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.

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[Crazed_Insanity]

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

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. :hard:

[Crazed_Insanity]

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My favorite angles...

As you can tell, I really like its ass! :assclown:

[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 (https://photos.app.goo.gl/SW67QkDBU9TzypjP6), 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.

[George]

Wow. Congratulations! :up:

[Dicknose]

Hot hot and a lot more hot!

Yeah more time in the seat and the car will shrink around you

[Crazed_Insanity]

No, no... you don't want that expensive piece of awesome engineering to shrink!!! You want to be able to expand and extend yourself and be one with the car! Hummmmmmmmmmmm......

[samoht]

After washing the car last Sunday I was determined to get some photos of it clean in direct sunlight, to see the difference that makes. Of course, I live in England, so arranging that is easier said than done. The first two photo stops I made the sun disobligingly hid behind a cloud, but the third time I watched and waited as the clouds blew across, seeing a gap of blue sky that was shortly to come over and give a window of sunlight. In the grand scheme of things I like how the paint responds to different lighting, but it can be quite teasing if you're trying to get a specific sort of photo!

I had a good drive after taking these pics, getting a little more used to it although it still feels mad when you unleash the power down a small country road. I found a few bits of nice open bends and it's great, although I do think there's quite noticeable bump-steer which can be a little unsettling both to car and driver when cornering at speed on our bumpy roads. I'll mention it to V Engineering when it gets to them on 22nd March, also they should be able to get it MoT'd then too.

The ride is pretty good I think, it can get thrown around a bit occasionally but some of the roads in this area are very uneven, by and large it just laps up the road, really nice feeling when you get into a flow with the car and the road.

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[Crazed_Insanity]

Sorry dude! I don’t think washing it make a whole lot of difference! It still has a nice looking ass! :D

[Kchrpm]

Very nice!

[dodint]

Yeah, that really pops.

Any plans to attend any track days? Not necessarily something competitive but just a way to open it up on a closed course.

[samoht]

It was clean in the last pics, but got dirty after that as the roads were wet. So I cleaned it last w/e and then waited to get another set of pics in direct sunlight, vs the overcast conditions of the first set.

I will take it on track, but not for a little while yet, I want to get used to just operating the car, and I want to get the geo done next month. Maybe later this year, or I might wait til next. I'm still waiting for the V5 (registration doc) to come through, that will get me into a couple of owners clubs/forums where there may be some info about events including trackdays.

[dodint]

That's good. From what I've gleaned from videos the Brits do track days in a much more casual and open fashion than we do here. I've always been envious of that.

[speedpimp]

Congrats.

[retsmah]

Congrats, great looking car! Your comment about getting used to where the extremities are got me to look up the width (82.5" / 2095mm), I'm surprised it's so wide! Not that I spend a ton of time around McLarens but I've always thought of them as small cars.

[samoht]

Your comment about getting used to where the extremities are got me to look up the width (82.5" / 2095mm), I'm surprised it's so wide! Not that I spend a ton of time around McLarens but I've always thought of them as small cars.

Yeah... it's 1920mm or something across the body, the extra ~18cm is the mirrors.

Generally when driving the limiting factor on the inside is at ground level, where the kerb or a grass verge is, and on the outside my mirrors will probably slip underneath most other cars', so the total effective width isn't quite as bad as the mirror-tip-to-mirror-tip measurement suggests. That is the relevant factor when squeezing into and out of the garage, though. Folding the mirrors gets you down to 2045mm I think, they just rotate on the mounts so still stick out a fair bit.

The 570 series is a fairly rounded shape, with quite a lot of plan taper, which makes it look smaller than its actual maximum extent - it's actually the same size or a hair bigger than the 'senior' 650S. It was one of my biggest concerns about going this route rather than another sports car, but so far it's mostly not limiting my enjoyment of driving it.

[Rare White Ape]

Is now a good time to point out the kiwi bird motif that has been designed into the sides of the car?

Check it out. You’ll see it!

[Crazed_Insanity]

Oh my, can't unsee it now! :lol:

That kiwican'tfly, but can certainly go fast!

[samoht]

Is now a good time to point out the kiwi bird motif that has been designed into the sides of the car?

Check it out. You’ll see it!

The black section ahead of the air intake is extended like a kiwi's beak ?
https://animals.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Kiwi-4-650x425.jpg

I was aware the company continues the legacy of the accomplished Kiwi Bruce McLaren who died far too young, but I hadn't noticed that nod to history - deliberate or not, it's pretty cool!

[Rare White Ape]

Yes, all the way forward to the front indicator lens.

But not only that: the black panel is the body, and the ridge line underneath represents the feet. Kinda like if you took the old school McLaren kiwi logo and stretched it out to make it look faster.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C8yRa1aVoAAfhiV?format=jpg&name=large

[Crazed_Insanity]

Okay, the feet part is a bit of a stretch, but still very cool insight.

