McLaren MP4-12C full road test by Autocar...
McLaren MP4-12C 3.8 V8 ROAD TEST
Test date 24 June 2011
Price as tested £168,500
For Sensational performance l Excellent ride quality l Adjustable on-limit dynamics
Against On-track turbo lag l Some understeer in handling mix l Sounds ordinary
BACKGROUND
You can often find “Ferrari/Porsche/BMW (insert your favourite prestige car manufacturer here) should be worried” at the end of a new car review. Quite often nonsense, of course, but it makes a useful, if unimaginative, pay-off.
Well, this time Ferrari is worried. Ever since the firm released details of the 458 Italia, McLaren has been developing the MP4-12C with the express intention of beating Ferrari at its own game. And, regardless of the fact that we marginally preferred the 458 to the 12C on these pages two weeks ago, Ferrari nevertheless still has much to be concerned about.
Our test car is the only current model derivative, which means a 592bhp, twin-turbocharged V8 engine. In the MP4-12C’s nomenclature, ‘12’ relates to its performance level and ‘C’ to its body style. Heaven knows how much power a ‘13’ or ‘14’ would have.
We already know where the 12C sits in its class, but it is nevertheless useful to take a more in-depth look at how it finds itself where it does in the overall pecking order. Revealing the minutiae of its engineering, brilliance and flaws, then, is the purpose of our road test.
DESIGN
We haven’t really touched on the McLaren’s styling until now. However, while it will play no particular part in our verdict, it’s fair to say that the MP4-12C failed to set pulses racing with its styling as effectively as it did with its performance. We suspect that its look will age well, but more than one observer noted that it looked limp compared with, say, a Ferrari 458 or the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG.
Unlike the front-engined SLS, the MP4-12C is a much closer rival to the 458 Italia. Crucially, both are mid-engined but, instead of having a largely aluminium structure, the McLaren employs a carbonfibre tub. From this, aluminium subframes hang at each end to hold the engine, suspension and ancillaries, and to provide a crash structure. Body panels are aluminium or composite but, in order to reduce repair costs, none is made from carbonfibre.
For the first time, McLaren has set about creating its own engine. Or rather, commissioning one to its own specification. With forced induction becoming essential for improving efficiency (AMG’s latest engines rely on turbos, as will Ferrari’s upcoming V8s), British outfit Ricardo has designed and engineered a 3.8-litre, twin-turbocharged, flat-plane crank V8, which generates a spectacular 592bhp at 7000rpm and a fulsome 442lb ft from 3000rpm all the way through to 7000rpm. With a specific output of 156bhp per litre and 117lb ft per litre, the McLaren provides a class-leading set of figures.
The MP4-12C’s Graziano-designed transmission is, as in the SLS and 458 Italia, a seven-speed, dual-clutch automatic unit with a manual, paddle-shifting override.
Where the McLaren differs most from its rivals, though, is in its suspension. Like most cars of its ilk, it’s coil sprung with double wishbones at each end, but it has linked hydraulic dampers. The set-up is used to pressurise each corner independently in order to resist roll and pitch, negating the requirement for separate anti-roll bars (see Under the Skin).
As standard, the MP4-12C’s brakes are steel, with carbon-ceramic discs an option. McLaren says the steel discs can give a shorter stopping distance but that carbon-ceramics are more resistant to fade with repeated track use. As such, they’re fitted to all of McLaren’s press demonstrators but are likely to be the preferred option of just 30 per cent of customers.
ON THE ROAD
This is the point where things start to become objectively measurable, and it’s here where the McLaren starts to dominate proceedings. The fact that we recorded a 3.3sec 0-60mph time should be regarded with some caution; in both directions we recorded runs in the high 3.2sec bracket, on a showery day with grip at a premium.
By 100mph the MP4-12C’s 592bhp had started to make amends, allowing it to post a time of 6.7sec. It covered the standing quarter mile in 11.1sec at 131.5mph and the standing kilometre in 20 seconds dead. So it is ferociously, apocalyptically quick. The minutiae will keep statisticians at it for a month, but basically, little else with four wheels, a windscreen and number plates will keep up with a 12C on full chat.
The quality of the McLaren’s chat, though, is another matter. At idle it makes a relatively purposeful burble, and its turbos mean performance is strong even from very low revs, although it’s fastest towards its 8500rpm cut-off. To say it ever bogs down would be an overstatement, but from a standing getaway the gearbox sometimes allows engine revs to linger too low for optimal thrust. Then once over, say, 4500rpm, the needle really flies around the revcounter.
There’s noticeable turbo lag on a circuit (see ‘On the limit’, below), though you’d be hard pushed to detect it much on the road. But the turbos have another effect, too. They may well increase the efficiency of this engine, but they don’t do anything for the noise. If you’re listening for the sort of rasp that marks out life with a 458 Italia, or the kind of bellow that makes life with the twin-turbo engine in the new CLS63 AMG so special, you’ll be disappointed. The 12C makes a clean, effective and powerful noise, but when all’s said and done, it’s just a noise.
