2021 McLaren GT
Discussion
I have the car back with me in the UK 
After some delays getting the new fuel pump to Switzerland, the car was back together and ready to go on Monday. Unfortunately, McLaren Assist (aka "The AA") have been "very busy" and their estimated delivery date to get the car back to me on a covered transporter was 6-8 weeks. As you might expect, I hit the roof and called McLaren Client Services to see what could be done. After a bit of back and forth it became clear to me that the only way to improve on the timescales was to go and collect it myself which I put to McLaren and they agreed. They also agreed to cover the majority of my costs for collecting. Flights were booked - unfortunately I missed the boat on all direct flights that would have worked for me so I ended up flying via Frankfurt. My Star Alliance Gold status expired a few weeks back which is rotten timing too. Never mind... I made it to McLaren Geneva in good time. As I would imagine is commonplace, McLaren Geneva is not a one-make dealership - they are primarily Aston Martin and Rolls Royce but also retail McLaren and Koenigsegg cars. Their website suggested there might have been a Gemera there but sadly I couldn't find it if it was there at all. My car was driven out and handed over and with it freshly detailed etc and looking brand new I headed off toward France on the long, long drive home.
The first road I hit out of the dealership was a pretty incredible winding mountain road (https://goo.gl/maps/oeMzxYMkKAwEs4td7) which reminded me of exactly why I wanted a GT car that drives like this instead of something overweight and numb. In fact, most of the N roads from there up through to where I picked up the A39 near Poligny on the way toward Dijon were great - really nice flow to them and although I was respectful of the speed limits due to not having a co-driver I was still able to really enjoy the roads and the car. The issues I had experienced with the misfire etc were totally gone and a distant memory which was really, really welcome. By the time I'd got to Dijon, I'd covered about 100km of the 680km I needed to cover on Day 1 and was back in love with everything about the car. I had the longest unbroken motorway run of my ownership so far ahead of me and I wondered how I would be feeling at the end of it. I needn't have even given it a moment's thought - the GT really is BMW 5-series levels of ride comfort over long distances. The B&O sound system completely deals with the comparatively high levels of road noise as well so I arrived at my overnight hotel stop feeling much the same as I did at the start of my journey in Geneva. No mean feat considering I'd left for Manchester Airport at 3am and arrived at the hotel shortly after 10pm! Including the twisty mountain roads, I'd averaged just slightly over 35mpg over ~650km / 400 miles.
Day 2 was much the same - I left the hotel nice and early to try and get on an earlier crossing or deal with any queues in good time and thankfully the plan worked and I was allocated a slot on a train almost an hour ahead of schedule. The UK leg of the journey was comparatively dreadful - I am guessing that the train strikes made a significant impact on the traffic levels as once I'd got past the M25 the traffic up the M1 & M6 was pretty bad - I have never, ever queued for the tag lane on the M6 toll before but it took me almost 15 minutes to get through!! My time gains made at the tunnel were obliterated by this point and I got home just after 1pm after another ~350 mile drive.
Total combined mileage was a little over 750 miles with an average fuel consumption of about 32mpg (thanks entirely to the UK traffic being so bad - I expect it would have been somewhere around 35-36 otherwise).
I am super impressed. I doubt I will do so many miles in this fashion again in my ownership as I like to stop and see things on my long road trips but I know I could absolutely do it if I needed to. A 600+bhp, mid-engined carbon fibre-tubbed car has no right to be this capable both across distances like this and when you get it off the motorway onto the really twisty stuff. Yeah, it has broken down and caused me some temporary inconvenience but... what a machine!
P.S. I guess it goes with the territory when you buy a car in bright metallic orange but the amount of attention this car seems to get is far beyond what I expected. I had a car full of extremely excited Italians pull alongside me on the autoroute and the amount of arm waving, positive gestures etc etc was hilarious
Loads of people waved, gave me the thumbs up etc etc as I drove along which was ace as quite honestly I was expecting mostly jealousy and derision from other motorists.
