Samoht - 2019 McLaren 570GT

[samoht]

I thought I should start a new thread, as we've now gone from "What fun car should samoht buy?" to actual ownership.


I was determined to get the car out in the daylight today to get a set of photos, thinking back to the set I took of the RX-7 in my first month of ownership. I pulled the car up in a layby just outside Cambridge, got out, took a few steps away, turned around to take photos and just burst out giggling like a schoolboy at the sight of it, this ridiculous, wonderful car that's now rather unbelievably mine. I've generally had pretty good fortune in life, but this is, um, unexpected.

Anyway, after pulling myself together I did get some photos, hopefully visible below. These are straight from the DSLR, no tweaks bar blocking out the number plate so it doesn't get indexed by Google. I honestly don't think the basic shape is as elegant as the FD, but then what is? It's more technical, a bit like a trainer with the black sections and holes. However, the Volcano Orange paint just takes it to another level. I think it's technically somewhat akin to the flip paint that was popular in the 90s, but instead of going OTT by combining opposite colours like green and purple, they go between different shades of a single colour, in this case orange, to have a more natural look, but still highlighting the shape as the paint changes colour with the angle to the sun. Bringing out the shape is a key thing for a paint to do IMO, so this succeeds well - and it's a welcome change after owning three JDM black cars and one German silver one!

I'm not entirely a fan of the black wheels as they tend to rather disappear visually; I might consider going for a 'smoked grey' type finish, akin to what I had on the FD, at some point. Opinions welcome!

With perfect British timing it started raining as I started photographing, so I cut short my tour of local Scapes for Photo Mode. It also limited further exploration of the performance, so my nocturnal run last night remains my best yet.

Looking back, I never really managed to get the best out of the car I hired last year, maybe it was in the wrong mode. Putting this in Sport powertrain mode and manual gears, picking a gear and riding the boost curve all the way, is just astonishing, crazy acceleration. And I don't think I've actually got the throttle pedal to its stop yet, nor reached the rev limiter, still less engaged the 'Dynamic' mode on the ESC, which I hear unleashes even more of the power; it's a bit restricted in full ESC. So plenty more to come as I ease myself into this car.

I'm also gradually getting a feel for the car. It *is* possible to enjoy it down a fairly narrow country road, I'm just learning to judge where the extremities are; the steering is very precise. I just need to get better at at driving it - oh, and perhaps take a dose of amphetamines so my brain can keep up with the car! Sometimes I feel like the car's getting ahead of me, it's so quick down the road. I'm sure I'll adapt to this with a few more miles.

One thing I think I have got on top of is left foot braking. When I test drove the car I had trouble getting my right foot far enough across to apply the brake when needed. Basically the brake pedal is located nearer where your left foot falls than your right. After a few inadvertent emergency stops I think I've got my left foot trained ok, so at least I can reliably and immediately shed speed when required. The main remaining issue with braking is just judging speed - the problem is, I see a hazard, hit the brakes and wipe off 60mph, come off the brakes and it feels like I'm now down to walking pace. Then I look at the speedo and I'm still doing 60! This is probably the area I need to pay most attention to to keep it shiny side up.

I've found if I park a little further forwards in the garage I can miss the pillar and get the drivers' door fully open, at which point getting in and out is fine. It's not quite as easy as a normal car, but there's no need to crawl on the ground or anything, just needs a bit of care - it's entirely do-able while maintaining one's dignity.

So yeah, I'm feeling very fortunate and excited.

The only problem is now, when I'm not driving the car I want to drive it, and when I am driving it, I want to drive it faster, chasing that feeling when it's really going.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Somehow I don’t really feel that bad about your latest ‘problems’!

Beautiful troublesome car you got there!

[Kchrpm]

This should be quite the thread, enjoying it already and looking forward to more.

[Alan P]

Stunning colour, gorgeous shape! I was just about to ask if you'd bought something in the other thread!

[Cam]

Dang, that's hot. Congratulations.

[Phil_SS]

So so hot! Really a beautiful car.

[Crazed_Insanity]

My favorite angles...

As you can tell, I really like its ass!

[CudaMan]

Amazing. Utterly amazing. I really like the photoshoot in between the rows of trees. I'm looking forward to seeing what adventures you get up to. What does your wife think now that you have the car? You had said she was apprehensive about being seen in something that nice as I recall.

I was with you in spirit over the weekend, detailing a hand-assembled British mid-engined car, marveling at the very different way it was built compared to Japanese/German mass produced cars I'm used to.

[Godson]

Fuck. Yes.

[samoht]

Yeah I like the rear light pic, it was a fluke as I'd put the lights on for the rain, and thought I'd try leaving them on for the pics. I've not edited any of the photos, all as they came off the Nikon, so the light/dark contrast there is fortune.


Nice pic of the Lotus. I understand a number of engineers left Lotus during the ex-Bahar period and moved to McLaren where they set the template for the 12C and everything that followed, I think there's a lot of Lotus in the McLarens.

Yesterday Atsuko came out in it with me for the first time. She's warming to it I think, with a bit more familiarity I hope she'll feel comfortable in it. We do still have an old silver Merc for the times we want to be anonymous
We tried using it as an actual car, in a sense - took it up to St Ives, not far from Cambridge, and left it in a public car park to go to a cafe. Wasn't long, and all fine - I'd parked on an end of a row to be sure of being able to get the door open, but the person who parked adjacent on the other side was considerate and left a good gap anyway. I did notice people looking etc as we returned. A bit of a worry leaving it in public, but it wasn't for that long.

Actually the positive reaction people have to this car is really nice, it does seem to make people happy to see it. Yesterday after we came back I had the car on the front drive to wash it, and the family who live opposite came over, their little boy loves cars, so came and had a little look and a sit in the drivers' seat. It's nice to be able to share the passion.


I'm about to book it in at V Engineering for a full wheel alignment, won't be for a month but should ensure everything is right and as good as it can be in the suspension department.