Wrong, wrong, wrong, correct and wrong again. You simply cannot compare the SportAuto time to official figures, due to reasons that have been discussed plenty of times. It has to be said that Horst von Saurma has a lot more experience driving 911s than anything else, which makes the McLaren's time even more impressive.

Apollo Sport: 7:24
GT2 RS: 7:24
MP4-12C: 7:28
Carrera GT: 7:32
RS 4.0: 7:33
GTR (530PS): 7:36 (actual Supertest time)
ZR-1: 7:38
458 Italia: 7:38
LP 570-4: 7:38
SLS AMG: 7:40
LP 670-4: 7:42

The McLaren's Supertest time is, as you can see, significantly (>=10s) faster than it's market rivals (458, LP 570, SLS) and the third fastest time ever, which I and the SportAuto article consider a AMAZING performance.

The GT-R was developed on and for the Nordschleife, major credit nonetheless, same goes for ZR-1, albeit less. RS 4.0 and GT2 RS are stripped out and track-optimized, plus the mentioned bias in 911 times. Apollo is a GT1 race car with more power and number plates. The Carrera GT was again developed on the Nordschleife and probably still has the best chassis of them all.

 

New video added to the OP folks.

 

agree 111%

 

Yeah, I agree also. It doesn't make sense comparing official figures to the sportauto times. So while it didn't live up to the hype, only 2 cars are faster in relevant tests, and we haven't heard any times from McLaren (mods, feel free to edit my thick headed post).

 

Hype? From who? McLaren is from the British polite understatement fold, but many outside of Big Mac had a lot to say about what they really did not know. The car is obviously an amazing performer and just a precursor to the beast they are shipping next. I am also eager to see the third model, which has the 911 Turbo firmly in its sights. If it really lands in the $150-170k price range, there will be some harsh words spoken in Stuttgart. It just might hit the cost target, as all three cars share the same basic tub.

Also, I did hear of some much faster times from executives at other car companies that were at the track when they occurred. But since no one knows what configuration the car was really in or exactly what tires were on it, there is no sense in posting that time up.

 

Hi Carrera,

Yes..I agree..it doesnt really fulfill the hype.please also keep in mind guys that this time of 7:28 was achieved with the super race tryres..(how much are these Pirellis better then the Porsche Michelins - if?) I know people having GT2/GT3 and changing to Pirelli - for better dry grip).

Just a few more comments:
1: The Mclaren of 2011 with race tyres is only 4 sec faster than Carrera GT..which will be soon about 10 years old..sorry but thats really not very good for the Mc4-12C..or better said: shows what a masterpriece the C-GT is..I bet you with the pirelli tryers the Mclaren will be dusted by the C-GT..and it has no electronic bs.

2) What would be the time of the Mclaren with normal semi slick tyrers? 7:33?

3) Just a comparison to a "normal" standard GT2..GT2 5 sec. slower than the Mclaren..but 9sec faster on the sport auto wet circuit..so in fact the GT2 - not RS - is better overall

4) regarding the hype..well agree - Mclaren is honest british undertstatement..I think they never officially claimed any Ring times before this one..which is good. However, there was so much in the media..it could do it 7:00..bla bla

5) One thing is certain for me - it did certainly not start a revolution in the supercar world - its significantly faster than 458 etc..but not really faster than the cars from Stuttgart..even the GT3RS 4.0 ist only 2 secs off - with 120HP less...that could be due to the tyers already

6) When its father the -Mclaren of 1995 came out - that was light years ahead of te rest..the MP4-12C is certainly not light years ahead now

I like the shape of it..wouldnt fancy so much its electronic gizmos ..but OK..would I buy one.?..probably not..

But I will go for test drive soon..and will be able to compare to 997 GT3/GT2/GTRS

Keep the good forum running here..Teamspeed is great!

 

Forgot to mention:

In the Sport Article the also measire the setup of the suspension..and the Mcs one are considerably more "race setup" than what the official camber values are..has Mclaren been cheating here? I wonder why sport auto just says.."well, they have been made a bit sportier.."

 

BTW, the time of 7:32 for the Carrera GT was a Porsche claim, and the lap driven by Walter Roehrl. In 2008 Evo did a test with Marc Basseng, and the Carrera GT ran a 7:28.

So though it is very variable, the 12C is about as fast as a Carrera GT around the Nordschleife. But keep in mind, tire technology has come a long way in 9 years. I'm sure on the Agera R tires the Carrera GT could work wonders.

 

From motorauthority

Horst von Saurma, editor in chief of Sport Auto magazine, recently took the MP4-12C to the Nordschleife for a hot lap, but with just a 12-minute window to lay down his time, that's all he got: one lap. Von Saurma is very experienced at the 'Ring, and he's laid down some impressive times with other cars as well, but this time is likely not the very best that could be wrung out of the car, as our source at McLaren told us. It does compare favorably to von Saurma's personal lap time list, shown toward the end of the video, with the McLaren outpacing a host of Porsche 911 GT3s, the Pagani Zonda F, and the Nissan GT-R. McLaren confirmed to us that the car used for von Saurma's lap was in fact a completely stock configuration, right down to the Pirelli P-Zero Corsa tires.

 

that is something that Porsche was good at it, they claims realistic times for their street cars...now with so much B.S...i only take independent times like these sportauto, evo..etc in consideration.