senna. Better hope no-one takes the restrictors off their 650S GT3....- a passenger seat
- pedestrian impact tests (remove aggressive aero addenda)
- pass emissions regs
- indicators
- electric windows
- NVH considerations (sound deadening, bushes to absorb some vibration etc.)
- cooling, gearbox and brakes that work in traffic without overheating
- nose lift
- sat nav
- climate control
That would lot would slow a GT3 car down a fair bit - especially losing the extreme aero.
I guess we’ll never know but it’s fun to speculate
Davey S2 said:
Maldini35 said:
WCZ said:
Civpilot said:
Better hope nobody puts slicks on their Senna...
Read the article again, that '2 seconds slower' time is while still wearing road tyres! Which is seriously impressive.
whilst I love the senna it does make me wonder what the results of making a 650s gt3 road legal would be, presumably not far off the senna if it had the same tyres? Read the article again, that '2 seconds slower' time is while still wearing road tyres! Which is seriously impressive.
Stuff like: a passenger seat, pedestrian impact tests (remove aggressive aero addenda), emissions regs, NVH considerations (sound deadening, bushes to absorb some vibration etc.), cooling, gearbox and brakes that work in traffic. Then you have the niceties like nose lift, climate control, sat nav, parking sensors etc.
Strap on some slicks and the Senna should find a couple of seconds to match a GT3.
Put all the above onto a GT3 car and I reckon it’ll add more than 2 seconds to it’s lap time - especially losing the more extreme aero parts.
Yes you could just buy a GT3 car for track work and have another nice road car but there is something very naughty about having a car like the Senna which you can drive on the road, whenever the whim takes you.
At £750k it’s clearly not for everyone but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t fulfil it’s brief perfectly.
I see in Tim's latest GT3 video he says it isn't a great road car as its too track focussed so I don't imagine the Senna will fare any better.
You'll probably see these parked up in circuit paddocks while their owners race their GT3 cars.
You might be right about seeing them parked up in race paddocks though.
I 8 a 4RE said:
Why would anyone buy this over a Ferrari / Porsche / McLaren / Audi GT3 car that is about a third of the price and can be run by your local GT racing team?
because MONEY does not equal TALENT!Buy a real racing car, and chances are, you'll be driving round at the blunt end of the field, and most probably, spend the majority of the time in the gravel waiting for the tow truck when your really fast but hard to drive race car bites you in the ass.
Whereas, with your Senna, you are surrounded by people paid to say "wow, that's amazing, you are really driving fast" because there is no actually competition or objective rating.
You've only got to look at the statistics for rich business men and helicopter crashes to see that rich blokes don't like being told what to do.......
All this micro-analysis of tyres and lap times is all well and good, but does anyone really think that someone in a position to buy a £750,000 car gives a s
t? I know if I were in that position I’d have one just to go to the shops for a pint of milk whilst smiling at the armchair race engineers losing their mind 
t? I know if I were in that position I’d have one just to go to the shops for a pint of milk whilst smiling at the armchair race engineers losing their mind Max_Torque said:
Buy a real racing car, and chances are, you'll be driving round at the blunt end of the field, and most probably, spend the majority of the time in the gravel waiting for the tow truck when your really fast but hard to drive race car bites you in the ass.
Although interestingly, a modern GT3 car isn't actually very difficult to drive at all! GT4 cars are significantly harder, and it's why you see less of a lap delta between Pro's and Am's in GT3 than you do in other series. Realistically, a compete AM (admittedly with some interest in racing) can quite happily get within 2s of a Pro drive in British GT or Blancpain which is fairly astonishing given the cornering speeds.Kenny Powers said:
All this micro-analysis of tyres and lap times is all well and good, but does anyone really think that someone in a position to buy a £750,000 car gives a st? I know if I were in that position I’d have one just to go to the shops for a pint of milk whilst smiling at the armchair race engineers losing their mind
Hell yeah! I'd do the same! t? I know if I were in that position I’d have one just to go to the shops for a pint of milk whilst smiling at the armchair race engineers losing their mind epom said:
As for the article critics, you didn't pay to read it, if you don't like it......
Amanitin said:
Gameface said:
Amanitin said:
article says
"The Senna costs £750,000 before options"
no it doesn't. Its price is 'Enquire Now', and I'll bet it is closer to 1.5M.
What you on about?"The Senna costs £750,000 before options"
no it doesn't. Its price is 'Enquire Now', and I'll bet it is closer to 1.5M.
RacerMike said:
Max_Torque said:
Buy a real racing car, and chances are, you'll be driving round at the blunt end of the field, and most probably, spend the majority of the time in the gravel waiting for the tow truck when your really fast but hard to drive race car bites you in the ass.
Although interestingly, a modern GT3 car isn't actually very difficult to drive at all! GT4 cars are significantly harder, and it's why you see less of a lap delta between Pro's and Am's in GT3 than you do in other series. Realistically, a compete AM (admittedly with some interest in racing) can quite happily get within 2s of a Pro drive in British GT or Blancpain which is fairly astonishing given the cornering speeds.Being 2sec off the ultimate lap time in a Senna on a track where you aren't racing is not just irrelevant, it's very difficult to spot from the passenger seat, meaning you can impress your rich mates with your wheelmanship...... ;-)
Gameface said:
Terminator X said:
On topic why would you spec the glass at almost £6k?!
At this level?Because you can...
I am much more interested in how this type of car sells and goes etc now that the FIA are talking about a "hypercar" class in the WEC. Surely it's destined for that?
I'm suddenly impressed by a spec, the weight is not dry as too often somewhat misleadingly stated (AM DBS SuperNotSoLeggera), but DIN. So basically fuelled kerb weight is 1300kg. That's like 1200kg or bit less dry.
That is very impressive for something with a V8 and 800hp. And so driveable. Pure academically, will be interesting to see road tests on usability and some lap times all the same. And hoping owners will actually drive it, like Mr. Atkinson did his F1...
That is very impressive for something with a V8 and 800hp. And so driveable. Pure academically, will be interesting to see road tests on usability and some lap times all the same. And hoping owners will actually drive it, like Mr. Atkinson did his F1...
Max_Torque said:
RacerMike said:
Max_Torque said:
Buy a real racing car, and chances are, you'll be driving round at the blunt end of the field, and most probably, spend the majority of the time in the gravel waiting for the tow truck when your really fast but hard to drive race car bites you in the ass.
Although interestingly, a modern GT3 car isn't actually very difficult to drive at all! GT4 cars are significantly harder, and it's why you see less of a lap delta between Pro's and Am's in GT3 than you do in other series. Realistically, a compete AM (admittedly with some interest in racing) can quite happily get within 2s of a Pro drive in British GT or Blancpain which is fairly astonishing given the cornering speeds.Being 2sec off the ultimate lap time in a Senna on a track where you aren't racing is not just irrelevant, it's very difficult to spot from the passenger seat, meaning you can impress your rich mates with your wheelmanship...... ;-)
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