[6th element]

Well, at least they are starting to understand what the car is all about. But, "Metcalfe-spec paddles"? That better be a dig at the old man, because I'm reaching for my barf bag, right now.

http://www.evo.co.uk/carreviews/performance_car_of_the_year/274747/mclaren_mp412c.html

p.s. I have no qualms with them picking the RS 4.0 first, even if Harris owns one. By their criteria, I would probably pick it first, too. The newfound over-the-top exuberance for the 12C, however, presumably to hype up the eCoty issue, is somewhat boring. C'mon Chris, before you said it didn't move you emotionally, now you say if you don't find this car exciting you don't have a heart? yada yada yada

 

[SSO]

Coming in 2nd as 2011 car of the year is not a bad showing at all.

 

[falb]

They clearly said that the RS 4.0 was never NOT going to be the coty. Odd since the RS 3.8 took the win last year. Clearly there is a bias toward the carrera platform and the raw drivers car, which I can't blame them for except that we are not looking for race cars.

 

[6th element]

They clearly said that the RS 4.0 was never NOT going to be the coty. Odd since the RS 3.8 took the win last year. Clearly there is a bias toward the carrera platform and the raw drivers car, which I can't blame them for except that we are not looking for race cars.

Bah. It has become such a bloody soap opera with these UK journos. I'm quite turned off, actually. I started to go to the specialty magazine stores a couple years ago, specifically to find the UK rags, because I found the writing more colourful and wanted to read some different perspectives. The U.S. mags have pretty bland prose and often they feature the exact same cars every month and even now use syndicated articles. Plus, there was the whole Chevy Volt COTY conspiracy and that was a huge turn-off.

But, it seems the UK stuff is no different. Too many guys thinking they are celebrities, maybe, I don't know. I see Tiff just panned the Aventador in a piece that looks it came out of the reject bin of Top Gear's production room. Sad that everybody in the industry seems to think being a Clarkson mini-Me is the only way to get viewership/readership.

Where is the consistency? Frankly, I don't care how much praise EVO heaps on the 12C, now. They're acting like a tabloid, building up, tearing down, building up again, just to keep the story going. Lame, and they can lick me where I'm salty for that.

 

[roundincircles]

You have to wonder if the need to hype up readership numbers ( to in turn hype up ad revenue ) is now the biggest influence on their 'opinions'?

There is a market out there for objective journalism - in the mould of Kevin Ash of ashonbikes.com - wonder where it is?

 

[Krzys]

Bah. It has become such a bloody soap opera with these UK journos. I'm quite turned off, actually. I started to go to the specialty magazine stores a couple years ago, specifically to find the UK rags, because I found the writing more colourful and wanted to read some different perspectives. The U.S. mags have pretty bland prose and often they feature the exact same cars every month and even now use syndicated articles. Plus, there was the whole Chevy Volt COTY conspiracy and that was a huge turn-off.

But, it seems the UK stuff is no different. Too many guys thinking they are celebrities, maybe, I don't know. I see Tiff just panned the Aventador in a piece that looks it came out of the reject bin of Top Gear's production room. Sad that everybody in the industry seems to think being a Clarkson mini-Me is the only way to get viewership/readership.

Where is the consistency? Frankly, I don't care how much praise EVO heaps on the 12C, now. They're acting like a tabloid, building up, tearing down, building up again, just to keep the story going. Lame, and they can lick me where I'm salty for that.

You are being too harsh on British mags. The early negative reviews did have a positive effect after all. They did change the calibration of the throttle, sound, paddles and a bunch of other things as the result of the feedback. That's a great win for the customer. In that respect British mags are much better than American ones that tend to praise whatever is newer no matter what. They are like sheep.

 

[andy c]

You are being too harsh on British mags. The early negative reviews did have a positive effect after all. They did change the calibration of the throttle, sound, paddles and a bunch of other things as the result of the feedback. That's a great win for the customer. In that respect British mags are much better than American ones that tend to praise whatever is newer no matter what. They are like sheep.

Krzys,the feedback came from early customers who drove the car at Dunsfold,these changes were already in the pipeline when the magazines got to drive it,but it made good copy for the editors to claim it as their own.If you read Harry Metcalfes piece it was all his doing by writing a letter to Ron,and 10 days later they had changed the design just to suit his ideas and invited him to try it out,Tosh!!!
Many of us had commented at Dunsfold two months earlier,Ok maybe they needed that extra push,but was it PR or the Mclaren way.They are still listening to their customers,thats what counts

 

[Krzys]

Krzys,the feedback came from early customers who drove the car at Dunsfold,these changes were already in the pipeline when the magazines got to drive it,but it made good copy for the editors to claim it as their own.If you read Harry Metcalfes piece it was all his doing by writing a letter to Ron,and 10 days later they had changed the design just to suit his ideas and invited him to try it out,Tosh!!!
Many of us had commented at Dunsfold two months earlier,Ok maybe they needed that extra push,but was it PR or the Mclaren way.They are still listening to their customers,thats what counts

I think it's more than that. Early test drives is just a couple of guys, evo will have more impact in the enthusiast community. The fact that McLaren invited Evo to sample the new car very quickly is a testimony to the fact. This is not to denigrate the responsiveness of MClaren, just to point out that British mags despite their, at times, quirky tastes, do contribute something. I like them much more than any other. If you read what they say and ignore their final judgement, you'll find a lot of useful info.

