Carlos from Spain:
ISUK:
I'm amused by all the conspiracy theories floating around on the net in regard to this result. Just how are Ferrari have meant to have tweaked this particular 458 to claw back the significant HP defecit and lack of the trick aero brake advantage the Mclaren has? The EVO article clearly states Mclaren sent more engineers to the test than Ferrari and also swapped for the Corsa tyres to see if that improved things but to no avail.
Its no surpirse as McLaren raised unrealistic expectations with their "rumors" and "inside info" they were leaking during development to build its hype. I mean it was supposed to blow away the 458 by a mile, complete game changer new generation sportcar, and a lot of people believed it or wanted to believe it and not excercised enough caution reagarding development rumors.
Now when it can be compared by thrid parties, its neither significantly faster in acel o track, and testers seem to coincide in that its does everything well but driving experience and exitement is somewhat lacking, a big point in this class of cars. In the end they still pick the 458. And that all by the brittish press not even the Italian.
Maybe the 458 that McLaren bought for testing and comparison was a dud secretly supplied by Ferrari just jockig.
We will have to wait to the SportAuto though, that should shine some definitive light, but the McLaren needs to distance itself from the 458 much more than this, because its newer, doesn't have yet the image of the Ferrari, and very importantly lacks the dealer and service infrastruture of Ferrari.
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Remember what I wrote in 991 spy pics thread?
McLaren simply announced semi-officially overoptimistic numbers, specially track times. Some people fell for it, some did not...
My friend that is working for one German car manufacturer was on the Ring during MP4-12C test runs. He told me that sector times were god but, not sensational and for sure not faster then R8 GT or 997.2 GT3 RS. His conclusion was that McLaren is using "leak" marketing as much as possible to create huge demand for its new toy.
BTW, Sport Auto Supertest? Was already booked but, after EVO results it is delayed for autumn since McLaren wants to recalibrate some things... So, if you read between the lines you can expect at least numbers on 458 level(if MP4-12C wont be in HvS hands at least as fast as 458 that means kiss of death IMHO)...
Want a game changer? Wait for next Gallardo/R8 gen-both will be hugely influenced and tuned by Porsche()...