Always thought McLaren engineers spent thousands of hours wind tunnel testing it to get that special inlet shape..., guess not! :p

[CudaMan]

Thanks for continuing to share the experience with us so we can live vicarious McLaren ownership. :D

I keep forgetting how refreshing it is to just go for a drive in a sports car on a weekend. Whether it's a short run for morning coffee, or wandering in the foothills for an hour, or a full day trip deep into the mountains. I need to get back to that more often.

[Godson]

Thanks for continuing to share the experience with us so we can live vicarious McLaren ownership. :D

I keep forgetting how refreshing it is to just go for a drive in a sports car on a weekend. Whether it's a short run for morning coffee, or wandering in the foothills for an hour, or a full day trip deep into the mountains. I need to get back to that more often.

I need to do the same.....

[retsmah]

I need to do the same.....

Third!

[samoht]

Went out for another drive on Sat, found a decent-ish bit of B-road that's consistently got a white line down the middle, it wasn't too busy so had some chances to go for it. I'm still not at one with the car, but I guess it's quite a big step from what I'm used to. Just trying to judge the power and braking, both the deceleration rate and finding a suitable entry speed need some experience to get a feel for. No ESC interventions at least, just TCS but that's hard to avoid on bumpy roads.

One thing I am appreciating is the primary controls. With a conventional manual, your right foot is switching between throttle and brake, and your left (or right) hand leaves the wheel to change gear. With this, my right foot is dedicated to going faster, my left foot exclusively to slowing down, and both hands remain on the wheel, just reaching out with a couple of fingers to shift. Taking out the moving and finding the bite point makes control inputs a lot more immediate and smooth. And knowing you can apply the brakes immediately is reassuring in a car like this.

It does give it a bit of an almost-videogame feel, in a good way, hearing the V8 roar, left foot braking and banging through the paddles. Not in a 'fake' or disconnected way, just that immediacy of control.

No new pics this week I'm afraid, as the Starbucks I paused at had a litter-strewn carpark. Was still nice sitting drinking a coffee and watching it from the window.

Another thing I like is the alcantara steering wheel, which is a touchstone that links it back to my RX-7, into which I put an aftermarket dished alcantara wheel to let my legs squeeze in behind it. The good visibility is another parallel which makes me feel more comfortable.

I know I'm still getting to know the car, as I went out for a walk on Sunday, and driving back from that in the Merc along some decent roads felt really good, just a satisfying flow without going particularly fast. Obviously I'm not trying as hard, and even if I was it doesn't go as fast, which makes it easier to be smooth. But I think the main thing is just experience, I'm familiar with that car after a bit over two years and 11k miles, I've only put a few hundred on the McLaren so far. When I just got it, I remember finding the auto box in the Merc tricky, but now it all feels predictable and easy to use.

Damp and near-freezing temperatures put me off arranging a 'big trip' in the new car for the purpose of familiarisation, I've actually plugged in a charger to ensure the battery stays topped up for now.
Will hope to do a longer trip in late Spring/early summer. However we are going to a hotel together for afternoon tea on Saturday with it.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Yeah, Seattle is particularly cold and damp this year, at least compared to last year... I can imagine England is the same?

Don't be so eager and push too hard when it's so cold and damp. Although it's not brand new, but you can still enjoy your 'break-in' period... yeah, let your car slowly break you into pieces or melt you so that you can ultimately be one with the car! ;)

BTW, do English men enjoy afternoon teas? Or you're just being nice to wife?

Capt. Picard enjoys his hot cup of Earl Gray... so not sure exactly how you english people really feel about afternoon teas. ;)

[JSGeneral]

Outstanding, beautiful vehicle! Thanks for sharing this experience Samoht! I wish for you long treks and wide smiles in your foreseeable future.

[samoht]

I'd noticed that I hadn't had the car's logbook through; normally after buying a car the seller informs the government (DVLA) who change the ownership over and post out the new logbook. In the past it's generally arrived within a week, but it had been three and I'd had nothing. I emailed the dealer to ask when they'd done it, and apparently "for some reason it slipped the net", so they've applied now (it's done online now). I can see on the DVLA website they've now recorded the change of owner so I should get it through next week.

Now, this could be an innocent oversight. However this car was sold on consignment / Sale or Return, i.e. the dealer hadn't purchased it, they were selling it on behalf of the private owner. It isn't unknown for some less scrupulous dealers in this situation to bolster their cashflow by simply dragging their heels on processing the paperwork, which means the prior owner doesn't know their car has sold until say a month after it's actually gone. Hence the dealer has the money in their account for an extra month. The dealer also took the ad down the week I collected the car, but put it back up a few days later with 'deposit taken' on it, which isn't untrue, but is an odd way to describe 'car has been paid for in full and collected by the new owner'.

Now I have no evidence and am not saying the dealer did it, but the situation does make me go 'hmmm...'. Anyway it doesn't really matter to me, I have my sales receipt, the logbook is just so the government knows who to go after when the car is snapped speeding. It's the previous owner who's losing out if anything.


