Car & Driver review out. 12C wins comparo against 458 & GT2RS and posts much faster times than when reviewed in Evo/Autocar:
0-100mph - 6,1s
0-150mph - 13,9s (autocar and evo - 15,3s)
Also test out in German Auto Zeitung mag, again faster than Mc's claims:
0-100mph in 5.9s!
Wonder if Mc have upped the boost as part of 'tweaks':
MP4-12c
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RichardR
Re: MP4-12c
Last edited by RichardR on Fri Jul 22, 2011 6:33 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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RichardR
Re: MP4-12c
Last edited by RichardR on Fri Jul 22, 2011 6:33 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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John Scherrer
- Global Moderator
- Posts: 5124
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benyeats
Re: MP4-12c
[quote="PaulP"]
dashboard like an old Rover 216 or a MacLaren.
[/quote]
Wow a pushchair with an airbag.
dashboard like an old Rover 216 or a MacLaren.
[/quote]
Wow a pushchair with an airbag.
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Hellooo Newman
Re: MP4-12c
[quote="RichardR"]
Seems like some customer cars are arriving. Exhaust note sounds pretty nice!:
New Mclaren Exhaust
[/quote]
The McLaren does sounds if you like your exhaust note lower pitched.
The Ferrari 458 exhaust sounds amazing if you like your exhaust note high pitched.
Ferrari 458 Italia driven by autocar.co.uk
There is actually a car that has a better exhaust note than both the McLaren or the Ferrari.
That's the Lexus LFA.
Autocar meets the Lexus LFA
Sounds very close to a formula 1 car. Brilliant.
Seems like some customer cars are arriving. Exhaust note sounds pretty nice!:
New Mclaren Exhaust
[/quote]
The McLaren does sounds if you like your exhaust note lower pitched.
The Ferrari 458 exhaust sounds amazing if you like your exhaust note high pitched.
Ferrari 458 Italia driven by autocar.co.uk
There is actually a car that has a better exhaust note than both the McLaren or the Ferrari.
That's the Lexus LFA.
Autocar meets the Lexus LFA
Sounds very close to a formula 1 car. Brilliant.
Last edited by Hellooo Newman on Mon Jul 25, 2011 2:15 am, edited 1 time in total.
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wattie
but Still my personal favourite.....-
ross
Re: MP4-12c
[quote="RichardR"]
D-day Ross.
Let us know how you get on....
[/quote]
Will do, going for a drive at noon. Same car as the one in that video above. I'll see if I can get some video.
Cheers, Ross.
D-day Ross.
Let us know how you get on....
[/quote]
Will do, going for a drive at noon. Same car as the one in that video above. I'll see if I can get some video.
Cheers, Ross.
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ross
Re: MP4-12c
Well that was a fun hour. Didn't really get chance to throw it at many corners in any substantially significant way, but it's definitely an excellent piece of kit.
It's surprisingly un-intimidating as I'd always imagined that cars of this ilk would be a bit of an unwieldy handful on Britain's usual bumpy and narrow lanes. The McLaren was a doddle to drive with great visibility all round and extremities that are really easy to place. Very quick and torquey, I often found myself in much higher gears than I thought I was in. The paddles do feel a bit heavy and too long a throw (I don't think they've been modded yet on this car), but I suspect you'd grow to enjoy their heavy mechanical feel compared to other car's lighter paddles.
Incredible grip and composure on a quick launch, great steering with a really pointy front end, but still lots of grip at the rear - never felt like it was about to bite me. On a twisty track I can imagine it will be a fantastic drive as it seems to have so much grip, composure and front end 'chuckability'. Brakes were very strong, but the pedal feels quite heavy (and possibly even a bit 'sticky') initially making it a little hard to brake smoothly at low speeds.
Lovely interior and a great sound when the revs pick-up although the cabin was a generally much noisier than place than I'd imagined it would be with other road noises (I'm probably too used to driving my big cushion of a Jag I guess). You could certainly use it as a day to day car without any problem, although ground clearance could be an issue from time to time.
Electronic dash systems clearly need some work - I didn't even bother touching the centre console touchscreen thingy.
Best of all though, 30 odd mpg seems definitely do-able!
I can see what the magazines mean though, it's an awesome piece of technology, but I can't say that I'll be dreaming about it tonight - probably I think because it was simply so unscary to drive it. It's almost a victim of how well it does things.
Didn't manage to get any meaningful video I'm afraid as I don't think they're too keen on every customer test drive appearing on the Internet anyhow which I can't blame them about.
Anyone who sees the car in the flesh and says it lacks visual impact needs their head seeing to though. It will be a great thing to own.
I honestly thought that the test drive would make my mind up either way, but I'm not sure it has yet - my over-riding feeling is that if I'd never driven an Atom, I'd be bowled over. As it is, I'm left feeling like it should have been scarier, but part of me knows that it's probably better that it wasn't.
