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Chris Goodwin Fan Club

4865 Views 31 Replies 15 Participants Last post by  6th element
I'm glad to see that McLaren is handling the North American launch differently. Seems each journalist at Fontana received not just a hot-lap, but a "hooligan-lap", courtesy of Chris Goodwin, himself.

Another slice of humble pie for Sniff Needell. Eat your heart out, this is how a real Pro does it:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/matthew...-my-lunch-in-a-mclaren-mp4-12c/?feed=rss_home
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Enjoyed that as he demonstrated fast hands, one hand, two hands......can I have two sugars in my tea please......just relaxed in his daily drive.

Couldn't quite hear what he said but could hear that exhaust, presumably a sports one.

Impressive.
Chatted with him at Dunsfold last April,but he was just an observer for the day,but gave a good intro to the car,did ask if he would take me round,but they had other drivers for the day.Still a very down to earth impressive guy.Thats when he told me he had already been in the sim for the next two models!!
I'm glad to see that McLaren is handling the North American launch differently. Seems each journalist at Fontana received not just a hot-lap, but a "hooligan-lap", courtesy of Chris Goodwin, himself.

Another slice of humble pie for Sniff Needell. Eat your heart out, this is how a real Pro does it:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/matthew...-my-lunch-in-a-mclaren-mp4-12c/?feed=rss_home
Very nice +1.......liked the McLaren T Chris Goodwin had on. I wonder if it's avail at McLaren Shop
Oh yes!!! That is a great video and well done to have Goodwin there to show them the ropes. Love it.
Very nice +1.......liked the McLaren T Chris Goodwin had on. I wonder if it's avail at McLaren Shop
It's actually the same design as the 2012 F1 kit the team will be wearing without all the other logos. They are selling the 2012 replica shirts on the McLaren site.
Is there really a Fan Club - how do I join? :D

Would have loved the opportunity to meet him. A lap in the 12C would have been out of this world awesome. :eek:

>8^)
ER
What is impressive in the video is the almost total lack of screaming tires; Goodwin obviously knows the car inside out so can drive really smoothly, keeping up the momentum and carrying so much speed through the turns. I wish I could do that - when I track my GT the Bridgestone factory alerts its workers for extra overtime!
My Mac is still in Dallas, they took ages to fit the clear bra. Supposed to arrive finally on Thursday, almost two weeks after their initial promise.
Talked to Chris for a good 30 mins at the MTC - he is a very nice genuine down to earth person who loves his job and loves the car. There is no bulls**t just honest views.

The Tif thing is annoying as he is now involved with Evo magazine and so will no doubt push his views on the MP4 via that channel as well. Its a shame as I think he is a good driver who appears to have an issue with McLaren and wants to cause problems where he can. There has to be more to it than we know as Tif can clearly drive and if Journalists can drive the car sideways or any way they want then why couldn't he?

McLaren should invite him the the factory, give him the tour then invite him down the road to Dunsfold and let him try the car again. He might then be able to come out and admit he was wrong - he may still prefer the 458 but he cannot say the MP4 won't let you drive it how you want - I've driven it sideways coming out of hammer head myself...
What is impressive in the video is the almost total lack of screaming tires; Goodwin obviously knows the car inside out so can drive really smoothly, keeping up the momentum and carrying so much speed through the turns. I wish I could do that - when I track my GT the Bridgestone factory alerts its workers for extra overtime!
My Mac is still in Dallas, they took ages to fit the clear bra. Supposed to arrive finally on Thursday, almost two weeks after their initial promise.
This is not a sign of good driving. It's much more likely that the compound of the tire is much closer to a racing tire. Street tires scream at the limit. In racing schools , they tell you: " a screaming tire is a happy tire". Racing tires don't. That's half the trouble with them. Harder to tell when they are about to go.
My Mac is still in Dallas, they took ages to fit the clear bra. Supposed to arrive finally on Thursday, almost two weeks after their initial promise.
I had a similar experience with mine. They also took a while in finding a truck for delivery to Houston, be ready for more delays.
Is the salesman coming with your car for the official delivery? I've had my car for 3 weeks and my guy is planing on coming this weekend. A little pointless now that I've figured most of the car out myself. On the positive side, it's given me time to find plenty of bugs to ask about.
Good luck, waiting the last few days is TORTURE!!!
Talked to Chris for a good 30 mins at the MTC - he is a very nice genuine down to earth person who loves his job and loves the car. There is no bulls**t just honest views.