After some delays getting the new fuel pump to Switzerland, the car was back together and ready to go on Monday. Unfortunately, McLaren Assist (aka "The AA") have been "very busy" and their estimated delivery date to get the car back to me on a covered transporter was 6-8 weeks. As you might expect, I hit the roof and called McLaren Client Services to see what could be done. After a bit of back and forth it became clear to me that the only way to improve on the timescales was to go and collect it myself which I put to McLaren and they agreed. They also agreed to cover the majority of my costs for collecting. Flights were booked - unfortunately I missed the boat on all direct flights that would have worked for me so I ended up flying via Frankfurt. My Star Alliance Gold status expired a few weeks back which is rotten timing too. Never mind... I made it to McLaren Geneva in good time. As I would imagine is commonplace, McLaren Geneva is not a one-make dealership - they are primarily Aston Martin and Rolls Royce but also retail McLaren and Koenigsegg cars. Their website suggested there might have been a Gemera there but sadly I couldn't find it if it was there at all. My car was driven out and handed over and with it freshly detailed etc and looking brand new I headed off toward France on the long, long drive home.
The first road I hit out of the dealership was a pretty incredible winding mountain road (https://goo.gl/maps/oeMzxYMkKAwEs4td7) which reminded me of exactly why I wanted a GT car that drives like this instead of something overweight and numb. In fact, most of the N roads from there up through to where I picked up the A39 near Poligny on the way toward Dijon were great - really nice flow to them and although I was respectful of the speed limits due to not having a co-driver I was still able to really enjoy the roads and the car. The issues I had experienced with the misfire etc were totally gone and a distant memory which was really, really welcome. By the time I'd got to Dijon, I'd covered about 100km of the 680km I needed to cover on Day 1 and was back in love with everything about the car. I had the longest unbroken motorway run of my ownership so far ahead of me and I wondered how I would be feeling at the end of it. I needn't have even given it a moment's thought - the GT really is BMW 5-series levels of ride comfort over long distances. The B&O sound system completely deals with the comparatively high levels of road noise as well so I arrived at my overnight hotel stop feeling much the same as I did at the start of my journey in Geneva. No mean feat considering I'd left for Manchester Airport at 3am and arrived at the hotel shortly after 10pm! Including the twisty mountain roads, I'd averaged just slightly over 35mpg over ~650km / 400 miles.
Day 2 was much the same - I left the hotel nice and early to try and get on an earlier crossing or deal with any queues in good time and thankfully the plan worked and I was allocated a slot on a train almost an hour ahead of schedule. The UK leg of the journey was comparatively dreadful - I am guessing that the train strikes made a significant impact on the traffic levels as once I'd got past the M25 the traffic up the M1 & M6 was pretty bad - I have never, ever queued for the tag lane on the M6 toll before but it took me almost 15 minutes to get through!! My time gains made at the tunnel were obliterated by this point and I got home just after 1pm after another ~350 mile drive.
Total combined mileage was a little over 750 miles with an average fuel consumption of about 32mpg (thanks entirely to the UK traffic being so bad - I expect it would have been somewhere around 35-36 otherwise).
I am super impressed. I doubt I will do so many miles in this fashion again in my ownership as I like to stop and see things on my long road trips but I know I could absolutely do it if I needed to. A 600+bhp, mid-engined carbon fibre-tubbed car has no right to be this capable both across distances like this and when you get it off the motorway onto the really twisty stuff. Yeah, it has broken down and caused me some temporary inconvenience but... what a machine!
