First Drive: McLaren MP4-12C

Many of the world’s greatest marques are steeped in a rich engineering heritage. Swiss luxury watch makers, German luxury yacht builders and of course British luxury car makers. McLaren may never have stood as an icon of luxury, but with a history rooted in the world’s most prestigious class of motorsport, Formula One, the British manufacturer has become a byword for performance and engineering excellence.

There is far more to this supercar than the nuts and bolts we all see before us. First of all, there’s the small matter of heritage. Founded in 1963 by New Zealander Bruce McLaren, the brand we know today started life as a Formula One (F1) racing team and is the second oldest F1 team after Ferrari. Eight F1 Manufacturer’s World Championship titles (between 1974 and 1998), together with twelve F1 Driver’s World Championship titles (between 1974 and 2008), makes McLaren Racing Limited one of the most successful F1 teams to-date.

Secondly, McLaren Automotive produced the F1 supercar. I shouldn’t need to tell you how revolutionary this car was when it entered production in 1992. Featuring exotic materials like Inconel, CFRP and Gold, as well as a unique three-seat layout, the McLaren F1 still remains the world’s fastest naturally-aspirated car, with a top speed of 391 km/h.

Thirdly, McLaren has close ties with some of the world’s best drivers and engineers. Jody Scheckter, Emerson Fittipaldi, Niki Lauda, Alain Prost, Ayrton Senna, Mika Häkkinen and Lewis Hamilton, have all sat behind the wheel of McLaren’s F1 racing cars and, in some cases, their F1 and 12C road cars. The company has also worked with some of the world’s best engineers, with names like Gordon Coppuck, John Barnard, Gordon Murray and Adrian Newey, all having had a hand in the company’s F1 success and, to varying extents, their road cars.

Finally, the McLaren 12C hails from the McLaren Production Centre in Woking, England. It wouldn’t be surprising to hear that the staff working under its roof might all have OCD, because the cars are produced under such pristine conditions and in a manner that would make a Japanese Fugu chef look like a pre-schooler toying with play-dough.

So with that brief background now set in our minds, it’s clear that in addition to being the first all-new supercar to roll off the McLaren production line in twenty years, the 12C is also the embodiment, and in some ways the pinnacle, of all that McLaren has achieved. It’s also the only other road car that rivals the popular Ferrari 458 Italia so closely in terms of its ties to F1.

I’ll get my only immediate reservations of the 12C over and done with. In a nutshell, the McLaren 12C isn’t ballsy enough for my liking. It’s low, wide, sleek and has enormous sections of rubber at each corner. It has inlets and outlets, ducts and diffusers, splitters and spoilers and you can almost guarantee it’ll have a camera pointed at it wherever it goes, but it needs an edge, some aggression. As it stands, it could quite easily be described as ‘the sleeper of supercars’, which is to say, that while it never wants for attention, in supercar terms it’s somewhat of a wolf in sheeps clothing. One solution would be to specify a set of bumpers inspired by the 12C GT3 race car, as seen on the 12C High Sport (HS). Just five 12C HS models have been produced to-date, with no plans for any more, but for the right price, I’d like to think McLaren could find a spare set of those HS bumpers.

Of course the reason for its somewhat reserved styling is its aerodynamic efficiency. The exact Cd figure remains a mystery for now, but somewhere in the region of 0.31 (McLaren F1) to 0.33 (Ferrari 458 Italia) would be expected. It doesn’t explain the bulbous side mirrors, but maybe any drag they induce may be offset by the lack of door handles. A nonchalant ‘swoosh’ of one’s finger tips over a touch-sensitive switch, just under each cut line, will release the scissor doors, which allow easy enough access to the cabin.

In the same way that the exterior has been designed for maximum aerodynamic efficiency, the interior has been designed for maximum driving proficiency. ‘Low’ and ‘central’ are the key criteria for the 12C and the cabin echoes this formula in its seating position and ergonomics. From the moment you sidle your way over the edge of the carbon fibre ‘MonoCell’ and into the driver’s seat, you are aware of the car’s focus on moving forwards. A narrow centre console, with vertically mounted touch screen, brings occupants towards the centre of the supercar. Likewise, the traditional gear selector and handbrake levers have been replaced with button operated items to save crucial space.

The sports seats, with their integrated head restraint and leather, Alcantara combination trim, are supportive, and place you squarely in front of the controls. The steering wheel is elegant by virtue of its simplicity. It’s held in place by three, two-piece, carbon fibre spokes, which together with the centre hub, form a silhouette upon which the LCD instrument cluster is styled. The steering wheel is also contoured to fit perfectly in hand and the carbon fibre shift paddles mounted behind it are always available, no matter the steering angle. The 12C’s switchgear is sturdy to the touch and set among optional carbon fibre inlays. The only switches I had time to experiment with, however, were those that control the car’s handling and performance.

The McLaren M838T engine is a 3.8-litre, twin-turbocharged, flat-plane, 90-degree V8. One of the most compact V8 engines in any road car today, the engine sits between the carbon ‘MonoCell’ and rear axle, to which it drives 442 kW and 600 Nm of torque via a 7-speed, twin-clutch, SSG (Seamless Shift Gearbox). As of October 2012, all new 12C’s will feature 18 kW more power; an upgrade that can be retro-fitted to existing cars too – more details here. Depressing the engine start button results in a momentary roar as the combustion process begins, before settling into an unassuming idle. One press of the ‘D’ button and a slight prod of the accelerator sets the wheels in motion and within the first 500 metres it becomes apparent just how docile and downright ‘ordinary’ this supercar can be to drive.