The Tif thing is annoying as he is now involved with Evo magazine and so will no doubt push his views on the MP4 via that channel as well. Its a shame as I think he is a good driver who appears to have an issue with McLaren and wants to cause problems where he can. There has to be more to it than we know as Tif can clearly drive and if Journalists can drive the car sideways or any way they want then why couldn't he?

McLaren should invite him the the factory, give him the tour then invite him down the road to Dunsfold and let him try the car again. He might then be able to come out and admit he was wrong - he may still prefer the 458 but he cannot say the MP4 won't let you drive it how you want - I've driven it sideways coming out of hammer head myself...
Yes, I agree the appeal of Goodwin is that there is no 'marketing-speak' with him. Just the straight goods, backed up by mind-boggling demonstrations of the car's abilities. McLaren would do well to understand how customers and press relate to him, as I think this is very much in line with the ethos, or whatever you want to call it, that they are trying to establish. All the glitzy dealership launch parties are nice, but quite frankly after the hangover wears off, there's not much substance to that stuff. I'd take a factory tour and a one day clinic with Goodwin over just about everything else.

The only benefit of the doubt that I will give Tiff, is that the calibration of the electronics, as well as the ability to disable them (partially or fully) may have been different on the car he drove, vs. later cars, including the one that Chris Harris drove recently. I can't prove that, nor do I know if it is even a logical statement. But based on some of the things I have read and viewed, it appears to me to be a possibility. That said, you can clearly see in his onboard video that he made shifting errors which added to his inability to drift the car.
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I had a similar experience with mine. They also took a while in finding a truck for delivery to Houston, be ready for more delays.
What happened with the buy back agreement? Did they make you sign it?
What happened with the buy back agreement? Did they make you sign it?
They did! I consulted with an attorney friend, and he didn't think it was a big deal... It's just a "right of first refusal agreement" and quite difficult to enforce otherwise. I don't think I'll be selling anytime soon anyways:)
They did! I consulted with an attorney friend, and he didn't think it was a big deal... It's just a "right of first refusal agreement" and quite difficult to enforce otherwise. I don't think I'll be selling anytime soon anyways:)
I signed it too. My dealer's logic was that they were selling it to me at MSRP when they could have marked it up, so why should I be able to flip it at above MSRP. I was happy to be able to buy at MSRP, and thought they had a fair argument.
Conifrmed for delivery tomorrow morning, by truck, without a dealer rep. I'd interested in hearing about your bugs! I signed the right of first refusal ages ago; my lawyer said its so weak as to be unenforceable, but like everynoe else, i don't plan on selling - after 16 months wait I will definitely be enjoying it for a long time.
Great news Tex!
A few of my bugs:
- passenger seat belt light turns on when no passenger in the seat.
- "key not detected" warning comes on from time to time while driving.
- strange "clanking" sound from left air intake, like a loose part rattling around.
- horrible radio reception (well documented elsewhere)
- strange/annoying humming sound from behind the dash.
- Staining of the exhaust tips.
- parking without the parking brake (more of a question than a bug).
- irregular, "jerky" acceleration at times. Motor seems out of tune sometimes. Definitely not as smooth as my R8.
As you can see... Nothing major, just little annoying things.
Great news Tex!
A few of my bugs:
- passenger seat belt light turns on when no passenger in the seat.
- "key not detected" warning comes on from time to time while driving.
- strange "clanking" sound from left air intake, like a loose part rattling around.
- horrible radio reception (well documented elsewhere)
- strange/annoying humming sound from behind the dash.
- Staining of the exhaust tips.
- parking without the parking brake (more of a question than a bug).
- irregular, "jerky" acceleration at times. Motor seems out of tune sometimes. Definitely not as smooth as my R8.
As you can see... Nothing major, just little annoying things.
Moncho, I would definitely have your car looked at. My car doesn't have any of those issues except for the radio reception (I heard probably fixed with IRIS) and the sound from the left side, which is apparently the same on all cars and has something to do with the A/C system, as I've been told. Not sure if there will be an upgrade for that.
Oh Dear! Doesn't sound so good for a $300K vehicle. I'll let you know how mine is - hopefully a shorter list. My GT's radio reception is also crap, especially if I have my foot on the brake pedal and the brake lights are on - this sets up a nasty static in the radio. Oh for the good ole days when electrics were simple with none of this multi-plexing stuff
Moncho, per your "jerky" acceleration - I'm betting it's only when having just recently started the car, and when giving it up some juice in 1st-3rd gear?
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