Awesome Artura

[Frimley111R]

Beautiful, my 'next car'.

I was at McLaren Bracknell drooling over one this week (slummed it there in my Emira!). I don't see what's not to like about it. It seems ultra modern and not stupidly big.

[SchillingTwo]

As someone who’s not looked at buying an Artura my concern would be the maintenance costs over the medium term.

It’s the first mainstream hybrid car they’ve produced and as such feels as though it could develop some cripplingly expensive issues a few years down the road.

To pick one possible example, they’ve really messed up in terms of corrosion in the past, what will be the cost if it turns out to be an issue on the battery pack?

Hopefully they’ll be completely reliable for years to come, but I’m more comfortable with the more traditional setup of a 650s for now.

[Frimley111R]

If the last 10 years have proven anything, it's that batteries are reliable and long lived.

[ChrisW.]

The interesting thing about batteries is that they continue to improve in every respect which may offer future performance advantages ... and I believe that the current cost of a new battery is £6k ... not a mind blowing number.

As for values .... I paid £150k for mine at 1000 miles and nine months old ... and 6000 miles and 17 months later I would be surprised if it wasn't worth £135k. Compared to the depreciation on almost any new car, that's peanuts and the car had a remaining four years warranty and three free services ...

What would the cost of finance have been ?

[SchillingTwo]

Frimley111R said:

If the last 10 years have proven anything, it's that batteries are reliable and long lived.

So are carbon fibre panels and paint but McLaren still managed to produce painted carbon fibre panels that decayed.

It’s not the underlying technology I’m questioning but McLaren’s choice of materials and quality control in assembly.

Look at the accumulators for another example, I’m on my third set now and until a third party had them better made they were £6,000 a time to supply and fit.

[Frankychops]

ripley500 said:

Grant3 said:

Good to hear your Artura has been reliable Ripley500, the Spyder adds another dimension

One minor things on my list of don t likes (along with the dash rattle) is the oil check, I know it s a dry sump, but the car made me sit at 3000rpm for 120 seconds before just saying "oil level ok", no min-max etc bit of a faff .

Meanwhile the blo*dy thing keeps calling me to take it out for a drive.. it s addictive and makes you grow horns :

Yes the oil level is a bit of a pain - in previous mclarens it was about 60 seconds to get an actual digital dipstick reading. Sitting for 2 minutes revving the car, my mrs thinks I'm nuts or 'showing off'!

Oil needs to be warm before it’ll read.

[ChrisW.]

SchillingTwo said:

Frimley111R said:

If the last 10 years have proven anything, it's that batteries are reliable and long lived.

So are carbon fibre panels and paint but McLaren still managed to produce painted carbon fibre panels that decayed.

It s not the underlying technology I m questioning but McLaren s choice of materials and quality control in assembly.

Look at the accumulators for another example, I m on my third set now and until a third party had them better made they were £6,000 a time to supply and fit.

And it's specialist service operations who have resurrected the prices and created manageable running costs of the 12C / 650S and sports series cars in particular. They also have bottomed the issue of corrosion if you take a look at the latest from Thorney. Paint deterioration on aluminium and composite panels is not unique to McLaren ... maybe your concerns have been / are being overwritten with much much better news ??

The latest accumulators are rechargeable ... the originals deteriorated over time by design ... but you know that.

[SchillingTwo]

ChrisW. said:

And it's specialist service operations who have resurrected the prices and created manageable running costs of the 12C / 650S and sports series cars in particular. They also have bottomed the issue of corrosion if you take a look at the latest from Thorney. Paint deterioration on aluminium and composite panels is not unique to McLaren ... maybe your concerns have been / are being overwritten with much much better news ??

The latest accumulators are rechargeable ... the originals deteriorated over time by design ... but you know that.

Deteriorated by design? How so? You are claiming that it was a deliberate choice to have them fail?

Are you really trying as a non-owner to lecture someone who’s owned one for ten years about the ownership experience?

[ChrisW.]

SchillingTwo said:

ChrisW. said:

And it's specialist service operations who have resurrected the prices and created manageable running costs of the 12C / 650S and sports series cars in particular. They also have bottomed the issue of corrosion if you take a look at the latest from Thorney. Paint deterioration on aluminium and composite panels is not unique to McLaren ... maybe your concerns have been / are being overwritten with much much better news ??

The latest accumulators are rechargeable ... the originals deteriorated over time by design ... but you know that.

Deteriorated by design? How so? You are claiming that it was a deliberate choice to have them fail?

Are you really trying as a non-owner to lecture someone who s owned one for ten years about the ownership experience?

I'm not lecturing anybody, I'm pointing out that you probably know that a better design has been manufactured with a certain indie ... the originals lost pressure over time and could not be recharged, but you know that. As for paint, there is a better process that Thorney claim is a one time fix. It needs to be said ... for new (prospective) owners to check out for themselves.
You still have your 650S ... I guess for a reason. I had a 12C in the very early days.

[Grant3]

With the Artura I think they have taken a giant leap forward from the ground up in terms of functionality, technology snd future proofing while retaining their core lightweight drivers car credentials. my used car came with 3 years warranty and 2 free services.

