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Hot on the heels of Renault’s use of obnoxious brand ambassadors is Maserati. Just to make sure the world is aware of their beautiful-but-inevitably-dynamically-flawed Gran Cabrio, they’ve given one to Alonso and told him to look happy about it. He did his best.
The above picture obviously took all of his effort though – he just couldn’t grit his teeth hard enough to manage a second smile. Below is the face of a man who’s thinking ‘you told me I could have a sodding 458 Italia you bastards. This is nearly as bad as the shitting Renault Megane I had last year. I wish I was in fucking N-Dubz.’
Behind the impeccably clean glass of the McLaren Technology Centre, Ron Dennis and his band of obsessive men today unveiled a new supercar, a whole new supercar company and a very compelling reason not to buy a Ferrari 458 Italia or Mercedes SLS AMG. Not bad for a day’s work. The first of three models they will eventually put into production, the sparklingly orange MP4-12C was the centre of attention, being shown off in the flesh for the first time. The stats are stunning.
Price – £175k target
Power – 592bhp @ 7,000rpm
Maximum Engine Speed – 8,500rpm
Torque – 443lb ft @ 3,000rpm. 80% peak from 2,000rpm to 6,500rpm
Weight – 1300kg dry. Estimate less than 1400kg kerb
CO2 – less than 300g/km
Top Speed – more than 200mph
0-62mph – around 3.4 secs
0-124mph – less than 10 secs
1/4 mile – around 11 secs
100mph – 0mph – 30 metres. Honestly. You’ll be sick out your eye holes.
Other highlights are the 7 speed ‘Seamless Shift’ double clutch transmission, one-piece carbon fibre ‘Monocell’ chassis, a 7” portrait touch screen that controls the 1.6Ghz on board computer with sat nav, wi-fi, Bluetooth and Meridien stereo, and a beautifully ergonomic interior.
As amazing as all the headline facts are, the really impressive nuggets of information on the MP4-12C come from deeper beneath the surface. The little insights that demonstrate how and why the McLaren really is lighter, faster, greener and more powerful than normal humans would think possible to achieve.
Instead of using plain old round copper, the McLaren uses hexagonal shaped wiring that’s part aluminium, saving almost 4kg. Being hexagonal, the wires can also nestle more closely together, saving space in the interior. The battery’s no standard lead-acid brick either – it’s a lithium-ion unit, saving another 10kg.
Usually, manufacturers build prototypes for the sole purpose of being crashed. Once the smash has taken place, telemetry been read and results recorded the prototype is done with. But the McLaren MP4-12C has proved to be a bit different. A prototype was subjected to a standard 56kph smash, but no damage was inflicted on the carbon fibre chassis – just the deformable aluminium structure at the front. So they put it into another test. Still no damage to the chassis; not even a cracked windscreen. The same chassis was eventually subjected to three identical crash tests… it’s clearly pretty strong.
The chassis isn’t just rigid and light – it’s also incredibly quick to put together, taking just four hours. For comparison, the McLaren F1’s carbon tub took 3,000 hours. The one-piece, 80kg mould is also 25% stronger and 25% lighter than an equivalent aluminium chassis. Cripes.
While it’s clearly a very nice tale to brag about at a press conference, the dashboard badge story is a good one. Obviously, McLaren wanted their logo on the dashboard – but didn’t want to go to the effort and weight of putting on a badge. So instead of sticking on a little McLaren decal, they decided to emboss their emblem into the one-piece magnesium structure that makes up the dash. Which saved them a handy 2.4g… and you can’t even see it.
From the offset, the car has been built around the driver. It might not have an F1-style centre seat, but the pedals, steering wheel and driving chair have all been plumbed in to be perfectly aligned. Even sitting in a prototype that can’t move feels spot on – right down to the thin rimmed, perfectly sized steering wheel that tingles your hands without even a wheel being turned.
Both Lewis and Jenson have driven the car around Goodwood, and while you wouldn’t expect them to say it felt like a bag of bolts, both of them sounded genuinely enthusiastic. Lewis was very pleased, for example, that the gearchange paddles were very similar to his F1 car – they pivot at the wheel, so you can change by either pulling left and right to change down or up, or by pushing or pulling either to do the same thing.
