FIRSTDRIVE McLAREN MP4-12C:A test drive of the supercar that Formula 1 giants McLaren spent €900 million creating to rival Ferrari reveals a near-flawless machine, writes BEN OLIVER
“I had a Bugatti Veyron for a few months,” says Jenson Button. “But I wouldn’t compare it to this. It just wouldn’t be fair on the Veyron.” For the few who don’t know, the Veyron is the world’s fastest, most expensive car.
The former world champion has joined McLaren’s engineers at the Portimao race circuit in southern Portugal for the final test of its new MP4-12C supercar. It will not be launched until April, with the first customers taking delivery soon after. But I’m about to test it, and we’re the first to be able to tell you what this all-new supercar from a new supercar maker is like to drive on road and track.
Of course, you’d expect Button to be positive about the latest venture from the Formula 1 team that employs him. But his enthusiasm seems utterly genuine; uncontainable, even. He’s already spent the morning driving the car and has had a long meeting with McLaren’s engineers. “The guys working on this project really know what they’re doing, but for track use I think our input as racers has been useful. One thing I asked them to look at was the ‘click’ action on the shifters and they’ve made it much more positive.”
We’re sitting talking in one of the cars as another, bright orange 12C goes streaking down the main straight at Portugal’s Portimao circuit. Despite having spent all morning on track, Jenson plainly hasn’t had enough. “Let’s go chasing,” he says, so we reach up, pull the gullwing doors shut and conduct the rest of the conversation at race pace.
It’s hard to overestimate the importance of this new car. Ron Dennis, McLaren’s famously detail-obsessed boss, has decided to create – from scratch – a British supercar maker to rival Ferrari. Within five years McLaren will have a range of three supercars, plus lightweight and open-top derivatives, and will make 4,000 of them each year in the Norman Foster-designed factory it is building next to the McLaren Technology Centre – Ron’s Bond-villain headquarters sunk into the English countryside near Woking in Surrey. It’s a risky venture; the market for supercars is slowly recovering, but Dennis and his partners have no guarantee they’ll see the €900 million they’ve invested in their road car project again.
McLaren has built road cars before. It made more than 2,000 carbon-bodied, €350,000 SLRs for its partner Mercedes between 2003 and 2009. And most famously, it built just 107 examples of the McLaren F1, at the time easily the fastest, most expensive car in the world, and now acknowledged as one of the greatest cars ever made. You’d have paid at least €630,000 if you’d had the foresight to buy one new; now, the best examples sell for €3.5 million, if you can find an owner willing to sell.
So will your 12C prove to be as good an investment? It will be a lot cheaper, and McLaren will build a lot more of them; around 1,000 each year at €200,000, pitching it directly against Ferrari’s sensational 458 Italia. But like the F1 and every McLaren Formula 1 racer since 1981, the 12C gets a carbon-fibre chassis, making it around 50kg lighter than the aluminium Ferrari.
It has more power too; its all-new twin-turbocharged V8 engine, designed by McLaren and built in the UK by Ricardo, has a colossal 600bhp to the Ferrari’s 577.
So how fast is it? McLaren has kept the numbers secret until now. When the McLaren F1 first appeared it redefined fast, but the 12C accelerates even faster, and for a third of the price. It gets to 100km/h in 3.1 seconds, shading the F1 by two tenths, and is half a second faster to the benchmark 200km/h at just 8.9 seconds. Less power means its top speed isn’t as high, but 330km/h is hardly slow, beating the Ferrari by just 5km/h. Privately, McLaren’s engineers say that number is conservative.
I’d agree. On test, a couple of miles of clear, straight road I push the 12C easily towards a genuine 309km/h. It was still pulling like a freight train; there was plainly lots more to come. The brawny turbocharged V8 delivers its grunt lower down the rev range than the highly-strung Italian, and the sensation under full acceleration is closer to the mighty Veyron. The seven-speed, twin-clutch gearbox works like a proper F1 shifter. Hinged around the wheel, you can pull with your right hand or push with the left to change up.
The gearbox has three modes; in maximum-attack track setting the shifts are incredible, each one virtually instantaneous but without being violent. The gearbox setting also controls the exhausts; in track mode you get the full hard, hollow howl as you home in on the 8,500rpm redline.
The McLaren is absurdly fast; you worry that you’ve crossed the line from fast to too fast, that your mind might not be able to keep up. And when you run out of nerve, the optional carbon-ceramic brakes stop you so hard you’ll be hanging from your seat belt. But if you can steal a glance in the rear view mirror you’ll see they’re getting some help; a huge, near-vertical airbrake pops up under hard braking to help slow the car and keep more weight over the rear tyres, keeping the 12C eerily flat and stable.
The way it stops is almost as impressive as the way it goes, and so is the way it handles corners. The radical new ProActive chassis control system delivers both near-flat cornering on fast roads or racetracks, and a limo-like ride on cratered urban tarmac; they’re usually mutually exclusive. And the handling is incredible; the 12C using the “brake steer” system – developed by McLaren for its F1 cars but banned by the sport’s bosses – to gently brake the inside rear wheel through corners, sucking the nose tight into the apex.
It’s even good as a daily driver. Supercars are usually a pain to get into, see out of, and park. No such issues here; the gullwing doors look dramatic but make access easy, and the terrific visibility, comfortable ride and quiet (maybe too quiet in “normal” mode) exhaust make the 12C a car you’ll be happy to amble around town in. Bet you never thought you’d read that about a McLaren.
The only real flaw we can find with the MP4-12C is its flawlessness. It’s like a child prodigy; generally begotten by hyper-ambitious parents, staggering in its abilities, perfect in its behaviour, but oddly cool and aloof, and difficult to warm to. The other kids seldom want to hang out with the 12-year-old concert violinist. Criticising a car for being too perfect seems odd, but in a supercar, character and emotion and idiosyncrasy and simple, fidgety excitement count for a lot too.
Not that this is bothering Button, still out on the track and driving like his hair is on fire. When does he get his? “They haven’t given me a date yet. But I’ve ordered it. Black paint, black wheels, black cabin, red brake calipers and red stitching on the seats. It looks terrifying.” And if you see it behind you in Dublin or Monaco or even Guernsey, where he lives, move over.
Factfile
Engine3,799cc twin-turbo V8, aluminium block and heads, 32v DOHC, dual VVT putting out 592bhp at 7,000rpm and 600Nm of torque at 3,000 to 7,000rpm
Weight1,434kg
Emissions279g/km
L/100km (mpg)11.7l(24.2)
Maximum speed330km/h
0-100km/h in3.1 sec (3.3 sec on standard tyres)
0-200km/h in8.9 (9.1 sec on standard tyres)
Stopping distance200-0km/h in 123m, 100-0km/h in 30.5m
Wheelbase2,670mm
Weight distribution(front/rear) 42.5/57.5 per cent
TyresPirelli P Zero 235/35 R19, 305/30 R20