prg

+1. Sounds very appealing to me. I'm not going to be an early adopter, but I can definitely see one in my garage at some point in the future. I hope they follow the Lamborghini depreciation curve, not the pre-crash Ferrari curve so I can get one sooner than later.

NJ-GT

British reliability: questionable
British resale: questionable
new brand: even more questionable
lot of gizmos: deeply questionable

However, when it doesn't break apart, it will blow the doors of every production road car, except the GT2 RS, but once both cars get to run on sticky tires with the same level of grip, I bet it is going to get pretty close between the MP4-12C and the GT2 RS.

...and a 2010 GT3 RS has zero business against a McLaren, they will be worlds apart in every performance category. The 2010 GT3 RS and 2011 GT2 RS performance has a lot to do with the cheater new MPSC tires (a trick Porsche learned from the Viper guys).

Jon70

I'd bet the McLaren will have a few bugs in the beginning, but Ron Dennis is claiming the car will be the best built in the world. Based on his explanation from the hour long video presented earlier this year, I believe him. I figure the majority of issues will end of being electrical, if any. The McLaren should have Ferrari beat for quality. I think their biggest issue will be establishing a reliable dealer network. I live less than 10 miles from Ferrari of Washington, but will need to go to Philadelphia for a McLaren.

JAMS

Funny you should say that... the McLaren presenter told me that, of all the cars they evaluated in developing the 12C, the GT3 RS was the one to beat and conceded they had not succeeded in terms of driver involvement or fun factor. When we sat in the 12C together, I asked again, "Seriously, if you had to choose between this car and a GT3 RS, which would it be?" He motioned, as in manually shifting gears, and said he would have to choose the RS... followed almost immediately by the comment, "****, this is being recorded", as he switched off his mic. It was hilarious!

vtgts300kw

huh.

North America: Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, Orange County, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Tampa; Toronto

NJ-GT

They should have tested the 2010 GT3 RS with the same Corsa tires to get a better comparison, or stick the 245/325 race-spec MPSC to the MP4-12C.

Corsas are slow, I ran them in the Scuderia, and ran R888, Re-11 and Hoosiers, the Corsas were 2.5-3.5 secs slower than the R888/RE-11, and up to 6.5 secs slower than the Hoosiers on a 60 secs lap.

MP4-12C / GT2 RS / 2010 Viper ACR on R6 tires, close call. Every other production car runs in a different time zone (R8, LP570/4, Scuderia, F458, GT3 RS, GTR, ZR1....)

Carrera GT

We'll just have to wait and see. I imagine someone with a bent for research into facts could identify cars that came on the scene with the expectation of schooling the 911.

Carrera GT

Right. This is one of the things that never seems to get resolved -- reviews done without first setting up the suspension and tires. I've ranted about this topic in the past, so I won't hit the TiVo replay on it again.

ADias

The GT-R was the last one.

C.J. Ichiban

I think the flaw is comparing cars for the sake of "if you could only choose one" because...maybe I'm alone- but I've got more than one or two cars and am just looking for something unique...I realize we're on a porsche board but as a group we're being a bit closed-minded by trying to dismiss a car like the Mclaren simply because it isn't a trackday car or whatever...

I guess my point is to say that other than the lease-big and rent your house crowd, who only has one car? you're going to use a 130k+ car as your track, daily, rainy weather, winter, tow vehicle, etc ?

and realistically the only true competition for the GT2RS is the GT3RS- same brakes and chassis feel, same transmission benefits, just much different $ and hp.

the mp4 is competing with the 458 and the gallardo

Jon70

For something unique, I've been wanting a gulf flared SPF GT40 for years now.

C.J. Ichiban

I've always like the Ford GT as well. AMERICA!!! F yeah. it's a really cool car and sounds AWESOME.

enduro911

Hi everyone, been following the development of the new Mclaren closely as an avid Formula 1 fan. I think Mclaren, or more accurately, Ron Dennis' whole goal in building Mclaren road cars is to help the public to more easily relate to the F1 team. I believe that’s one reason why Ferrari F1 have so many fans – they produce a tangible, aesthetically beautiful product to be seen by the public whose performance numbers were often some of the fastest. The Mclaren F1 made a huge impact but despite potentially being one of the fastest and best built cars to ever exist, didn't by itself force people to look at Mclaren the same way they do at Ferrari. Its styling, while pretty, wasn’t flamboyant enough, nor was it as common to see a Mclaren on the street as it was a Ferrari which, ironically, cause the Mclaren to lose out because it was too exotic and rare.

In my opinion, that’s why priority Number 1 is for this car to challenge and put the 458 to shame in terms of sheer performance. I think second thing on Mclaren’s mind was to build the highest quality car on the market, just as they did with the Mclaren F1. The scope of this task extends beyond performance. I don’t think that beating the GT2 RS around the Nurburgring was its highest priority. Mclaren want this car to be a pure street car with performance as close as possible to the best street and track day car, in this case the GT2 RS if you believe Porsche’s unproven Ring time. I’d also like to know what kind of tires Mclaren will be using because, as NJ-GT said, they make a huge difference.

I’ll end is saying that I am a huge Porsche fan and I love Ferraris as well, but I think that with the right rubber underneath it, the “standard” Mclaren will be giving a 2 RS a run for its money. Too bad that it probably won’t be as involving and that it won’t get a chance to prove its mettle against other cars. Sorry to be long winded.

JAMS

I am sure you are not alone, CJ but you are most certainly among a very thin sliver of the community. Yes, all of us have more than one car but I would venture to say that most have to choose which $150-$250k sports car they will buy, rather than which 3, 4 or 5 supercars they will collect. I have never leased a car and we don't rent our house but it absolutely was an either/or for me: the RS now, or hold out (and painfully stretch) for a McLaren next year. I took delivery of the RS a few weeks before Pebble Beach and after attending the 12C presentation, don't have the slightest twinge of regret. Since it has to be one, the RS is it. If it could be five, I might find a place for a 12C but it would not be number two ...or three ...or four.

MJSpeed

+1

McLaren is mounting an assault on Ferrari and Lamborghini, more specifically the 458 and Gallardo. The knock on Ferrari and Lamborghini has always been reliability and performance sustainability (although they're much improved as of late). So I see Mclaren using the RS as a performance/reliability benchmark as a great thing. Imagine the beauty of a Ferrari with exotic feel of a Lamborghini and topped off with the reliability and performance of a GT3 RS.

Easier said than done, sure. However I truly don't believe that any one of us is legitimately doubting McLaren's financial and/or technological knowledge and prowess.