Anyway, we took the car over to Luton for afternoon tea. To Billi's question I do quite enjoy it if the food's nice, and it's a nice way to spend time together. Sometimes I try to dovetail it with a half-decent walk, but the venue and weather didn't favour that today, so we just had half an hour in the hotel grounds.

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4055
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Pics are nothing special but thought I'd get some anyway. I thought they might have been happy for us to park in front of the hotel itself, but apparently that's only for hotel residents :p .

It was nice to take the car out and get some more time behind the wheel, although I left it in auto as there wasn't really much chance to stretch its legs. The road and exhaust noise at a motorway cruise of 70-80mph is a bit loud, maybe on a par with the RX-7 - the carbon tub contributes I think. So despite the 12-speaker stereo (the top of three options), at speed it's not great for music. Better when you're stuck at 40mph or so, alternatively better with music with more of a beat to it, that seems to cut through the background noise better. Otherwise it's still comfortable to travel in, seats are pretty good. The 570GT has a slightly softer chassis and slower steering than the 570S I hired last year; it does feel less intense, but the steering feel is still there just attenuated. On the upside it seems to avoid some of the kickback of the S over really bad surfaces, and the alarming bangs on sudden road impacts. I think overall it's a good trade, although part of me wonders if the S is more exciting, for a 'fun' car.


I'm really happy to have the chance to share this car with you all here; crazy to think we came together over two decades ago around a low-res driving game, and how much has happened since then.

[CudaMan]

:up:

I'm also fascinated to learn more about afternoon tea. I'd heard about it years ago, through, Idunno, maybe Keeping Up Appearances reruns on public television. I thought it was an old fading tradition since I didn't hear anything about it during my brief but enjoyable 6 month stay in and around Northampton in 2011. I gather it's mainly an afternoon social break?

I see lots of yummy-looking pastries there, and what looks to be a frothy sweet drink. Whither is the tea? :)

Nice to see some color in the parking lot, sorry, carpark :) on what looks to be a dreary day.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Yeah, what’s up with the frothy lattes for afternoon tea?!?! Or are those milk teas? :p Anyway, will try to have some next time we visit England…

I’m also surprised hotel valet park folks doesn’t want to pretend that your hotel residents and made you park with ‘regular’ cars! Oh well.

Anyway, yeah, so nice to see some of us here have turned our low res race cars into reality and how long folks have be hanging out on this forum… truly unbelievable!

[samoht]

I do think it was something of a fading tradition, but it then took off again around 15? years ago.

Compared to staying or having dinner at a posh hotel, afternoon tea is relatively accessible, since the cost is lower and is much more of a fixed quantity, you know you'll pay £40 or £50 a head and that's pretty much all inclusive. So it offers a "luxury experience" for a manageable price.

It offers a time and space to sit and talk which is more relaxed, spacious and quiet than a coffee shop or a pub. In the best cases the food can be really nice too.

For the hotel it lets them turn a profit on their lobby or dining room in between lunch and dinner, and also acts as a way to introduce themselves to potential future dinner / room guests.

It probably 'skews female', but it's definitely a thing that couples and mixed groups enjoy too.

Traditionally there are three elements - sandwiches, scones and cakes, ideally served on a three-layer stand for maximum aesthetic impact. Then a range of teas, or other hot drinks ;) Atsuko and I sometimes sample the teas, but often revert to coffee as our preferences defy the respective national stereotypes ;)

The ideal plan is to have a good breakfast, go out for a good walk, skip lunch, hit afternoon tea around 3-3:30 pm, then head home and probably not need much in the way of supper.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Yeah, I can't imagine 2 guys having afternoon tea together... maybe only Cuda would want to join me? :D

There's a place we found near our area that has afternoon tea and it also has very interesting decors inside... so I had a afternoon date there with wife while the kid was at school. Food and tea was okay, but the overall experience was enjoyable. $30/p is a great deal compared to what you're paying! :p Anyway, hopefully I'll get to try a real english version afternoon tea in the future!

Thanks for sharing this side adventure with us. We now return to our regularly scheduled McLaren program...

[retsmah]

I think I just had a sad little realization looking at google maps that the tea place within walking distance of our house may be closed. My (now) fiance and I went out for tea with another couple there pre-pandemic, and got a multi-layer tray of food that appears to be pretty authentic!

My fiance did her first master's degree at King's College London, I saw Bryan at Silverstone in his previously mentioned 2011 stay (and have also seen several seasons of Great British Bake Off), so I think we're basically British at this point!

[samoht]

I'll continue to 'blog' about my activities with the car here, feel free to ignore if it gets monotonous :)

Went out for a drive this morning, on the map I'd identified a decent loop of country roads not too far from Cambridge and decided to try them out. Pretty good really, it's nearly all just wide enough for a white line down the middle, which is in very general terms a good criterion to make a good road for this car.

