micahbones

Evo comparison just posted w/ vids- McLaren MP4-12C v. Ferrari 458, Porsche 911 Turbo S, Noble M600:

http://www.evo.co.uk/videos/supercar...1_turbo_s.html

Laps start at 5:38 in the video. One wins the Bedford lap time by a healthy margin, and it might not be the one you think...

Macca v. Ferrari

fbirch

http://www.pistonheads.com/news/defa...?storyId=23673

I was at the ‘ring for the last few laps on the day of the crash. I didn’t see the crash, but it sure seemed as if they were going for a record – tires squealing loudly and the car sliding perilously through almost every other corner. Maclaren had the whole track booked for several hours, helicopters filming the car from above, photographers in multiple corners, etc. Whoever was driving was pushing the car to its maximum. There were large gaps between successive hot laps, so it wasn’t possible to time the car, but it seemed to be struggling through the corners and somewhat slow as a result. I’m sure Maclaren’s superlative F1 technical team will sort it out in future runs on the ‘ring, but it appeared to be far from dialed in.

superquant

Last night Tiff & Jason Plato tested the 12C and the 458 .. the results just continue the epic fail theme for McLaren

http://fwd.channel5.com/fifth-gear/v...12c-track-test

TRAKCAR

Ouch!

Bill_C4S

Yikes.... Ahhh not positive for the Macca....rapidly becoming a trend....

GuyR

The Mp4 has now been reviewed in direct tests against the 458 by every major UK car magazine (Evo, Car, Autocar and Top Gear) and all four chose the 458. Now 5th Gear have chosen the 458 it only sadly remains for the Top Gear TV review (next Sunday) to see if Ferrari get a clean sweep as far as authoritative UK reviews go.

Very surprising, seems like Ron Dennis has missed the point (no emotion, no LSD seem to be two clear reasons).

TurboS

And, and the most important fact is that we All know that the GT2 RS is faster than the 458, maybe even the GT2.

911SLOW

At least it looks better than the Ferrari..



but on the other hand anything out there looks better, so..

C.J. Ichiban

well I guess I won't be entering Formula D. looks like it's an awesomely fast road car.

Carrera GT

Bloody hell. McLaren must be in all stations disaster recovery by this final nail in the coffin. If they can't work with Top Gear and Fifth Gear (both painfully, blatantly loyal to the British marques) then the car must be utterly hopeless and I imagine the response from Ron Dennis and his team must be "shut up, you're wrong" ... or something similar to their usual play-book of excuses brought out when they have trouble with the F1 team ... now applied to the 12C.

So what's to do? Wait for the 12C GT3? Probably just the same with more of this and less of that. Will they have the capital and the early adopter acceptance to generate cash flow to support their dreams of a dealer network and whatever the next McLaren road car will be called? Maybe they should have started with a surefire crowd pleaser and built the McLaren MP4 36D ...

Jon70

I'm just surprised as how the reviews have turned. The car was initially reveiwed as spectacular and a game changer.

Carrera GT

I think this change as we see the reviews go from sentiment to reality was already whispered in the early commentary (using words like bland or unexciting, or reinforcing comments on the appeal of the 458 despite its aesthetics.)

ADias

I recall that you expressed serious reservations when you first saw it last year in Monterey. Your instinct was correct.

C.J. Ichiban

the reality is that this car is more akin to the 911 turbo style usage than the track day, that's the real info between the lines that I see. 458 are drift cars with really loud noises and super trick differentials. I guess it's looking bad that this thing doesn't have a differential...

that being said, I'm still reading the performance figures correctly in that it's the fastest of all the cars it's tested against, just doesn't handle "excitedly" enough.

I'm just looking for a straight up road car, so I'm not too bothered by it being .6 slower than a 458 on a test track.

Devils Advocate

I agree to a degree:

I think the issue most people have is with the advertising and marketing of the mp4-12c. It was and has always been touted as the 458 killer in every way, shape, and form. Understandably, the reviewers and most likely some prospective buyers will or have been disappointed by these results.

I know I was, just for the fact of seeing a new McLaren supercar, as I'm not a prospective buyer.As far as I know, this is the the first purchasable street-legal car from McLaren since the F1(childhood dream car), aside from the MB ventures, and to have it shot down by every rag and review is going to take quite a hit on them financially and on their morale. Hopefully Dennis and his company can do something to turn this around, rather than just flat out deny the results.