Chiefly responsible for this initial ‘duck-to-water’ experience is the excellent all-round visibility from the driver’s seat. There’s no guessing where the car’s bodywork begins or ends, so even though it’s wide, it doesn’t feel like it should have an ‘abnormal load’ sign swinging from its rear bumper. Those over sized looking side mirrors may still be a little chubs, but they do provide a good perspective when judging how close a jalopy has pulled up behind you at a set of lights. Other contributing to factors to the 12C’s docile nature are the muted engine note at low speeds, making the cabin very quiet, as well as the comfortable driving position and easy steering; not over assisted, but effortless nonetheless.

With just 60 minutes to sample the supercar, I headed out of Cape Town on the N1, eager to reach some quiet country roads upon which to turn up the wick. Until then, however, the cruise control was set at a leisurely 110 km/h, which proved an opportunity to show up the McLaren’s refined and comfortable interior. With the Handling and Performance settings set to ‘Normal’, the supercar feels pretty much exactly that – normal. Apart from a heavy foot required to get the brakes biting and a confident push on the throttle, the McLaren goes about town rather uneventfully from a driver’s perspective. This is a good thing, because fighting with a snatchy transmission, snappy throttle pedal or poor visibility, when navigating the urban jungle, is anything but cool. While composed on the inside, things are sometimes frenzied on the outside, as the McLaren draws plenty of attention from the many eyes it catches, resulting in often heroic maneuvers to capture a photo or simply get a closer look.

This is where all talk about the 12C’s capabilities as a sensible ‘every-day’ supercar need to end though, because as the last of the 18-wheelers finally moves into the left lane, I select third gear and flatten the throttle pedal. I have the sound bite of what ensued, but I can’t share it with you because my excitement was way too ‘raw’. In less than 6 seconds, I added 100 km/h to the speedometer without even using all available revs. The surge in acceleration is unrelenting and has you wondering whether it’ll ever end. This McLaren is the only car I’ve driven to-date that come close to offering the sense of acceleration enjoyed by superbike riders.

I turn off the highway and onto the first of a series of back roads through the Cape farmlands. Planning to take it easy over the bumpy and unsettling tarmac, I exercise patience with the throttle, but soon find the McLaren’s suspension evaporating the bumps. It’s a surreal experience as you mentally brace yourself for the upcoming rippled tarmac or broken road surface, only to have the car respond as if it was never there. It’s thanks to McLaren’s linked, hydraulic adaptive suspension damping that the MP4’s ride quality is otherworldly. In addition to the unique damping system, the car also features adjustable roll control, which replaces the conventional mechanical anti-roll bars, and allows the car to remain poised under heavy cornering, yet allows better wheel articulation and compliance for straight line comfort.

There are no more straights ahead of me though as I crest a rise and lay eyes on a traffic-free ribbon of tarmac woven amongst luminous green fields. I select ‘sport’ on the car’s handling and performance dials, to which the car responds with a more vocal exhaust note, more rigid suspension and firmer steering. I glide into the first turn, the steering wheel offers excellent feel of where the front tyres are placed and how little they’re working. I climb on the throttle from mid-turn and the car responds in ideal proportion to my pedal pressure with a corresponding transfer in weight to the rear and reassuring pressure in the small of my back.

I let the revs build towards the 8 500 r/min red line as I head downhill towards a tightening left hander that leads into a sharper right. The V8 engine offers a glorious wail and with a mechanical rasp that invokes images of precise measure and craftsmanship. I pushed harder into this downhill left, exploring the car’s dynamics through the transfer of weight on the brakes, the left-right change of direction and off-camber tarmac. No sign of understeer, no movement at the rear, just more roar from the Pirelli’s as they squirm harder under the forces at play. I blast towards the bottom of the hill, snatching fourth gear via the carbon fibre paddle at my fingertips, the speed is becoming silly.

Visions of a kamikaze guinea fowl start playing over in my mind and I glance in the rear-view mirror before standing on the brakes. The suspension works its magic yet again, allowing me to relax my grip on the steering wheel after expecting the car to wander over the road under the massive forces generated by the brakes (370 mm front and 350 mm rear). By now it’s apparent that, while blisteringly quick, the 12C is well equipped to deal with all the forces it generates. A quick switch to ‘track’ mode and I floor the accelerator. The car rockets forward from standstill, snaking slightly as it picks up speed to well over 100 km/h in a matter of seconds. Two thick black lines in the rear-view mirror are evidence of the ‘track’ mode’s less doting nature. I blast up and down this ribbon of tarmac a couple more times, pushing harder and gaining more confidence with each pass. The car demands a driver that’s sharp and precise to get the best results. The slightest inputs have the slightest effects, but with the speeds the McLaren so easily achieves, the effects are significant.

My 60 minutes is almost up and I head back into town. I burry the accelerator one last time as I join the highway. The surge of power and torque, the lightening quick gear changes, the exhaust note and the resulting triple-digit figures on the speedo, are all such theatre. I set the car back to its ‘normal’ modes and resume the cruise control. Calm is restored and I’m struck at just how much of a B.F.G (big friendly giant) the 12C is. I could happily strap into this car and travel 1 000km in a day and be more comfortable than in many luxury saloon cars; just ask Steve Sutcliffe. Even at mundane speeds you’re aware of the car’s balance and it’s phenomenal suspension. It’s this feeling of engineering that gives the Mclaren its character and adds to the sense of occasion when piloting it.

The McLaren 12c has left me wanting more. I want more time to explore the suspension and how it works in concert with the car’s weight, brakes and engine. I want more time to carve up my favourite mountain pass, more time to sit and study the 12C’s lines, more time to simply indulge.

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