Yeah yeah, so all this sounds a bit sycophantic – but the glee comes from facts. Hearing Chairman Ron Dennis and MD Anthony Sheriff explain the details, talk about the ruthless perfectionism, bespoke design of absolutely everything and the plain and simple statistics, it’s hard not to get carried away. And having sat in it, looked at it, seen it being made and spoken to some of the people that craft it, the MP4-12C is much more than just statistical boasting. It’s a car in which you can feel passion and perfection running through the core. A machine to respect and get all sweatily lusty for. Haven’t wanted a car this badly since turning 17.
As you already know, McLaren today unveiled their new McLaren MP4-12C supercar. As part of the super-fantastic PR reveal bonanza, they showed this video of Lewis and Jenson having a lovely time driving around Goodwood. Watch it, then read our coverage of the car launch here.
Just like kids always tell outlandish lies to their mates, motorshows always feature ridiculous concept cars. As fictional as the powertrains and styling may be, they at least serve as a statement of intent, showing what technology the R&D department is spending its money on, and what direction a manufacturer’s style house is heading. Here are the best concepts of Geneva 2010.
At Frankfurt, Citroen had the unfortunately named Revolte – a fictional car apparently designed for Penelope Pit Stop. At Geneva, they ran with the ‘girl racer’ theme and showed off the Survolt – an electric, two-door sports car which had lots of pink on it.
We asked Citroen man whether the little eye lashes were hinting at the shape of future Citroen daytime running lights, and whether the size and shape of the car (a Megane sized, Scirocco bating coupe) hinted at a future model, but he didn’t confirm or deny. Which means ‘well, yes… probably. But the boss in France has told me to keep schtum.’ Nice looking car, with a hint of Veyron on the shoulders. Because you’re worth it.
Not a Ferrari designed for the strong-legged hiking community, but one built with a Formula One style KERS hybrid system. It’s just a concept at the moment, but Ferrari have been running a car with a similar system for nearly a year, so similar technology is likely to trickle down – the California will come with a stop/start system soon, for a start.
A quiet surprise from SEAT was their little electric shooting break/hatch, which is apparently running on similar gubbins to VW’s UP city car. It’s got a 75kW electric motor which can whiz it to 62mph in less than 10 seconds, because it only weighs around a tonne.
It might turn out to just be pure fiction, but with the VW Group having the UP and Bluesport electric cars, it’s not hard to imagine the next Leon, Ibiza or new SEAT coming with an electric powertrain.
This was the shock of the show, catching everyone by surprise when it was unveiled on Monday night. It looked stunning, with wheels, lines and vents that begged to be put into production… which might not be as far away as first appears – rumours have it that this will be the Carrera GT’s replacement.
It’s easy to sneer at the stats for being works of pure fiction, but Porsche aren’t usually ones to invent figures without serious groundwork behind them, so here’s hoping all this can be real: 500bhp V8, 218bhp electric motor, 70g.km of CO2, 94mpg and 0-62mph in 3.2 seconds. Porsche also claim it laps the Nurburgring quicker than the Carrera GT. Keep an eye out for it – they’ve kept it secret for this long after all.
Infiniti allowed black pump fans to buy their cars, adding a V6 diesel engine with 235bhp and 406lb ft to their range. Toyota announced a temporary closure of its UK plants, which they claim is nothing to do with all the recalls. And stubbly grunge fan Jacques Villeneuve was rumoured to be making a return to F1 with Stefan GP.
Vauxhall previewed their Flextreme GT/E Concept – a petrol hybrid which can run for 60km on its 120kW electric motor, with a 1.4 petrol for when it goes flat. VW released the new £14,445 Polo Bluemotion which produces 91g/km of CO2 and does 80.7mpg. And more F1 testing happened, where some rain saw Kovalainen crash his Lotus and Barichello go fastest.
Peugeot showed off their new ‘5’ concept – a 200bhp, 99g/Km Co2, 74.3mpg diesel-hybrid which previews the pleasant shape and clever tech of the upcoming 508 saloon. Subaru announced that they’ve persuaded Cosworth to breathe on their Impreza STI, making a special edition that will arrive next month. And more F1 testing happened, with Hamilton getting the boasters prize for fastest time.
