MP4-12C. The name of McLaren’s first supercar in two decades doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue. And, unlike most supercar names, neither does it conjure up imagery of fire-spitting performance.
It could just as well have been a fridge. Or a smartphone. Or a formula from a Grade 12 chemistry handbook. But, in a way, it perfectly encapsulates what this extraordinary machine is all about – science.
Ron Dennis of McLaren is famously on record for stating, “We can prove scientifically that ours is the best sportscar in history.” That’s a bold statement, even when delivered in Ron-speak.
It would appear, then, that from its conception, through its design and development stages, this McLaren has always been about chasing numbers and pushing the boundaries of automotive science from the word go. And that’s why the name makes a lot of sense. MP4 is, as any F1 anorak will tell you, a well-known McLaren Formula One chassis designation. Since 1997, it has stood for McLaren Project 4. The 12, meanwhile, reflects the car’s ranking in McLaren’s internal performance index, and the C is for carbon, a reference to the car’s one-piece carbon-fibre tub, one of its main scientific treasures.
Dubbed a monocell, this tub weighs only 80 kg and is made in a single pressing. Aluminium sub-frames are attached to the front and rear of the tub to hold the engine and suspension components, and to provide a crash structure. In the quest to reduce potential crash-parts costs, the body panels are made not from carbon-fibre, but aluminium and a composite material. Nevertheless, the MP4-12C is a lightweight supercar, tipping our scales at a scant 1 452 kg. With 441 kW of power at its disposal, that translates to a power/weight ratio of a stupendous 304 W/kg. The weight distribution is just about scientifically perfect for a mid-engined supercar, too, with a 42:58 front/rear split. Featuring a dry sump, the engine sits very low in the body, which benefits the car’s centre of gravity.
Considering the marque’s F1 association with Mercedes-Benz, you may have thought that it would turn to its German partner to help it develop the MP4-12C’s engine, but this was not the case. Instead, McLaren commissioned engineering firm Ricardo to design and develop the new flat-crank, M838T 3,8-litre, twin-turbo V8 engine.
And what an engine it is. It delivers a whopping 441 kW and 601 N.m of torque. Perhaps most impressive is the fact that 80 percent of the torque is on tap at a low 2 000 r/min and the red line is at 8 500 r/min, indicating an engine that should be punchy from the word go, and which does not stop revving until your ears bleed. Plus, the maximum torque figure is available from 3 000 to 7 000 r/min, so that the curve looks like Table Mountain.
Getting into the McLaren for the first time without a prior demonstration may be an embarrassing and fruitless exercise. You see, the car has no door handles. Instead, you have to stroke a specific area (under the upper crease of the doors), in a specific way for it to pop open.
Even with familiarisation, it is possible to get it wrong. This can be quite awkward, standing there sensuously stroking the car’s door, especially as the MP4-12C obviously draws a lot of attention.
Once unlocked, the doors swing upwards in classic supercar fashion. Although the car’s roofline is obviously quite low and the sills are wide, getting in and out does not require too much in the line of gymnastic flexibility.
The seats are superbly comfortable and offer just the right levels of support for fast driving. The buttons for their adjustment, however, are awkwardly placed at the front of the seat cushion. But, as far as the cabin goes, that’s just about the only complaint. The slim, elegant facia is a superb piece of ergonomic design and marvellously free of buttons. This is partly the result of moving the dual-zone climate controls to the door panels. On the centre hangdown section, there’s a big touch-screen interface for the infotainment system, but most of the controls are for setting up the car to the driver’s requirements.
Importantly, the driving position is perfect – the steering wheel offers loads of adjustability and visibility out of the car is excellent. Build quality is good, too, but we’d have liked some of the plastic trim pieces to rather be from solid aluminium, especially the ones that you tend to touch.
Press the starter button and the V8 fires up with a bark, but then settles into an unremarkable idle. Our test unit had the optional sports exhaust fitted, so the omens were immediately not good for a stellar performance in the aural-pleasure department.
With both the powertrain and chassis dials tuned to normal and the Graziano seven-speed dual-clutch transmission left to its own devices, we set out on our first drive. And you know what? We could just as well have been driving a comfortable saloon. The transmission seamlessly and swiftly runs through the gears until it barely pulls 2 000 r/min in its seventh gear. The engine is quiet. And the ride quality is astonishing. We drove the McLaren back-to-back with some mediumsize executive saloons and it was on par in terms of ride comfort.