P.S. I guess it goes with the territory when you buy a car in bright metallic orange but the amount of attention this car seems to get is far beyond what I expected. I had a car full of extremely excited Italians pull alongside me on the autoroute and the amount of arm waving, positive gestures etc etc was hilarious
Loads of people waved, gave me the thumbs up etc etc as I drove along which was ace as quite honestly I was expecting mostly jealousy and derision from other motorists.DRZ said:
I have the car back with me in the UK
After some delays getting the new fuel pump to Switzerland, the car was back together and ready to go on Monday. Unfortunately, McLaren Assist (aka "The AA") have been "very busy" and their estimated delivery date to get the car back to me on a covered transporter was 6-8 weeks. As you might expect, I hit the roof and called McLaren Client Services to see what could be done. After a bit of back and forth it became clear to me that the only way to improve on the timescales was to go and collect it myself which I put to McLaren and they agreed.
I have to say I'm disappointed. You bought a nearly-new "Gran Turismo" from McLaren for a lot of money, six months later the first time you try and use it for an actual "Grand Tour" it fails to proceed, leaving you finishing your trip in an Audi hire car. And then after all that they quote you a further two months to actually get your car back to you, extending the time you're without a car that you might be paying £x00 a month to have. So then you have to go and trek across Europe again just to get your car back.After some delays getting the new fuel pump to Switzerland, the car was back together and ready to go on Monday. Unfortunately, McLaren Assist (aka "The AA") have been "very busy" and their estimated delivery date to get the car back to me on a covered transporter was 6-8 weeks. As you might expect, I hit the roof and called McLaren Client Services to see what could be done. After a bit of back and forth it became clear to me that the only way to improve on the timescales was to go and collect it myself which I put to McLaren and they agreed.
I mean, if I buy a five or ten year old used car privately and it breaks down in Lyon, that's on me, I get that. (It was actually Grenoble for me). But given the value and newness of this car and how recently you bought it from a McLaren dealer, I do think that's a bit poor.
On the flipside, I really respect how you've made the best of the situation, rather than selling your story of woe to the Daily Mail you've got out there and got your car back, and enjoyed the trip too. Hope your next adventure goes more smoothly!
samoht said:
I have to say I'm disappointed. You bought a nearly-new "Gran Turismo" from McLaren for a lot of money, six months later the first time you try and use it for an actual "Grand Tour" it fails to proceed, leaving you finishing your trip in an Audi hire car. And then after all that they quote you a further two months to actually get your car back to you, extending the time you're without a car that you might be paying £x00 a month to have. So then you have to go and trek across Europe again just to get your car back.
I mean, if I buy a five or ten year old used car privately and it breaks down in Lyon, that's on me, I get that. (It was actually Grenoble for me). But given the value and newness of this car and how recently you bought it from a McLaren dealer, I do think that's a bit poor.
On the flipside, I really respect how you've made the best of the situation, rather than selling your story of woe to the Daily Mail you've got out there and got your car back, and enjoyed the trip too. Hope your next adventure goes more smoothly!
I do see where you're coming from but also, its a low pressure fuel pump - the same Bosch/Lucas/whatever pump that's probably in the fuel tanks of thousands of other cars. Just one of those things really.I mean, if I buy a five or ten year old used car privately and it breaks down in Lyon, that's on me, I get that. (It was actually Grenoble for me). But given the value and newness of this car and how recently you bought it from a McLaren dealer, I do think that's a bit poor.
On the flipside, I really respect how you've made the best of the situation, rather than selling your story of woe to the Daily Mail you've got out there and got your car back, and enjoyed the trip too. Hope your next adventure goes more smoothly!
I think it's great you went back over for the car and drove it home. I think the special cars in our lives are all about experiences that occur during ownership, both good and bad. What has happened here will be a story you'll tell many times in the future im sure!
I took my nearly 50 year old car over to the Nurburgring earlier in the year and on many an occasion we joked (only half-heartedly!) that if it broke, we knew we could store it somewhere for a few weeks and use it as an excuse to come back over for another trip
I took my nearly 50 year old car over to the Nurburgring earlier in the year and on many an occasion we joked (only half-heartedly!) that if it broke, we knew we could store it somewhere for a few weeks and use it as an excuse to come back over for another trip
A fantastic car/colour and a fantastic thread. 
