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[quote=f6fhellcat13;986270]I think the MP4-12C is the victim, like the Bangle-styled BMWs, of a collective hysteria from the journo crowd. The post-Bangle BMWs were praised for not being designed by him by the pundits, yet they still looked like shit. I would imagine the emotional content of a 458 is little different that the McLaren's; a few "Italian" touches here and there, and voilà, the Ferrari is somehow a million times more the drivers' car. Having driven neither, I obviously can't comment from a position of knowledge, but I would suspect that, in the interest of provocative headlines and with the thought that the Ferrari is a certain way and the McLaren another having been seeded before driving either, that they might be exaggerating.
Lest you think I'm immune to Italian (no quotes) charms; a few weeks ago I was given a ride in a GTV6 and, maybe due to an exhaust leak and carbon monoxide in the cabin, I spent the whole hour and-a-bit of our journey giggling. I wasn't even driving and it was some of the most fun driving I've had.
For the record: I'm not a big fan of the McLaren. Something about performance cars with half-hearted turbocharging gets my goat. I don't mind when a Volvo has a light-pressure turbo, but when a supercar is only developing 150bhp/l when the naturally-aspirated Ferrari is making 130, something is wrong. If a supercar is turboed it should make a million bhp/l, of which I think modern technology is entirely capable. Give it a turbocharged engine, not a naturally-aspirated one with turboes. The other thing, very-similarly, that irks me about it is that they can and will turn up the boost to extend the model range, and in the world of price-is-little-object I don't like artificial model hierarchies like that. The Enzo was not faster than the 430 because corners were cut on the 430; the Enzo and the 430 fell into a natural hierarchy. One was a supercar with a mid-sized V8 and light chassis, the other a hypercar with a stronger heavier chassis and a big ol' V12 dynamo. On the flip side, people claimed the Cayman was dulled-down to avoid stepping on the 911's toes. While I'm not sure I buy this, this is a good example, if true, of an artificial hierarchy.
So there you have it: in my computer chair I'm impressed with neither, but if you have a set of 458 or 12C keys burning a hole in your pocket, there's no way in hell I'm saying no.[/quote]
Oh, I'm sure it is superb to drive, no denying that. And despite being a technology ladden car, much like the GT-R, I prefer it to the Nissan. In the McLaren it seems like somehow the technology is meant to enhance the driving experience even if I can't see the point of some of the technology, like the pre-loading gearbox. But in anycase it seems like a purer car than the GT-R is. I even like the restrained styling, in this day of flame-surfacing BMWs, christmas lights Audis and Art-Dèco Mercs it is refreshing to have something understated and elegant.
My problem is that, unlike a 458 (since it's already been mentioned), the soul and character seems to be artificially built in to compete with it. It cannot be its own way, it's just aimed squarely at the Ferrari. The increase in noise after they started production is just a reminder for me that their moves are purely dictated by what Ferrari do. And that's bad, because if I wanted a Ferrari I'd buy one, not a copy from Woking on which it says McLaren on the nose.
And this car for me is just the confirmation.
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I think this is a lot better looking than the coupe. Something about removing the top makes a lot of the curves pop out more IMO.
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[quote=Ferrer;986321]Oh, I'm sure it is superb to drive, no denying that. And despite being a technology ladden car, much like the GT-R, I prefer it to the Nissan. In the McLaren it seems like somehow the technology is meant to enhance the driving experience even if I can't see the point of some of the technology, like the pre-loading gearbox. But in anycase it seems like a purer car than the GT-R is. I even like the restrained styling, in this day of flame-surfacing BMWs, christmas lights Audis and Art-Dèco Mercs it is refreshing to have something understated and elegant.
My problem is that, unlike a 458 (since it's already been mentioned), the soul and character seems to be artificially built in to compete with it. It cannot be its own way, it's just aimed squarely at the Ferrari. The increase in noise after they started production is just a reminder for me that their moves are purely dictated by what Ferrari do. And that's bad, because if I wanted a Ferrari I'd buy one, not a copy from Woking on which it says McLaren on the nose.
And this car for me is just the confirmation.[/quote]
I would say that the 458's styling is more constraining. It looks forced to me. The same way you'd look at a Countach or a Testarossa and say "yep, that's a product of the 80's", that's how I think a 458 will be 20 years from now.
I like how the engineers and designer still made the car a convertible without losing the glass cover. That was my big gripe with the convertible Gallardo and the Ferrari 458 and 360. There's some serious forethought into that.