Honda made hot hatch fans sigh, with the Civic Type R Mugen – all the visual glitz of the 240bhp Mugen Type R, but only the standard 198bhp output. ‘Lotus’ revealed their new F1 car, which will be driven by Trulli and Kovalainen. And Citroen showed off their pretty DS High Rider Concept, showing what the imminent DS4 will look like.
Porsche revealed the 911 GT3 R Hybrid – a racer with a 473bhp straight six powering the back wheels and two flywheel-generator powered electric motors driving the front wheels. Jaguar tweaked the XF, lowering the entry price to £29,900 and giving the Diesel S model the XF-R’s interior and optional Adaptive Dynamics system. And more F1 testing happened, with Kobayashi being fastest.
Virgin Racing unveiled their VR-01 F1 car, although not with the online digital extravaganza they’d hoped for because of technical difficulties. Which bodes well. Peugeot invoked unanimous disappointment with their new £14,695 207 S16, which only has 120bhp but loads of stickers. And Kia released pictures of their dashingly handsome Sportage, which will go on sale this September from £15,500.
Renault gave fans of fart jokes a late Christmas present, showing off their new Twingo based Wind convertible – it’ll go on sale this June, costing about £16k. Spyker-Saab announced they’ll release a new 9-3 model in 2012, and the 9-4X next year. And Felipe Massa’s head proved itself to be fixed, as he was quickest in today’s F1 testing.
Toyota announced a pedal reinforcing remedy to the 1.8million European cars it’s recalling for sticking accelerator pedals, Peugeot and Citroen confirmed they’re recalling C1s and 107s to fix the same problem and Honda recalled the Jazz from 2001-2008 to fix a dodgy electric window switch. Meanwhile, F1 cars were testing in Valencia, with Schumacher being quicker than his teammate Rosberg.
Toyota released more details of their sticky accelerator problems – 1.8 million cars across Europe are being recalled, UK models listed above. Pictures and details of the Carlsson C25 emerged – a 743bhp supercar based on the Mercedes CL. And McLaren revealed their ‘MP4-25’ 2010 Formula 1 car, with Jenson and Lewis both repeating how they’re looking forward to working TOGETHER.
Toyota had a bad day – after announcing 750 job losses at their Burnaston plant in Derbyshire, they extended their American sticky accelerator recall to Europe. Ferrari unveiled their 2010 Formula One car. Ford made a profit for the first time in four years. And Audi’s relentless viral campaign to promote the A1 continued, with a horrible video involving German footballers.
Parent company of MG, China’s biggest car maker SAIC, announced it will sell the new MG 6 model in Europe this year, building them at Longbridge. Mercedes GP revealed their new car and the colours of their drivers’ helmets – Schumacher’s is red. And after a day of GM rumours built up to an afternoon press conference… Saab still isn’t sold.
Mercedes announced pricing and details for their massive E-Class estate – prices from £29,785, a boot of 1,950 litres, up to 49.6mpg and AdBlue on the E350 BlueTec diesel. Red Bull released a snazzy video of Sebastian Buemi driving on ice in Canada, to celebrate F1’s return to the country. And there were some rumours of Citroen making a DS3 hot hatch.
Jaguar announced that XJ prices will start from £53,775 for the three litre turbodiesel, and rise to £90,455 for the LWD V8 when it goes on sale in April. Kia released a picture of its Ray plug-in hybrid concept that’ll appear at the Chicago motor show in February. And Michael Schumacher wrote on his website that his neck doesn’t hurt.
Mitsubishi officially revealed pictures of its ASX Crossover, which will want to pinch buyers from the all-conquering Qashqai when it arrives this summer. The world’s cleverest man, Ross Brawn, said Michael Schumacher will win the 2010 F1 Championship, but not the first race. And a spokesperson from Saab’s hospice said the company is still hopeful of being revived by Spyker.
Toyota revealed a new version of the FT-86 ‘Toyobaru’ concept – a coupe its building in conjunction with Subaru, fitted with a boxer engine. BMW updated the looks and engines of the 3 Series convertible and coupe, to now be in line with the saloon. And Michael Schumacher received loads of praise for driving a GP2 car at a reasonable pace.
