McLaren 12C punked
08-17-2010, 03:56 AM
#1
Wordsmith
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McLaren 12C punked
In a multi-million dollar prank, I was punked by McLaren!
They cleverly built a 8/10th scale model of the 12C and waited for me to try to sit in it!
Oh, we all laughed and laughed.
They cleverly built a 8/10th scale model of the 12C and waited for me to try to sit in it!
Oh, we all laughed and laughed.
08-17-2010, 03:59 AM
#2
Nordschleife Master
08-17-2010, 05:25 AM
#4
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That's a good one! I don't suppose there's an 8/10th engine under the hood? Now that will be ultimate prank...
OR, that could be an export version for sale to midget-land...
OR, that could be an export version for sale to midget-land...
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08-17-2010, 12:08 PM
#9
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Best post ever!
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08-17-2010, 01:12 PM
#10
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nice hat!
08-17-2010, 02:01 PM
#13
Wordsmith
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This was at Pebble during the Concours on Sunday. I had an oh-so special invitation, but missed my appointment on Saturday. When I went by on Sunday, I guess they'd realized the jig was up and they were just letting anyone wander in. I think the McLaren sales machine leaves a lot to be desired. What is impressive is the car itself. They had a rolling chassis showing the detail of the suspension design, the monocoque in CF, the engine carrier in aluminum box section and the very tidy design for the dampers, nose lift integrated with the damper and everything as low in the chassis as possible. It's pretty easy to go around any new car and identify where they made "expedient" compromises, but this car is looking like a labor of love ... you can't pay people to go this deep into the design and be so fastidious about the details. I'm not comparing it to the 918 in the level of expertise -- I think that car stands alone in a class of one. The strength of the McLaren engineering and design is impressive with no need to excuse them for being a new company. You can see the McLaren F1 in the 12C. And this one has a real engine ... not that BMW donk. : ) Now, if only, good Lord if only they'd given it a central driving position ... heaven will be like that ... : )
08-17-2010, 02:18 PM
#14
Wordsmith
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I'm not especially tall. A tad over six foot. There's still about an inch of headroom as I was sitting there. I tried to position myself as I would in my 911 for the track -- "wrist on top of the wheel", straight back, comfortable "clutch" pedal distance. In almost any car except a 911, it results in no headroom, let alone space for a helmet and for some roll-over safety precaution against spine compression. For the 911 (2010 RS) I can drive comfortably in the GT seat or the GT2 seat just by taking the cushion out. If I drop in a racing shell seat, I get a very good eye line with adequate space above the helmet. I like to be as far down in the tub as possible.
McLaren said the car they're selling today is for early adopter customers willing to take one basically off the rack. Of course, the sales pitch is far more flattering. The next production cycle will allow for a real seat. They didn't seem to have much of a clue about harnesses, sub-straps, roll cages, fire systems, data acquisition, etc. They did make it clear that tracking the car voids the warranty. Going to "their" events would be okay. I think we can imagine the restrictions they'd place on their events. I asked what they had in mind for a track car that was delivered effectively without warranty. This question made it clear this first production cycle is for status and ownership buyers, not for drivers on any sort of budget. They considered the 2010 RS to be a target buyer market despite the enormous chasm in price difference. They didn't want to compare to the 2RS, which will clearly crush this car like a Dandelion under the foot of Godzilla looking for real competition. Line item by item, the 2RS and the 12C should be comparable, but the sales pitch from McLaren didn't want to take on the comparison. They expect customers to prefer it to a 458 and I think that makes sense -- almost all 458 buyers will be happy to drive the thing at a "hand holding" vendor event once or twice and consider themselves to have "tracked" the car. The few real drivers of the 458 are on such a high budget for the track junkie fix that the McLaren is in very much a lower caste. Perhaps the hard core track junkie 458 buyer will think of the novelty of the 12C as a frivolous bargain easily flipped out of the garage as the next shiny trinket or bauble catches their eye. And if they wad it up on the track or it sits at the dealer for weeks like McLaren wrestles with the practical reality of 1100 customers around the world all encountering the same bugs.
Anyway, all the pseudo-analysis aside, it's a hell of an impressive car and I sincerely hope McLaren puts it all together as a new car maker with a dealer network and support in the US. I hope they build a race/challenge series of the car and have enough of them showing up in earnest for some real (if exotic) racing and enough of the 12C or its successors on the track for it not to be a novelty. This is probably a 2012-2014 time frame to unfold, but if they're smart and keep building pretty much exactly the same car for five years, they have a shot at building up enough of a installed customer base to make it more than a status symbol car.
And maybe that will spur the Porsche management to build a new lightweight 911 once it's over this overdose of excess with the 918.
McLaren said the car they're selling today is for early adopter customers willing to take one basically off the rack. Of course, the sales pitch is far more flattering. The next production cycle will allow for a real seat. They didn't seem to have much of a clue about harnesses, sub-straps, roll cages, fire systems, data acquisition, etc. They did make it clear that tracking the car voids the warranty. Going to "their" events would be okay. I think we can imagine the restrictions they'd place on their events. I asked what they had in mind for a track car that was delivered effectively without warranty. This question made it clear this first production cycle is for status and ownership buyers, not for drivers on any sort of budget. They considered the 2010 RS to be a target buyer market despite the enormous chasm in price difference. They didn't want to compare to the 2RS, which will clearly crush this car like a Dandelion under the foot of Godzilla looking for real competition. Line item by item, the 2RS and the 12C should be comparable, but the sales pitch from McLaren didn't want to take on the comparison. They expect customers to prefer it to a 458 and I think that makes sense -- almost all 458 buyers will be happy to drive the thing at a "hand holding" vendor event once or twice and consider themselves to have "tracked" the car. The few real drivers of the 458 are on such a high budget for the track junkie fix that the McLaren is in very much a lower caste. Perhaps the hard core track junkie 458 buyer will think of the novelty of the 12C as a frivolous bargain easily flipped out of the garage as the next shiny trinket or bauble catches their eye. And if they wad it up on the track or it sits at the dealer for weeks like McLaren wrestles with the practical reality of 1100 customers around the world all encountering the same bugs.
Anyway, all the pseudo-analysis aside, it's a hell of an impressive car and I sincerely hope McLaren puts it all together as a new car maker with a dealer network and support in the US. I hope they build a race/challenge series of the car and have enough of them showing up in earnest for some real (if exotic) racing and enough of the 12C or its successors on the track for it not to be a novelty. This is probably a 2012-2014 time frame to unfold, but if they're smart and keep building pretty much exactly the same car for five years, they have a shot at building up enough of a installed customer base to make it more than a status symbol car.
And maybe that will spur the Porsche management to build a new lightweight 911 once it's over this overdose of excess with the 918.
