You can often find “Ferrari/Porsche/BMW (insert your favourite prestige car manufacturer here) should be worried” at the end of a new car review. Quite often nonsense, of course, but it makes a useful, if unimaginative, pay-off.

Well, this time Ferrari is worried. Ever since the firm released details of the 458 Italia, McLaren has been developing the MP4-12C with the express intention of beating Ferrari at its own game. And, regardless of the fact that we marginally preferred the 458 to the 12C on these pages two weeks ago, Ferrari nevertheless still has much to be concerned about.

Our test car is the only current model derivative, which means a 592bhp, twin-turbocharged V8 engine. In the MP4-12C’s nomenclature, ‘12’ relates to its performance level and ‘C’ to its body style. Heaven knows how much power a ‘13’ or ‘14’ would have.

We already know where the 12C sits in its class, but it is nevertheless useful to take a more in-depth look at how it finds itself where it does in the overall pecking order. Revealing the minutiae of its engineering, brilliance and flaws, then, is the purpose of our road test...