Tell me what else in the £120-150k range can match the modern supercar package offered by Artura? To me they are now offering real value now the depreciation curve is slowing. Yes they have dropped rapidly from new but so do most high end sports cars - Aston s, Bentleys, Maseratis, even most Ferrari s now.

It seems to be a fashion to hate on hybrids, but I think it s the future. I can understand the cost fear on a Ferrari 296 where a new battery will cost you nearly 30k, but 6k on the Mclaren isn t the end of the world ( it comes with 6 years warranty) and you can test before purchase, mine was 98.49% at 2 years old 7k miles!

In the Artura you have supercar performance and looks, real drivers car involvement, awesome performance and all the modern convenience's rolled into one while still being light weight -stuff like a fantastic stereo, adaptive cruise, auto lights/wipers, adaptive headlights, parking cameras, keyless go, lift, smartphone integration etc etc.

The elephant in the room is still reliability, that remains to be seen!

Here s an interesting video on "driver s car value" which features the Artura

Edited by Grant3 on Wednesday 29th July 23:31

[ex-devonpaul]

Grant3 said:

Tell me what else in the £120-150k range can match the modern supercar package offered by Artura? To me they are now offering real value now the depreciation curve is slowing.

12 months ago the cheapest Artura was IIRC £130k at a place in Kidderminster, with several around the £140k range.

I'd consider a £10k drop in asking prices on a £130k car pretty good residuals. GTs seem to have dropped more.

[718GT]

Would an Artura be a step up from the GT. Currently mulling over the change.

[samoht]

718GT said:

Would an Artura be a step up from the GT. Currently mulling over the change.

If you mean the McLaren GT, then I think yes. The GT is based on the older Sports Series but with the 4.0 engine, whereas the Artura is effectively the second-gen Sports Series (albeit McLaren no longer call it that).

More power, less lag, mechanical LSD, better ergonomics (mode switches closer to the wheel). Not sure you'd be giving much up apart from luggage space and arguably the GT looks more of a supercar.

[naboo]

718GT said:

Would an Artura be a step up from the GT. Currently mulling over the change.

I did exactly that! I loved my GT, fabulous car, easy to live with, the Artura's just different. It feels tighter, more focused, not exactly aggressive but more on the nose if that makes sense? There's things I miss about the GT, the luggage space for starters but really for me it's more about the sense of theatre the Artura gives. It's smaller, lower, a little more feisty... I love them both but the Artura ticks more boxes for me. That said I they're different characters but very much both McLarens.

[naboo]

ChrisW. said:

The interesting thing about batteries is that they continue to improve in every respect which may offer future performance advantages ... and I believe that the current cost of a new battery is £6k ... not a mind blowing number.

As for values .... I paid £150k for mine at 1000 miles and nine months old ... and 6000 miles and 17 months later I would be surprised if it wasn't worth £135k. Compared to the depreciation on almost any new car, that's peanuts and the car had a remaining four years warranty and three free services ...

What would the cost of finance have been ?

I've been reliably informed that with the Artura battery it's possible to replace individual cells within, so should one fail it's not necessary to replace the entire unit. With you on depreciation too, Artura's seem to be holding up well in a tough market.

[Grant3]

The trouble is …the beastie keeps pulling me out for a drive…. once you settle into the clubsport buckets and grab that chunky wheel you genuinely feel wired in and part of the machine - the throttle response is instant, the grunt epic, and you can feel the road surface through the steering and the suspension (without it being over harsh like a GT3!) - you think it around corners completely flat. And I have even used electric mode to go quietly past the neighbours house!

So far so good, although 13.9 mpg on my last 20 mile drive means I’ll get to know the local super unleaded dispenser very well

[naboo]

Grant3 said:

The trouble is the beastie keeps pulling me out for a drive . once you settle into the clubsport buckets and grab that chunky wheel you genuinely feel wired in and part of the machine - the throttle response is instant, the grunt epic, and you can feel the road surface through the steering and the suspension (without it being over harsh like a GT3!) - you think it around corners completely flat. And I have even used electric mode to go quietly past the neighbours house!

So far so good, although 13.9 mpg on my last 20 mile drive means I ll get to know the local super unleaded dispenser very well

In a nutshell.... the seats, the way you feel connected with the car, with you 100%. I usually manage around 25mpg though, that's using track mode for a chunk of the drive too, maybe I should try harder?

[Grant3]

naboo said:

In a nutshell.... the seats, the way you feel connected with the car, with you 100%. I usually manage around 25mpg though, that's using track mode for a chunk of the drive too, maybe I should try harder?

note to naboo… must try harder

[Nijj]

I must really really try harder

[Nijj]

I’m looking to sell mine in 3 weeks as upgrading to a lambo Temerario- been awesome car and shame really that I’m selling at the bottom end of the depreciation curve but yolo. Mine has not been a garage queen as you can tell by the mileage but the Macs are better being used. Only reliability problems I’ve had is with the key battery suddenly dyeing leaving you unable to start car. I now keep a spare battery in the door cubbyhole and the e-diff light coming on and then disappearing once battery fully charged.