I'm getting more familiar with the car and the powertrain, I've got the 'Active' setting configured with manual gears and sport powertrain, so then toggle between that and Auto/Normal with the Active button (inconveniently at the front of the centre console). In car journalism, saying a car's acceleration makes you gasp just reads like lazy over the top cliche. But when I floored it in 3rd today, well I did hear myself emit an involuntary sound in surprise, it just shoots forwards so hard in the mid-range. Part of the reason for going for this over say an Audi R8 V10 is that I had decided I actually prefer turbo engines, for all their infidelity to your inputs I find them more exciting, and this is certainly that. It's a bit like an S-body with two SR20DETs in the shape of the power curve, maybe a bit smoother but that same sense of invincible mid-range oomph, just more so.

I was thinking about another old cliche, 'too fast for the road'. Now yeah, this car is that, in the sense that in almost any road situation, it has more speed than you can safely or vaguely legally use. You can't really wring it out on the road, outside of a rare situation where you have consistently good visibility and know there aren't any police around. Driving it fast you're walking a tightrope between how much space you can see is safe and the car's willingness to eat that space up in an instant.

And yet, I like it this way. It's more exciting to measure out the performance from a bottomless well, always in accordance with what you can see, than to be too slow to enjoy say a short straight.

The other thing is it's still fun even when not flat out, there's an inherent quality to the car and your interactions with it. The way it responds to steering, throttle and brake, and the way it rides, keeping you in touch with the road but in a comfortable way, it all just oozes a very satisfying quality. I mean, as you'd expect, but it does put a smile on my face even in town.

I found a farm shop cafe on my loop today, so stopped off for a breather and coffee. As I parked, a family in a Galaxy stopped, windows down, so I invited them to take a look, have a sit in etc. It was fun to share and show them the car, mostly the dad was interested I think although we mutually pretended we were doing it for the two kids' benefit :)

I think the main thing is I'm getting more familiar with driving it, building up that 'mapping' in my head between input and response that lets a car start to become second nature to drive.

Anyway, going for alignment and MoT on Weds, will be interested to see what they say. I'm kinda hoping to move over to V Engineering for maintenance etc in the medium term, so very keen to scope them out and get a feel for how capable/trustworthy they are.

[Crazed_Insanity]

It's so awesome that you and Kchrpm would let little kids to satisfy their curiosities with your awesome cars! :) Or even the dad... or hooter girls... :p

Anyway, it's also cool to know that your car is taking your breath away and you still gotta need for speed!!! Enough cliches? :D

OH the thought of maintaining this piece of incredible engineering scares me though. Hope you do find a capable/trustworthy/affordable place.

[samoht]

Took the car to V Engineering for alignment today. Steve had barely got my car up on the ramp when he commented that the right rear wheel was toed out, when they should be toe in. And of course, in a tight left hand turn, the weight transfers onto the right hand wheels, so if the rear one is pointing outwards, that'll tend to promote oversteer. It's reassuring that they independently identified an issue which would explain my little ESC-apade exactly. The car does feel better now, more consistent and predictable, although I'll have to have another run on some local roads to really check the difference.

They also found a couple of minor issues with rear suspension joints - one has slight play, one has a hole in the cover, plus I've broken off a brake cooling scoop at the rear. These need parts ordering so will be done next time, nothing major though. Steve did manage to re-align the wiper, which was too far 'down' on the spindle, and replace missing and incorrect bolts with appropriate items for the rear undertray. They also reckon they can hush the annoying high-pitched whine from the power steering pump, which has been irritating me a bit at 30-40mph.

They were really open and encouraged me to hang around while Steve did the alignment, so he talked me through everything and showed me things.

I'm really impressed with V Engineering's attention to detail, depth of knowledge and openness. Given their willingness to find and fix issues my local McLaren dealer ignored, I'm intending to take the car back to them for the annual service in June.


https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AMWts8AjSqNq6JfvyDX2bnASPH9bEMg_IkTZm0rPDiM4DOkA1-I6PM2NzrO2MxJ8YBDYQyo97T9PCKX1DEJ5GSIe57BLm0KBIDnN k7CvIEwsqYSehyFHiOIcraXK-skwDZLEOfaBZt-YyBeNt3vwpXV9ga1LkQ=w2434-h1825-no?authuser=0
(car is dirty in the above pic as it rained heavily this morning, so I did 2.5 hours on wet motorways to reach the place)


It's an interesting place, they had six P1s there including one that they were fitting a set of purple-lacquered visible carbon fibre body panels too. Looked great, although for £300k for the panels I'd hope so! Also a couple of 675LTs and some 12Cs. It was mostly the slightly older cars, there weren't any other Sports Series (570/600) cars there today. The senior guy Paul worked at McLaren from 2010-20, apparently the first half of that under Ron Dennis was very much the better situation, as opposed to the executives from high volume manufacturers who led subsequently.

[Phil_SS]

Always great to find a good mechanic/shop that is willing to spend time with you and show you the issues and what should be done. Well worth the 2.5hr drive imo.

