I will publish a series of posts dedicated to the various press reports written after the MP4-12C press presentation in Portugal. This first post will focus on some key notes from the 4 major American magazines, as well as from Inside Line. More North...
A selection of customer reports available on McLaren Life forum. 14 DAYS / 1000 MILES (ROUNDINCIRCLES) link My background is motorcycles (15,000 miles a year) and mainly non-turbo 911's plus a Q5 as a daily drive. The MP12 astonishes me with its explosive...
Article en Français et Anglais / Article in French and English Selon une lettre postée sur le site McLaren driver, une mise à jour logicielle prochaine devrait permettre à la MP4-12C de gagner 25 chevaux ainsi que des amélioration à l'interface (système...
From the printed issue of the magazine, here is the track test report. I haven't been through the rest of the article to comment it, but overall, this seems to be a very positive review ! When we made the call to tell Deon Joubert that local agents Daytona...
There is a huge coverage of the car in the British press... this is not really a surprise for a British car, one which is set to make a blow at Ferrari's face ! Here is a summary: Octane You can find a short summary of the magazine's review online but...
Weight is the enemy of performance in every area of car design. It affects acceleration, speed, handling, fuel consumption and CO2 emissions – everything. McLaren Automotive engineers pursued weight saving obsessively. For example: - The Carbon MonoCell...
Le poids est l' ennemi de la performance dans tous les domaines du design automobile . Il handicape l 'accélération , la vitesse , le comportement routier , la consommation de carburant et les émissions de CO2 - en un mot, tout ! Les ingénieurs de McLaren...
Peu d'articles en ligne à ce jour dédiés à la MP4-12C. Le Moniteur Automobile, magazine Belge d'une grande qualité dont j'attends toujours les articles avec impatience tant ils sont complets et détaillés, a testé la voiture et propose un avant-goût de...
Presiding over a successful F1 team was never quite enough for Ron Dennis. In fact, he’s wanted to start a car company for as long as he can remember, he tells Steve Cropley. Ron Dennis has wanted to be the boss of a car company fir so long that he’s...
Le magazine français Sport Auto a eu l'occasion lui aussi de prendre en main la McLaren MP4-12C dans son numéro de Mars 2011. Voici quelques morceaux choisis de leur essai. La MP4 ressemble à tout sauf de l’amateurisme. Elle semble être le fruit d’une...
McLaren chief designer Frank Stephenson has a world-class CV, but nothing prepared him for the challenges of a clean-sheet supercar. He gives Hilton Holloway a guided tour. Frank Stephenson is a famously prolific designer; he’s worked on projects as diverse...
I could finally read Evo's report after they drove the MP4-12C. They had the chance to drive the car 3 times in fact: in Portugal like everybody, on Top Gear track and finally in Wales. A few extracts from their impressions for Portugal first, with a...
I can read some limited German, but trusted Google for this overview of the 4 major German magazines (same article to come in French later on). I hope there won't be too many mistakes! Auto Zeitung / English First of all, I have selected a comment related...
Interesting piece of information found in Evo: There's a tiny, front-facing camera in the roof lining of the orange test car. At first I thought Ron was spying on us. Turns out it's a system called Track Data Display. There are two other cameras, one...
A selection of some remaining articles dedicated to first drive reports, with extracts which focused my attention. Popular Mechanics Climb in and it's clear that McLaren has shaved every detail to keep the width of its supercar down to manageable proportions....
Formula 1 engineers obsess over light weight, but carbonfibre isn’t the only weight-saving trick under the MP4-12C’s skin, as Steve Cropley discovers. On one of the new McLaren supercar’s lightest on most important components, a cross-car beam cast in...
McLaren’s extreme testing programme subjected the MP4-12C to altitudes of up to 12,000ft and ambient temperatures from scorching to well below freezing. Arfeplog, Sweden: January 2009 The MP4-12C had its first major climatic test when McLaren engineers...
Ever wondered how to tell an MP4-12C prototype to the real thing? Matt Saunders finds out while learning more about how the car is engineered. Right now, there can’t be many more exciting places to work anywhere in the global motor industry than Chertsey...
For Auto Express also, I am publishing a selection of the most interesting parts of the article dedicated to the face to face between the 458 Italia and the MP4-12C. “…” The styling of the MP4-12C owes a lot to the wind tunnel, so it shares the low-slung...
Most of the full test is available on Autocar Website. I will just provide a short summary. The car has been tested with the optional (stickier) PZero Corsas, as well as with carbon ceramic brakes, lightweight wheels and exhaust. For each category, results...
A team led by operations director Alan Foster is also putting the finishing touches to a magnificent new assembly plant (officially dubbed MPC, for McLaren Production Centre) which nestles almost out of view across the lake from the original McLaren Technology...
Pendant quatre ans, trois cents techniciens ont passé en revue chaque détail pour que la MP4-12C soit meilleure. Selon la célèbre règle des 5%, les pièces, une première fois validées, ont été reprises de manière à être de nouveau allégées de 5%. C’est...
Here are the most significant parts of the comparison between the Ferrari 458 Italia and the McLaren MP4-12C done on the Isle of Man by Top Gear. No real numbers, things are all about driver's impressions and the winner at that is the Ferrari. “…” The...
This post will be continuously updated with links to online full (or sometimes less detailed) test reviews. Latest addition: Comparison tests by Road & Track and Motor Trend. UK - Introduction to Auto Express test, as well as some comments on the comparison...
Classic Driver publie une courte prise en main qui apporte quelques éléments nouveaux sur les mystères du mauvais feeling de direction, a priori dû a des défauts de mise au point sur un élément de direction: Now, you might have read some earlier reports...
