Anyone found any good luggage?

[samoht]

Having just joined the ranks of McLaren owners and with thoughts turning to warmer weather and longer trips, I'm naturally thinking about how best to pack my new 570GT.

I find myself underwhelmed with the fitted luggage offerings; I'm not convinced that slicing the boot space up into three thin cases yields the most useable result:

https://www.cksperformance.com/products/mclaren-lu...
And while I appreciate the low volumes are part of it, for £1600 I'd want something amazing in every respect, which these don't quite convince me of.


I'm thinking a single large wheeled suitcase would be more packable and easier to carry around than three thin ones.

I actually got a full-size Samsonite to sit in the frunk, but of course it's too tall for the lid to close

that blue case is quoted as 75 x 51 x 31cm and 94L capacity

it's the middle dimension, 51cm that's key; I think the available height declines from 52cm to 45cm as you go forwards. So something around 45cm wide seems about right.

The best shot I've found online is this Delsey
https://int.delsey.com/en-gb/products/002087820-tr...
which is 67x44x28cm and 77L, but can also expand width-wise.


For behind the seats I'm thinking a couple of holdalls one each side, as the space is long and thin and doesn't really suit any hard-frame cases.


So... what do you do about packing your McLaren? Any cases you've found that maximise the available volume(s)? Any gotchas?

[andrew]

surely some sainsburys bags would be more flexible in eking out every inch of space ?

[samoht]

andrew said:

surely some sainsburys bags would be more flexible in eking out every inch of space ?

Yes, however there are two further goals to optimise, as well as space efficiency:
- not having too many separate bags (much easier to carry say two bags each than five each)
- being able to roll some of the luggage rather than heft it

Carrier bags would end up being too many, and also stuff can fall out. Larger soft bags seem a better bet, but then could be a bit heavy and awkward to carry I fear. Hence looking towards one medium size suitcase and two or three medium size bags.

[justin220]

Soft luggage for me, much more flexible and easier to also pack into the rear shelf.

I've got a set of Aston Martin luggage which works perfectly. It's very subtle and looks just like a normal bag, no garish badges etc.

This isn't the exact set I've got, but similar. Not sure if McLaren offer something similar?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/202710042752?mkcid=16&a...

[andrew]

justin220 said:

Soft luggage for me, much more flexible and easier to also pack into the rear shelf.

I've got a set of Aston Martin luggage which works perfectly. It's very subtle and looks just like a normal bag, no garish badges etc.

This isn't the exact set I've got, but similar. Not sure if McLaren offer something similar?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/202710042752?mkcid=16&a...

£3.7k ???

that's about the combined value of everything that i've ever squeezed into my car
hookers and coke included

[DRZ]

Speak to Colin Surman at BagWorld. He makes custom luggage for cars and will make them to whatever dimensions you want. Cost for a 5 piece set for my GT was around £1k in leather with a few little extra touches. I've not got around to actually ordering a set yet but I did visit his place and was measured up and given the tour and so on and got to handle some real-world example luggage. He's done quite a few sets for people on PH including the luggage you see in the MSO 1 thread.

Other than that, I just have some leather soft bags and my usual carry-on Samsonite stuff which does me most of the time.

[justin220]

andrew said:

£3.7k ???

that's about the combined value of everything that i've ever squeezed into my car
hookers and coke included

Yeah madness. I actually got them free from Aston when they struggled to diagnose a stalling issue. Nice gesture

Agree with the custom made option, didn't realise it wouldn't be too expensive

[ex-devonpaul]

Odd how the prices of custom luggage seem to based on the cars they fit in. I think custom soft luggage is the way to go with odd shapes.

Someone was punting out 3 custom bags to fit in the cubbyhole behind the seats of an MR2 roadster for about £60 when we had ours. OK, they weren.t the poshest things in the world, but they worked very well. Seem to be similar available for about £120 now.

I'm surprised the owners' group hasn't done some sort of group buy.

[samoht]

DRZ said:

Speak to Colin Surman at BagWorld. He makes custom luggage for cars and will make them to whatever dimensions you want. Cost for a 5 piece set for my GT was around £1k in leather with a few little extra touches. I've not got around to actually ordering a set yet but I did visit his place and was measured up and given the tour and so on and got to handle some real-world example luggage. He's done quite a few sets for people on PH including the luggage you see in the MSO 1 thread.

BagWorld sounds good, thanks. Given that individual bags can easily cost a few hundred quid, that sounds like a fair price too.

[alscar]

DRZ said:

Speak to Colin Surman at BagWorld. He makes custom luggage for cars and will make them to whatever dimensions you want. Cost for a 5 piece set for my GT was around £1k in leather with a few little extra touches. I've not got around to actually ordering a set yet but I did visit his place and was measured up and given the tour and so on and got to handle some real-world example luggage. He's done quite a few sets for people on PH including the luggage you see in the MSO 1 thread.

Other than that, I just have some leather soft bags and my usual carry-on Samsonite stuff which does me most of the time.

Another vote for Colin. I had a set of 3 bags plus 2 shoe bags made up for the front of my R8.
From memory in vinyl total cost was around £700.
Totally made to measure and huge choice of colours / piping etc.

[LotusJas]

Another vote for Surman Bespoke.

They did my luggage, and I spotted they were doing the luggage for a pair of McLaren SLR cars being upgraded at MSO too.

Really nice quality - the workmanship, design, soft Italian leather and even the mesh "volcano orange" lining.

[The rapid detailer]

LotusJas said:

Another vote for Surman Bespoke.

They did my luggage, and I spotted they were doing the luggage for a pair of McLaren SLR cars being upgraded at MSO too.

Really nice quality - the workmanship, design, soft Italian leather and even the mesh "volcano orange" lining.

Looking good sir. Nice to see your car again. I’m Chris we looked after your car and all the others at London Concours last year. Will you be back this year?

[LotusJas]

The rapid detailer said:

Looking good sir. Nice to see your car again. I’m Chris we looked after your car and all the others at London Concours last year. Will you be back this year?

Thanks Chris, and I remember you well. Thanks for looking after MSO1 at the Concours

Unfortunately I'm not planning on doing that particular event again.

It was a fantastic event and the location itself is excellent....BUT the drive through London to get there and back was beyond stressful. Cyclists and other drivers pulling phones out to photograph and film. More than one cyclist stopped right in front, turned and took pics on their phone. I was so wary of hitting someone.

And then there are the kerbs and anti-car measures everywhere.

I can't face driving a supercar in central London again