[samoht]

When I was buying this car I also sought a little advice from a friend. He's actually someone I worked with briefly c.10 years ago at my last company, software dev coach / consultant and petrolhead. At that point he had a 370Z Nismo and I had the 180SX. Anyway I'd seen him post on Pistonheads and Youtube that he now has an R8 V10 Spyder GT, so I contacted him for some advice about buying secondhand cars of this kind, which he was generous and helpful with.

We'd been hoping to meet up, and he knew some people organising a meet this morning at a venue about halfway between his home in North London, and Cambridge, so it seemed perfect. Well, apart from the fact that the clocks went forwards today, making an early start even earlier, and the heavy rain.


When I arrived the organisers on the gate said ‘oh it’s Stephen’s car’, the previous owner but one of my car. Apparently he was due to come with his Ferrari (?), but I guess he thought better of it due to the weather - shame as I was looking forward to meeting him.

I did however meet the owner of the nice 600LT parked next-but-one, since he’s had a few years in McLarens it was great to hear his (very positive) experiences. Coincidentally he’d also been to V Engineering this past week and gained a similarly good impression as I had.

I may be getting old, but I have to admit when the local police turned up I was relieved, as people blasting noisily up and down the narrow, soaking wet lane in front of the venue was starting to worry me. The most egregious was a yellow Urus, although it was mostly Fords, BMWs etc I think.

That apart it was a nice meet. It was interesting to see a few other McLaren colours, a M3 Touring, a 296, an Emira and a few others in the metal. It’s also another bit of a pinch-yourself moment, being asked to park up next to Lambos and Ferraris :D I did a very poor job of getting pics I'm afraid. In particular there was a yellow Cuda with the '383' graphic on the side that I missed - doh! In my defence it was raining hard, and I was mainly catching up with my friend and his son, between work and cars we had a lot of common ground to talk about!

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AMWts8BL5QRjc3ZwEVZxA6l-VFJwNIPfNVjZGZtUOx7HfJZTB_pVCQ6pLH7-pCEp4rVoXvYtCoU2azJZtWCUYTBcnFdgRPHrZf0AhYubxT84Fx mpLKCNH8utKDoqbtAzQoxnnx06CtUmGletqbpRj8iKZA8wjA=w 2510-h1696-no?authuser=0
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AMWts8DiWy0eJ0gb5cONvzBH6d3f0UbyplRWsaNoP8FeadSiPu fXm5TiD4MgyeEsASGW6g4Yy7muEtBJF-i2_B9wUh4YycpM8UKbHsn8yEcndfeR0A6VF8eKu70BkhklRo3C WlsnUdJl_wnNbjWooVlp0wLXMw=w1520-h1829-no?authuser=0
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AMWts8BYsCGQw67MFpeDHQE-qHdRM9EV_Ig6_3v7GloM-Ybe4xW8Kx5VRy030ADKLYejhDsX93tPQeUAIeAdezpwZlQKTAd 5Eu0ENF_trc5iUnge_1HcZaZNrwRDv6NgXFmfqEruQK9D4Yyia o9UzQFCNNwBKA=w2560-h1574-no?authuser=0
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AMWts8DXgCy0dhJhUKWFaz58KxF-7Ek9QmazcV4YXTN_tKC5qIp0QwbFCokNuggybDs-fGYso-SGeqbcjJZJe0BJFsp41lTJiFdNe3fgEaG81XgitihDZLFD_1np 3uUML2HwvSi0R8ncZVhK9AXIPxQedjx8UA=w2560-h1593-no?authuser=0
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AMWts8DeziZuFb7bMLMixm1nVfnURZdYSGM-HYxk3JeCCKXC8nalN-jHhr_1kZ8f47JpRg4Sh7m4u_f87An2-aCpRRldFIzjIEQgfbIE1omBw7bcl-QSxB2SAQhrAvq7NuhJkCDNl63aDMsLcrJAnW3EYovM5w=w2507-h1665-no?authuser=0
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AMWts8DvK3rOLuks7ujUOW3-30bg66dXT7uFLH6E63toHV1M4VOjfvQn2Jj3uhY0BZCaO6JrJv CZ1w_0FwqWMOvJCWOrtgKHT0rNC6Sfqeay2WfJz3vBuf6mYzBP 5HNbi1oo-WI2dRVoOns29Mnti7T0VrFB8g=w1788-h964-no?authuser=0

[Crazed_Insanity]

Wow! So many super cars and so wet… :p

[Phil_SS]

Well, it is England in the spring. :D

[samoht]

Yeah, it would have been much better had it been dry I think. But weather is always random luck here, and doubly so in early Spring.

Due to the location in Essex, there was some interesting chat about Ford and their new direction in Europe (basically making the brand as American as possible while going hard on EVs).