Thankfully I don't have to make my mind up fully yet. I think I'd have to have another drive (with a bit less traffic around) before finally committing which hopefully I'll be able to do.
Cheers, Ross.
It's surprisingly un-intimidating as I'd always imagined that cars of this ilk would be a bit of an unwieldy handful on Britain's usual bumpy and narrow lanes. The McLaren was a doddle to drive with great visibility all round and extremities that are really easy to place. Very quick and torquey, I often found myself in much higher gears than I thought I was in. The paddles do feel a bit heavy and too long a throw (I don't think they've been modded yet on this car), but I suspect you'd grow to enjoy their heavy mechanical feel compared to other car's lighter paddles.
Incredible grip and composure on a quick launch, great steering with a really pointy front end, but still lots of grip at the rear - never felt like it was about to bite me. On a twisty track I can imagine it will be a fantastic drive as it seems to have so much grip, composure and front end 'chuckability'. Brakes were very strong, but the pedal feels quite heavy (and possibly even a bit 'sticky') initially making it a little hard to brake smoothly at low speeds.
Lovely interior and a great sound when the revs pick-up although the cabin was a generally much noisier than place than I'd imagined it would be with other road noises (I'm probably too used to driving my big cushion of a Jag I guess). You could certainly use it as a day to day car without any problem, although ground clearance could be an issue from time to time.
Electronic dash systems clearly need some work - I didn't even bother touching the centre console touchscreen thingy.
Best of all though, 30 odd mpg seems definitely do-able!
I can see what the magazines mean though, it's an awesome piece of technology, but I can't say that I'll be dreaming about it tonight - probably I think because it was simply so unscary to drive it. It's almost a victim of how well it does things.
Didn't manage to get any meaningful video I'm afraid as I don't think they're too keen on every customer test drive appearing on the Internet anyhow which I can't blame them about.
Anyone who sees the car in the flesh and says it lacks visual impact needs their head seeing to though. It will be a great thing to own.
I honestly thought that the test drive would make my mind up either way, but I'm not sure it has yet - my over-riding feeling is that if I'd never driven an Atom, I'd be bowled over. As it is, I'm left feeling like it should have been scarier, but part of me knows that it's probably better that it wasn't.
Thankfully I don't have to make my mind up fully yet. I think I'd have to have another drive (with a bit less traffic around) before finally committing which hopefully I'll be able to do.
Cheers, Ross.
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ross
Re: MP4-12c
Also forgot to say, the ride really is as good as has been made out - probably on a par with my Jag (maybe even better), although you do get to hear a lot of the bump thump etc. Amazing how it really covers off so many areas so well - the more I think about it, the more I realise that it is really just incredibly good at what it does without being scary or mad.
You've got to wonder though, does it need some foibles to make it more memorable?
Perhaps that's where the touch screen interface will come in once they actually finish it - maybe it'll just be shite (maybe a kind of Ceefax system with really bad voice recognition for entering the page numbers...) and that will be it's eccentricity in the same way that old Italian cars are noted for their lack of electrical robustness
I suspect that won't be the case though.
You've got to wonder though, does it need some foibles to make it more memorable?
Perhaps that's where the touch screen interface will come in once they actually finish it - maybe it'll just be shite (maybe a kind of Ceefax system with really bad voice recognition for entering the page numbers...) and that will be it's eccentricity in the same way that old Italian cars are noted for their lack of electrical robustness
I suspect that won't be the case though.-
jon b
Re: MP4-12c
Ross, thanks for your review. I'm not sure if you are generally this indecisive in everything you buy but based on what you have said so far this car is not for you. Either you're going to really want it or you're going to find lots of little reasons not to want it
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Bruce Fielding
- Posts: 16320
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- Location: London
- Contact:
Re: MP4-12c
[quote="Ross"]
You've got to wonder though, does it need some foibles to make it more memorable?
[/quote]
This is exactly the problem I have with my new BMW. It tries so hard to be perfect, but in my view, beauty is in the perfect balance of imperfections...
You've got to wonder though, does it need some foibles to make it more memorable?
[/quote]
This is exactly the problem I have with my new BMW. It tries so hard to be perfect, but in my view, beauty is in the perfect balance of imperfections...
Ariel Atom Owners Club founder, based in Central London
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ross
Re: MP4-12c
[quote="Big Ape"]
Ross, thanks for your review. I'm not sure if you are generally this indecisive in everything you buy but based on what you have said so far this car is not for you. Either you're going to really want it or you're going to find lots of little reasons not to want it
[/quote]
lol, yeah, but only on things that cost £180k. If I'm going to make a bad decision, I want to be damn sure I'm doing the right thing
Ross, thanks for your review. I'm not sure if you are generally this indecisive in everything you buy but based on what you have said so far this car is not for you. Either you're going to really want it or you're going to find lots of little reasons not to want it
[/quote]
lol, yeah, but only on things that cost £180k. If I'm going to make a bad decision, I want to be damn sure I'm doing the right thing
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