Finally Drove the MP4-12C on the F1 GP Circuit!

Morning all!

Had a great day yesterday at the F1 GP Circuit where I was given the opportunity to take a few laps in this beast along with a McLaren test driver sitting by my side and guiding me through the car's engineering and gadgets set-by-step. I think I did around 10 laps or so.

Was a wonderful experience and def well worth taking half day off work for. Driving the car felt great, those turbos really make so much difference when accelerating in a higher gear or in a lower gear out of a corner - you get a massive pull back that keeps you smiling all the way until you have to once again hit the brakes for that dreaded corner up ahead.

We had 2 MP4s for testing - one of which had the optional sports exhaust system - was great fun and the sound inside the cockpit was just intoxicating.

Last time I went out on the track I was driving a 458 Italia - so it was interesting for me to be able to compare the 2 since there's not sense in comparing this to my 612 tugboat

I found both cars to be as different as night and day in terms of personality and character. I felt the McLaren was a bit more raw - a bit more -- driver doing the work as opposed to the car itself.

A couple of things I didn't like about the Mclaren were that the paddle shifts I felt were way too stiff, tried for a downshift but realised nothing had happened so I pulled on the lever with more force and it clicked into place for the downshift. But nevetheless, the gear changes were superquick - pretty much an instantaneous shift just like the dual clutch system on the 458. One thing I loved about the paddles however were that they turn with the steering wheel - like my M6 - so you never need to adjust your grip while doing your laps (very ideal). In the Ferraris where the paddles are fixed you would need to adjust your grip slightly to reach the paddles.

Another small complaint I had was that the car was very unstable under heavy straight-line braking. The rear wobbles so much I felt that the car was going to spin out on me. When I spoke to the test drivers about this issue I was told that this was mainly because the tires were all worn from a gruelling few days on the track. Fair enough.

One final issue I had, and this is very much due to a personal preference, was that the steering wheel was too thin and hard for my liking - to the extent that after some 10-odd laps I felt my hands were sore. I was advised that this was done to replicate the F1 wheel used in Hamilton's car - however not ideal for me. I like the fatter wheels like I have on my M6 or that the 458 has - fatter and a little more cushion for better grip.

So this is my short review -- was a great day out overall! Had a friend of mine take a couple of vids with the blackberry and unfort although there was a go-Pro in the car, they had neglected to switch it on for my laps!

Enjoy.

http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIX_i8LXXgU

My Test Drive of the New McLaren MP4-12C (Part 2) - YouTube

 

Wow, great write up!! and thanks for sharing the video

 

Thanks for the write up! I felt the car needed larger, easier to engage paddles as well, I am sure that's a relatively easy fix.

 

Great review. I haven't drive the MP4 but I have sat in one and I agree about the paddle feel. Thanks for sharing.

 

 

Yeah that's right. I sat in one, I'm kind of a big deal.

 

I saw an mp4 at the Chicago auto show and thought the paddles looked like they would be stiff, but in all seriousness good write up and sweet video

Sent from my DROIDX using Teamspeed

 

Did you enjoy the dust? I love how the car transforms from normal mode to track mode.. loved it!

 

Thanks for the write up,an interesting point if view and you are one of the first people to suggest it more raw than the 458,which is a good thing as many of the press said it was too sanitized,how wrong could they be,many of them are now changing their minds thankfully.
As regards to the paddleshift this is initally a commom complaint,that is untill you get used to using the pre-cog,then you just get it! It stops being an automatic switch or button like everyone elses and becomes part of the driving experiance,meaning that you have to think about changing gear just like you would in a manual,again part of the problem the press didnt get,as they didnt have enough drive time under their belts.This is a car that can be easy to drive,but to get the best out of it it takes time to learn it

 

How fast did you go ?