I was gutted to read about your woes with it though, and it reminded me of all the pain I went through with my TVR. I'd honestly love to know why the British can't build reliable cars, and it baffles/angers me in equal measure.
My hat is off to you for being so calm/relaxed about it all. My toys would be out of the pram in no time in comparison!
Wishing you all the best with it going forward.
I was gutted to read about your woes with it though, and it reminded me of all the pain I went through with my TVR. I'd honestly love to know why the British can't build reliable cars, and it baffles/angers me in equal measure.
My hat is off to you for being so calm/relaxed about it all. My toys would be out of the pram in no time in comparison!
Wishing you all the best with it going forward.
I took the GT across to Ireland for a week-long road trip, starting with a friend's wedding and then heading south to Cork and then winding round to the Wild Atlantic Way. We took in both the Ring of Kerry and the Dingle peninsula, both stunning in their own right!
The GT once again showed its GT credentials in that whenever we arrived at a stop we weren't grumbling in discomfort and nor did we have to make unscheduled stops to stretch our legs or backs etc. On the other side, it performed really well on the twisty (and sometimes extremely bumpy) roads and when I wanted to just open the taps and enjoy some of the roads it never disappointed.
Between that and my visit this weekend to Salon Prive, I've now done just a little over 7,000 miles and that means the car is coming up on the 10k mile mark
I bought it to drive it though so this is good news I've got a top speed run day to do at Elvington in the near future - I managed 156mph at Supercar Fest on a much shorter runway but with a rolling start so we'll see what I manage to hit and report back.
I've also got a service booked in toward the end of October which is the "major" service, looking like a ~£1400 bill at the moment but we'll see if there's some negotiation there.
I absolutely bl
dy love this car and the experiences I have had in it so far 
Ireland feels like an eternity ago but I still look back and smile at the adventure we had over there. With 2022 almost over, 2023 is shaping up to be awesome, in car terms at least. I'm doing a big Europe trip with some club friends and that will be mega. Road trips in this car are just fantastic as there's so little obvious compromise. I'm also trying to make a trip to the Arctic Circle work in my personal calendar plus some other little personal bucket list items.
Since Ireland, I've taken my car to Salon Prive (one of the best motoring shows of the year, year in, year out), went up the runway at Elvington, visited the McLaren Technology Centre and generally attended as many interesting car meets and drives out as I could. The car gave me no trouble at all - just been feeding it fuel and I've had to top up the oil and screenwash here and there too. I think I've put 1L total of oil in the car over 9,000 miles or so.
Elvington was a great day of fun - 187.1 for the standing mile and 193mph over 2km. Not bad! Stock 720S/F8s were just cracking 200mph over the 2km and the sport series cars (570S and 600LT) were just slightly behind so all things considered it went pretty much exactly as expected and the GT sort of sits where you'd imagine it does.
Driving it in October conditions hasn't been overly kind to the cosmetic state of the car - if you follow my instagram you'll have seen the state it is in at the moment
It'll be washed soon...
Since Ireland, I've taken my car to Salon Prive (one of the best motoring shows of the year, year in, year out), went up the runway at Elvington, visited the McLaren Technology Centre and generally attended as many interesting car meets and drives out as I could. The car gave me no trouble at all - just been feeding it fuel and I've had to top up the oil and screenwash here and there too. I think I've put 1L total of oil in the car over 9,000 miles or so.
Elvington was a great day of fun - 187.1 for the standing mile and 193mph over 2km. Not bad! Stock 720S/F8s were just cracking 200mph over the 2km and the sport series cars (570S and 600LT) were just slightly behind so all things considered it went pretty much exactly as expected and the GT sort of sits where you'd imagine it does.
Driving it in October conditions hasn't been overly kind to the cosmetic state of the car - if you follow my instagram you'll have seen the state it is in at the moment
It'll be washed soon...
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