The seven-speed transmission shifts cleanly, mind, although downshifts are not as whip-crack responsive as in a 458 Italia. Left to its own devices in auto mode, the transmission will change into seventh well at below 1000rpm, where the engine is capable of lugging it out. Predictably, this is the mode in which CO2 emissions of just 279g/km are produced.
Making a car that can sprint to 60mph in under 3.5sec and on to more than 200mph is quite a feat. Making it capable of lapping a circuit almost as quickly as a BTCC race car is even more impressive. But the most astonishing aspect of the 12C is that it can do both of those things yet rides with a quality that at times is the equal of a Mercedes S-class. The MP4-12C’s suspension is remarkable in its ability to absorb bumps and maintain an eerie freedom from pitch and roll, regardless of whether you’re on a motorway or mountain pass.
Where it is less than impeccable is when there are quick, sharp chassis hits taken at speed, such as cats-eyes or drain covers, and then only because the noise they make is amplified within the chassis rather than due to any real intrusion into the cabin. Only if the suspension is fully loaded and takes another thump – under braking, for example – do you feel it through the seat or steering wheel. All in all, the ride is arguably this car’s most impressive facet.
The 12C’s steering is first rate. It’s smooth, slick, linear and capable of filtering out the worst of the feedback while allowing the good bits of feel to filter through. That and the ride make the 12C a supremely unflustered car in which to travel cross-country, and one that allows you to tackle crests, corners and bumps with terrific confidence.
To reach the outer limits of the 12C’s ability you’ll need a circuit, and to turn up your commitment. Ultimately, the 12C is communicative and adjustable, but unlike its more approachable rivals – the 458 Italia, Noble M600 and Porsche 911 GT3 RS – the 12C wants a specific driving style before it reveals all of its secrets (again, see ‘On the limit’). You have to do things its way, not yours. And that’s not always the most satisfying way.
LIVING
Getting in and out of the McLaren will be a broadly familiar experience to owners of cars with similar cockpit tubs, whatever their construction material. A Lotus Elise, Mercedes SLS or Ford GT each requires its occupants to hurdle a wide sill, which in the 12C is coupled to a door that can be awkward to open (due to its electric release) and is reluctant to close without being slammed.
Drop yourself into the McLaren’s two-seat cabin and you’ll find it’s a more businesslike cockpit than its rivals’. The driving position is straight and comfortable, the steering wheel small and relatively thin-rimmed – the same as on a McLaren Formula 1 car, we’re told. Likewise, the 12C’s gearshift paddles resemble those which Messrs Hamilton and Button regularly use, and require a far stiffer pull than most fitted to road machinery.
Happily, the wheel is reserved for steering purposes only. Elegant column stalks, similar in feel and operation to Porsche units, are attached to the column, which itself offers a tremendous range of adjustment. We’d prefer more lateral support from the seats (electrically operated as an option) but otherwise the environment is hard to fault.
Materials and switches are of acceptable quality, although metal, rather than unconvincingly silvered plastic, for the chassis and powertrain modes’ switches wouldn’t go amiss. The cabin of our test car wore a plethora of options that added just over £17k to the 12C’s list price. Whether you prefer the design of the 12C or 458’s cockpit is largely subjective, but we’re unconvinced that even the options quite pull it up to the perceived quality of the Ferrari’s cabin.
On the face of it, the McLaren is a touch cheaper than the 458 Italia, but the 12C does not have standard carbon-ceramic brakes like the Ferrari. However, it is remarkably easy to inflate the prices of either car with options. Our estimates suggest the two will depreciate similarly quickly.
VERDICT
For the MP4-12C to supplant the Ferrari 458 Italia at the top of the class would not take a great deal of effort on McLaren’s part. A more engaging engine note, sharper throttle response and more flexibility in the way it allows its driver to attack a corner would make the difference. For some of our testers, more dramatic styling would have been a requirement, too, although the fact that it falls just short of the class lead is not down to such subjective matters.
Nevertheless, the MP4-12C is a magnificent machine. That many of us expected it to redefine boundaries and expectations says a lot about the engineering talent we expected McLaren to unleash. That the car is so close to the class lead is to McLaren’s credit and, knowing how the company works, we rather suspect its next effort will be easily as worthy as this one.
Verdict: (****1/2) 4.5 STARS
How fast:
0-30mph 1.6 sec
0-60mph 3.3 sec
0-100mph 6.7 sec
0-150mph 15.3 sec
30-50mph in 3rd/4th 1.9 / 2.9
40-60mph in 4th/5th 2.2 / 3.4 sec
50-70mph in 5th 2.8 sec
60-0mph 2.6 sec
Top speed 205 mph
Noise at 70mph 75 dbA
McLaren-MP4-12C_Autocar-road-test