[CudaMan]

Spotted your twin (nearly, sans the wheels) in town while grabbing dinner Saturday night. :)

https://photos.app.goo.gl/ucv6d4yc1LPjCH6k8

[samoht]

Nice combo of colours in the photo :)

I think that's an S, with the vertical rear screen, but otherwise same. I wonder if the P Zero Corsas work better in California? There's a strong feeling here that Michelins are best in our climate, the PS4S's I have (a not so extreme sports tyre) are really very good at getting the power down when it's cold and damp.

[CudaMan]

I know next to nothing about PZero Corsas but it's hard to beat a PS4S for all around high performance duty. I think every comparison I've seen has had Michelin coming out better than Pirelli like for like.

Edit - if I'm not mistaken Gordon Murray specs off the shelf PS4S for the T.33 and T.50.

[Crazed_Insanity]

I did not spot any super cars around my neighborhood, but found an afternoon tea place! :D

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[JoshInKC]

Nice phone case

[Crazed_Insanity]

:lol:

Wife loves cats and wine! :p

Anyway, maybe someday we could also drive a super car to an afternoon tea, but if our daughter tags along, that’d be really tough… since Gordon Murray’s cars are probably a bit too pricy! ;)

[JoshInKC]

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Years ago, this place used was a very nice Tea Room.
Had a really nice service the times I went.

[SkylineObsession]

Very nice ride. :) I didn't know about the Kiwi on the sides of the car either, that's pretty bloody cool. :D

I miss driving proper sports cars. Haven't driven a GT-R of any type for a number of years now, and still miss/remember the Ferrari 360 and Gallardo i drove in Aussie back in 2012. Still a bit gutted i didn't buy an SL55 AMG a few years back when i almost had enough savings for one, but have done a huge amount to the house with that money which was probably a better choice in the long run.

[samoht]

One of the things I'd been hoping to do with the new car was another European trip, after enjoying the trip with the Merc last year. Atsuko decided she would like to visit Stuttgart again, and then also Munich, Frankfurt and Hamburg. This therefore furnished the perfect excuse/opportunity to take the new car overseas (or in the first instance, undersea via the Eurotunnel).

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AJFCJaXM20xyACZlJkARzum70vczH2TjS22LSODGBPRpi2PG-rnFJ7fhA7K5HFZde_cjVfsR2d_fZ9NecQ6r5ehSNipeb2RS-Og2sAGX_c3VhW1KA6WsO8bFjNtdCzutlI7muwsnCx9YvFeje68 QTk9H1vx4EQ=w2382-h1720-s-no

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AJFCJaVu4jYMAiJvV5oVll7tSLLXC8gPKzkFNAxzuG5BEogd-u8-t-_X_SuNzsd3lzU9AUcJIhC5WMVkrOwsHTe5GtFPXpClva9qpX3T YKtQJTwH3YQRTm5yo0SG1N_yd53hvspjAQ2ZYHpLqgnn7aFcQN RbLg=w1969-h1438-s-no

Touch wood, all has gone well so far. The McLaren is reasonably comfortable for long distances, the audio is ok, the A/C works very well despite the large glass area and fairly sunny weather, the seats are decently comfortable if you get the complex and confusing adjustments right. I was a little concerned about driving into city centres and finding suitable parking, but mostly the hotels have had their own car park. Although some of them have been a little tight!

I intended to get a lot more photos than the above two, but the car has been slightly the centre of attention so far, which makes it tricky to get pics outside of underground carparks!


It's undeniably fun to take a 570hp car out on a road with no speed limits. I think that vmax so far was in the region of 180 mph briefly, got some decent running in the 95-120 mph region (150-200 km/h). The handling is a lot more reassuring in high speed bends than the Merc - that car is always stable, but I was never totally sure how much understeer I might encounter in a high speed sweeper. The McLaren steering gives total confidence to maintain speed, weighting up nicely and feeling stuck to the road on its fat MPS4Ss. At one point we were navigating a long sweeping righthander, down, over a viaduct and rising again, at around 120 in the outside lane, with slower traffic in the inner two, it was this magic moment feeling like something in a videogame with suitably epic scenery.

I've been switching to manual gears and the middle suspension setting when the chance opens up for some high speed driving. I've noticed, as you would expect, that the softest setting is slightly under-damped; it's still best for general driving and comfort, but there is a bit of bounce when running hard, which medium (sport) takes away.


Feeling very lucky to not only have this car, but also to have the chance to make trips like this with it.

Frankfurt to Hamburg tomorrow, then back on the overnight ferry from Den Haag to Harwich on Monday night.

[XHawkeye]

:up: :up:

[Rare White Ape]

Big dollop of fuck yes.

Living the dream!

[Kchrpm]

THE DREEEAAAAM!!! Lovely that you're living it!

[Crazed_Insanity]

Unbelievable. Vacationing abroad in a supercar? What kind of crazy world are we living in? :p

More pics please!