How did McLaren achieve this?
Although it uses double-wishbone suspension setups with coil springs at both ends, it doesn’t have separate anti-roll bars (which can result in too much stiffness). Instead, it has a system called ProActive chassis control, which is essentially a network of linked hydraulic dampers that works to resist any rolling or pitching. The result is a car that stays flat yet retains remarkable suppleness.
Of course, nobody buys a supercar to only cruise around in, but the reality is that this is what most owners end up doing. In any event, the MP4-12C’s brilliant ride, smooth and quiet engine, good visibility and even the fact that it can easily clear speed humps mean you could very comfortably drive this to work and back every day.
But, you only have to rotate the two switches to sport mode to notice an immediate change in character. The car tenses up, like a spring about to unwind, and driver inputs result in far more immediate, sharper responses. Squash the long-travel throttle and there’s a slight moment of lag as the turbos spool up, but then you’d better hang on because, once the deluge of power hits, it doesn’t stop until very high up the rev range.
Head for the twisties and the good news continues. The carbon tub lends the MP4-12C immense structural integrity and this greatly benefits the car’s ability to stay composed when the going gets fast and twisty. Besides the ride, it is possibly the car’s steering that impresses most. It never tugs or turns frenetic, but calmly communicates the road surface and grip situation while filtering the unnecessary bits. Along with the ride, the strong brakes (although stopping distances could be better) and the steering allow the driver to remain fully committed for longer.
Keys to the MP4-12C beautifully balanced road manners are the simple building blocks of the car (the tub, the mid-engine layout, front/rear weight distribution, etc.), but there are a few clever techno treats that enhance the McLaren’s inherent abilities even further. One of them is Brake Steer – during fast cornering, the inside rear wheel is braked to counter understeer. It works unobtrusively and, seeing as you’ll struggle to find the term understeer in the MP4-12C’s vocabulary, it works very effectively. There’s also a rather large active rear spoiler that flips up under hard braking to act as an airbrake, contributing to the car’s rapid braking ability from high speeds.
Overall, Muhammed Ali’s “float like a butter fly, sting like a bee” saying seems very apt here, because the MP4-12C’s transformation from friendly cruiser to razor-sharp but hardcore, ballistic rocketship is astonishing. But, here’s the thing: even in full-attack mode, the MP4-12C doesn’t sacrifice its finesse and refonement. It’s a case of controlled fury.
So far, you’d have to say that, for a supposed object of cold, hard science, the McLaren presses the immeasurable buttons of entertainment, passion and thrills pretty hard, too.
But what about the figures, the measurables? Has Ron really delivered what he promised? Our test unit, a demonstrator with more 6 000 km on the odo, was equipped with the standard tyres. Pirelli P Zero Corsas are optional and are claimed to give faster times. Our test took place on a hot summer’s morning, so it is fair to say that conditions were not exactly ideal. Nevertheless, with its launch-control system engaged, the MP4-12C leapt off the line to complete the 0-100 km/h sprint in a blistering 3,43 seconds, making it the fastest rear-wheel-drive car we’ve ever tested.
But, what happened later in the acceleration run was most impressive. Once the McLaren put all its ponies on the road, it was a case of “to infinity and beyond!”.
The 1 km sprint time of 19,76 seconds is the fastest we have ever recorded, and we’d like to point out that it stormed by the kilometre marker at just below 270 km/h – another record for CAR.
TEST SUMMARY
The immortal F1 was always going to be a hard act for the MP4-12C to follow. The F1 was a seminal supercar and one that is impossible to forget. It casts a dark and very long shadow over the MP4-12C. But that is unfair. The newcomer is vastly cheaper and competes in a very different segment of the market.
By all measurable standards, McLaren has achieved what it set out to accomplish. But supercars are just as much about the immeasurable. And here the MP4-12C does struggle: in terms of the more superficial, subjective measures of looks (pretty, but rather generic) and sound (uninspiring, even with the sports exhaust), it left some team members cold. That said, it’s sublime in the way it delivers its performance and, for the capable driver, there are lots of entertainment and satisfaction to be had. Simply put, we haven’t tested a finer supercar. It’s now up to Ferrari to prove us wrong.