For example, two years back CAR magazine convinced me to have a look at the new 2010 e63 AMG, a car I would have never otherwise considered as I had always thought of them as overpowered barges. They were spot on and it was a total surprise.

 

[AugustWest]

Love 6thE's new signature. Killer dialogue.

 

[6th element]

Love 6thE's new signature. Killer dialogue.

I know, it's a riot, eh? Whoever those two dudes are, they should keep making skits. I thought I was watching an excerpt from Harold & Kumar, or something.

 

[andy c]

I think it's more than that. Early test drives is just a couple of guys, evo will have more impact in the enthusiast community. The fact that McLaren invited Evo to sample the new car very quickly is a testimony to the fact. This is not to denigrate the responsiveness of MClaren, just to point out that British mags despite their, at times, quirky tastes, do contribute something. I like them much more than any other. If you read what they say and ignore their final judgement, you'll find a lot of useful info.

For example, two years back CAR magazine convinced me to have a look at the new 2010 e63 AMG, a car I would have never otherwise considered as I had always thought of them as overpowered barges. They were spot on and it was a total surprise.

Not just a couple of guys Krzys,at least 30 to 40 of us over several days,that was at least a month before Mr metcalfe wrote his letter that was claimed to change the 12c for ever!!!!!

 

[Krzys]

Not just a couple of guys Krzys,at least 30 to 40 of us over several days,that was at least a month before Mr metcalfe wrote his letter that was claimed to change the 12c for ever!!!!!

Oh, come on, I don't care who brags about it or not. The fact that McL invited Evo to taste the new vibe of the car speaks for itself.

 

[SSO]

Oh, come on, I don't care who brags about it or not. The fact that McL invited Evo to taste the new vibe of the car speaks for itself.

It does show that McLaren is getting a bit smarter on the PR front and starting to build better relationships.

 

[6th element]

It does show that McLaren is getting a bit smarter on the PR front and starting to build better relationships.

+1 it was nothing more than a PR move.

 

[Calitalia]

curiously, "not a 458"... why is he still mentioning that? it should be a non event... why does that still come up... Odd...

 

[andy c]

+1 it was nothing more than a PR move.

Thats the point i was trying to make,do what the customer wants but let the world know through a PR stunt,everyone wins,even if only a few of us know the truth its not important.I was starting to believe in my own importance then,very un Mclaren....! slap on the wrist and go for a drive i think

 

[6th element]

curiously, "not a 458"... why is he still mentioning that? it should be a non event... why does that still come up... Odd...

It will be like that for as long as it still sells copies. The media won't stop the references until they milk it dry. But, both cars will eventually be appreciated in their own right. Same as with the F40 and Porsche 959. The comparisons were endless for a few years. Now, the thought of one does not automatically conjure the image of the other.

Remarkable how powerful it is, the McLaren vs. Ferrari phenomenon. You have to think that Lambo and perhaps even Merc (SLS AMG) and Aston must feel slighted about being left out of all the publicity. Not to mention the boutique guys like Noble, Koenigsegegesgeggggegggg...., etc.

 

[fasferrari]

I believe it is very exciting to get in on the ground floor of
first "producti

 

[fasferrari]

It is very exciting to get in on the ground
floor of the first "production" sportscar
of the legendary McLaren Company, the
greatest name in the history of the
manufacturing of Formula 1 motors.
Ferrari is the greatest name in Formula 1
racing thanks to the cult of the Ferrari.
At any Formula 1 race, no matter where
held --Belguim, England, France-- the
television screen shows a perfusion
of Ferrari hats and shirts. It is an acceptance
of the Ferrari brand that is on a par with CokeCola.
It will take McLaren decades to approach
the universal acceptance Ferrari has obtained.
But to be part of the McLaren journey
is a once in a lifetime opportunity.
What is the worst that can happen?
Nothing like DeLorean. Nothing like Edsel.
Look at the world wide chain of dealerships
Ron Dennis has created:Italy, China,
France and many more countries including
the USA.
The manner in which Dennis and his right
hand assistant Anthony Sheriff have handled
the software problem is unbelievable. I
think Dennis regrets having gotten in bed
with Iris, and I don't know what claim McLaren
will bring against Iris--or wether McLaren
can even collect from Iris, but for McLaren
to avoid the rushing of a less than perfect
to its dealers solely for economical reasons
is admirable.
Think of it: dealers all over the world--and
particularly in the USA-- have incurred the
expense of building a new dealership to
McLaren specs . Have purchased F1 cars
from McLaren and have incurred costs to
hire a staff, with no product to sell.
Will McLaren reimburse its dealers for
the loss caused by the software delay?
I would think McLaren took on an investor
because of the delay.
McLaren is not Aston. McLaren started with
a good business plan.McLaren is presently
testing the next two cars that will follow the
12C.
I believe we are witnessing the start of a
long journey to greatness made possible
by the confluence of vision, financial committment,
exceptional talent with fastastic person drive which
will result in the manufacture of the best
sportscar ever to come out of the British Isles.
Color me orange--fire black with orange specs.

 

[Senna]

I think it is a very British thing to do, we build up our emerging stars, sports personality's, cars, businesses etc, then when they achieve the greatness we all hoped they would have, we spend the next 5 years slagging them off in the press for the slightest things, weather it be that they move to Monaco to avoid giving 90% of there hard earned $$ to the government, they don't quiet act British enough, become arrogant, are not patriotic enough and so on and so on. Just ask, Beckham, Mansel,Lewis, the England football team.

Its just very rude to be the best of the best