[samoht]

Old news now, but our ongoing travel to Hamburg and then home across the North Sea went smoothly.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AJFCJaU1dG-zkRKmGhBsdXRPJDEDSMD8t7rVSSNO5v2VzdtuHQ-UzPpEngdkw5DOOwHma4mNxp_W5S39WfV1Hc4Z-NhoqlZlyGlfuTK833yCfu6wMC8jFob8g7gFRfpc3jdx0Mi0y29 k8foYSdHb7lUo4odoGvCxbLT0XocvtUgFZq3-KOBm0O4RxK7VAyHPu5MAXzDyL7FuqFUD1kyHrn7CB3bc3SbjNM _kQYg_zxoTyKFaHN-ZI8bBSOt3OnC6m8BDH4PngDZN1nstNx-ww_-4dbwsuI_kkDY8VP3bVv6--KkqoIaMQBczXtLmS69mGanwJIVCtMF_yagP70UiCJ5eQovNfYv JJtRSPvVUCErJXvd3ZqPTy7U8gePEHzu23BssJtgMABMo-6E67meDU0i4jM3NY1KfCYH_Zthi7kHyRADr4rYfepY9Hbmngd1 0Hd_cJTzoTuyNlAxq9S1iiMgJWu9PuJ5VRIcvZB-wxGWfJ-bTw1KksTr9Ej3CpDFSj_HW72TjvZuCx8CfL4-3zHGzy-L121Uu8tHKIoPSNUtTAndrDtT7ya-2-yScERIavHM9i7dd1MoFaLP2lLO4fwAnSaA958fQWOS5pd_A9DV YBhrrNIpcgeddslRPLnRPne5QdYUjMQPL80CfOJaWM-cH-26sDNfSaQVlcGDMxsbXAGvD5hGwwUcux5mXkeigFeWAGxuYlu-Rt5Dv1_QcnsKp9KwaY1rHhHR72GrKlRbd-UYm-srr99LUuReQBqoxHyafsKvJ4TKBtok-ohxk4Fp2efvttKJc7ztlXpVLalWO31pUUD0zD0xwq5MRnipBod 7eUTtR5yIhD1AHBkIqNhImf8JFajk-3GaPteXr68MLgGBwjIxrwEyYlkwdF1z8EjYt3pIUDJSIXI7HW1 lPLr_cr3E=w2524-h1893-s-no?authuser=0

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AJFCJaUjmOweAPWTYlbvxYTyJGshEj1GyEyWc0bsmMxFzznA_O LOUmjAsWxDFH9qiP6-rXrLeUhiyKaLmFWj43B8qIlrCLwE4icZ1TCEbGIiNKXaKdXOpN axHahxEhGo0ePwO-n6qW1N-Gsl_fHR2iAa9eS6PQRa9noIkWE_Y2yKP7_hqFI8ANKZdTKm86a VetTbRMdOL5uNHgTRNDiHStz2oG-ztoTLd0ndIiEtKyU0VCMrwDQANwiDO-zKG5PMUyMIQiMgbIYmQJnyLCwq8IIAdfhhwjjsjtvozC-NCvnt6MgGrC2G5u-3u-UZijUUPW-EX4pCU7NdFB-iwQ1gjc3F6HxNTM1LweUrDKFjwJbLAtWL_VF1fAtk4xSK3o4QQ QPzrp0XYOr4pXn8XedrmyEfjPdS7KlK92ej3dtelnbws45iwLa WUH4aShTZdV-dY0mDMgYNniqBMiR5YTHUmrSEpBoVS6NWM9v1CBjReOPletBVm i-9fHTbnVoeL-e7Olry73UDR1E0yHYFPMzlkFvzi4eoel8iOhBu3BxJ-0ERaM4N9uU7Pm-3ASUOBabr6lZ4TW9V2o1OK9Vqkhg0nPkIllSQjt4tSuMiOMi_v L_5t026DfPZgt3slHXkkR6ei6q_ZKYX_tw37iHrwoWljsZsZtX gILt0K5GhwuutnZELfBzmoKqZqYK5RAwm4X53d8CbpoYRqkaLn qHnAy-RHTp5g2AtIsTWgko3-V4899jKkLW4YCg6javSXTgBEnLjYVQvdYgg0CbRvNXuQfph8wc 4klTTqfz4P_WXmI0GY37SY2-mH7jIzYgHM2ShFULSmMBC4lDppxKdGv71DzpN7wd2kXfuUFbFJ cCpKBbSqzjUnStL-oxNKJWhefUw0J1iOjMiEfALI7Nu86-hPwmgnvRwg50=w1920-h1856-s-no?authuser=0

Evening departure, overnight journey home
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Given how well this car works for touring, I may look to replace the Merc with some kind of EV, and rely on the Mac for longer trips. Apart from finding a safe place to leave it at the other end, I really like taking this car for longer trips and given it does 35mpg on non-German motorways, there's no reason no to, the Merc never gets out of the 20s.

I just realised (doh!) that I can connect the phone via Bluetooth, thus making it easy to playback podcasts over the stereo. Yeah, no idea why I didn't consider this sooner but I've never had a car newer than 07 before ;)


On Friday I took the car back to V Engineering, this time for the annual service which was due in June and for them to fix the bits and bobs they spotted back in Spring. It worked out at about £500 for a minor annual service, and £600 for the suspension bits, most of which was the parts from McLaren. So far it's costing less than the RX-7, long may that continue!! Really like visiting V, Steve talking me through the car and the work he's doing, and also ogling the Miura (again), Daytona, a Testarossa with the rear off revealing the notorious engine-over-gearbox layout, etc. Again, they don't permit pics inside for customer privacy, although you can see a bit inside, and see Paul, on this recent Tavarish vid https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hI1IY782ig&t=1242s .


This afternoon it was too hot for a walk so I went out for a little drive, had some fun, checked the oil and grabbed some pics.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AJFCJaVjNmSLgQWWJ9b2Z0pJneek4O9gyv1qYJGjzSSz9qbCFy 8HOit6DBosfvJHJqUzwqFMfewo-7SzJyDqTUFRziW3HW3698HNqQ_QtkkdZUfRDRfJskEbGl6hdTY 6FEUvjKNKmqcn-voUFtOEMyxppNSLXg=w2840-h1893-s-no?authuser=0

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AJFCJaXfftkZ8HDogbTbWg25Gcq-u-75euxT3l-zI6lrqJOhXZUFMN3P49HUyHNDS_ts2AeH0ZnpKqb7rm0ANU5n_ 4hDWE2lt0ceNWFLMvHWFjQEH-CHqgcDCTCUey0pgEYwc24Kl-hCXLhXlUnc0lktxfbiDw=w3220-h1893-s-no?authuser=0

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AJFCJaXnQc9fs8AO8Qc9LbwIU1hk29pZOQWRpN0UWOYirnvkNV OpqBT_kzaYKqnsnx-NfZj3FoZThKRb_GGbdbsaEn-AlMl_kEdVrP90ySlVyRbsW8biIqgvXFaAgEo5gI5xTZAFXEPEI y3NK0HLVoGCg5vdSA=w2840-h1893-s-no?authuser=0

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AJFCJaUxQ6yywV6ZC6mp0ZSIc9ci3_n6Z1nrKpAPi1p69hGRfk jX3Gns2lsMOknj22BTWWGtwkLzNDqn9CVad-5AIV_rmv4g0fnIqlnRAdAcowyD6FJ4fMCucLfWhi7pfL3qsslB rDtLkqJEq3eaebzO57fAfA=w2547-h1893-s-no?authuser=0

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AJFCJaUJpRNsW1PfKyAlOf9ypN0llXrOwfA3vNIJKQ2x3Nw4_S oxce25MbfHvHhrZFaSlAfT8zH6NWdJ88_z8l2jRHkyXfm969ub uQ1-PVBf1sQtgLfOwj9avEcDraiGT827-oXapzafFWherBRg4zfLWjzo6g=w1227-h1893-s-no?authuser=0

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AJFCJaWIdO78XuwTXyr57499fqMUy7m6QFsQNmLyKjumpazC9W 2li6OVfDV0l4eS3r29SZa2jqnjMotN3lf5MZQhNQH34ZSBUJ0W z0gA9ej8rBBLrz3EiHGuPcmul0zHqfiT38y3E8Deb_HWCAdh3J AS3Cj7Xw=w2840-h1893-s-no?authuser=0

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AJFCJaUc7mScycnLR3c1rOCbLE8fRjf2QMdEjiJl8D-1eXp1cAnOZrzmxc0ElFv12p2S_OsUKFZlhpHgjQF6h0tYSrYap 4WqDSsuai5L63apIyDlfFZs38NVCfuX0p7A41A8JiF_oYE4qgn RtXQN5P6id_GrJw=w2840-h1893-s-no?authuser=0

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AJFCJaWHaCKZ6btmt5g_XBbSgK43wYL7XGaDJrT0iDDXE9WXb6 PjeVUxjnSq9PkNnD6zN0ZgfvcBSK4iCl7qdgTw-Q3A4zpa-VETUZ8U75D0YmNFGNyFPxKvvD0YrcByjr9JwRbFhS3Q3RMK_eY 8BV85yFGT5Q=w2840-h1893-s-no?authuser=0

[dodint]

That's cool that you're considering keeping it as a cruiser.

[Kchrpm]

Excellent! That you're enjoying it, and the pictures.

[FaultyMario]

I love this thread.

[Yw-slayer]

Good stuff. I agree that an EV is the way forward for most local driving.

[CudaMan]

Those last three photos especially are superb!

Glad it's turning out to be a fairly economical car too. :) (Maintenance and fuel economy)

[Godson]

35mpg??!!??


Holy hell I'm jealous.

[CudaMan]

Remember the imperial gallon is 20% larger than the US gallon. Still impressive.