Comments: 1-15, 16-30, 31-45, 46-60, 61-73
Tell me this, If you arrived at a party and drove off home in an Ferrari or Toyota and crashed it, do you think anyone would write about it? (doubt it!!) Now, try the same situation with an F1, an experience Rowan Atkinson went through. It was all over the front papers. You're bound to understand the effect that such a car has in it's mere presence. No doubt it's statistics are overwhelming considering it costs so much, but would otherwise have been so popular, would every person that read these comments have known what a Mclaren is? Point being, it's one of the most expensive, most lucrative and most desired cars on the price tag and uniqueness distinguishes it from the rest of the pack, even a decade later.
The trick is in the image, would other manufacturers have known how to market the car so well, answer... no. So it goes to show you that they are good in every aspect.
Just another tip. Did anyone know that the first car that was sent by nasa had mclaren technology in it, and nasa helped develop the technology that is used on the engine hood of the mclaren formula 1 racing car. Hint hint, a heritage of supremacy. Case closed.
The fast Jag referred to is the xj220. I actually came up behind one on a country road nearby to where I live. The jag was so wide and its suspension so hard it could only crawl around corners, I could actualy see the back wheels skipping accross the uneven road. Anyway at the next junction I couldn't be bothered waiting behind it and overtook in my 1985 Golf diesel. How humbling, the £500k second fastest road car beaten by a £500 probably second slowest car in the world!
Hehe.
Rowan Atkinson could crash a toyota corolla and it would still hit the news.
I don't own a McLaren F1, but I do at least own the official book! (hey! It's something...)
The fact that people are still talking about this car says something. If it was crap then it would already be forgotten.
McLaren spared NO EXPENSE in developing the car to the absolute best that the then current technology had to offer, and the only conditions were that it was to be a "pure" super car... ie: no ABS, no power steering, no 4WD or 4WS, no japanese-derived gimmickry whatsoever... and they succeeded...
Interestingly, testament to the fact that the F1 was a "no-expense spared" super car is this: the official book is actually quite candid and frank in admitting that the company lost money on the Macca... it never made them the profit they so deserved...
Obviously current technology must surely be capable of bettering the McLaren F1... it's called progress... I happens and we should be ecstatic that it happens!
But McLaren has without a doubt succeeded in creating the best "pure" super car ever... sure, Ferraris have and always will be sexier cars... but the Macca will always be incredible and very special...
I have the highest respect for the McLaren F1.
Its official. The McLaren is now no longer the fastest street legal car in the world.
That title now goes to a modified Porche 911 with a funny name (9FF??)
The Maclaren F1 is the fastest road legal car in the world period Acceleration and top speed period! 0-60 in 3.1 seconds and 240.1 mph top speed, anyone who thinks ANY turbocharged car can be tuned to beat it is living in lala land. First no current car that exists will get anywhere near the F1's top speed. skylines which are among the fastest and most tunable cars in the world will do 0-60 in low 4 seconds at best with over a 1000 bhp, 2 reasons, it has nowhere near the power to weight ratio of the maclaren F!, and all that power means serios wheelspin on launch which means time wasted going nowhere! the gearing could be modified (gear ratios) to improve acceleration which may cut another half a second or so, but that will mean serios loss of high end acceleration (100 mph+) so again it's top speed will be further reduced (top speed is around 200 mph with that power, but it will take ages to get there, compared to the maclaren F1, and it still won't be enough to matc the F1's TESTED TOP SPEED OF 240.1 mph at the Ehra Eiseen track in germany. It's the greatest car in the world, from a drivers point of view that is! and one more thing, I downloaded the topgear review of the F1, and when tiff needl drove it at normal speed it was smooth as silk, and when it was idling!, whats this rubbish about it being noisy, that's what farty cars like Skyline's, Supra's, Zx's sound, and Impreza's.
3300 miles in 3 years is hardly "Hard running."
The car is, essentially, unused.
The Maclaren F1 is the closest thing you will ever get to motor vehicle perfection. Its original design was conceived on a "no compromises" basis. Amongst the innovations born were the carbonfibre monocoque structure and active aerodynamics. It was so innovative at the time Gordon Murray was considering ceramic brakes... nearly a decade before they were being made mainstream. This concept was pulled at the last minute due to lack of testing, reliability etc..
If you look at the design today its barely aged, compare this with the Porsche 959, Ferrari F40 & F50. I'm sure you can get any car with good aerodynamics to top its 231+ mph, but you also have to get them to stop and remain reliable.
Not really sure why I'm writing this - its all been said before.
Suffice to say the car is 'real' part of English history. One day its mighty crown may be taken, but it was definitely here first!
Now I'm off to test drive a Koenigsegg CCR.
That's the Swedish car with 806 Horsepower?
I agree wholeheartedly that the F1 is the best super-car ever built. I was destroyed when I recently read about the new veyron and its ability to achieve 200MPH at the same time as a maclaren F1 and giving the F1 a ten second head start. but to me the F1 still remains the god of cars. I also agree with the chap that says thast the veyron is as ugly as sin.
Yes the veyron does 0-60MPH in 2.5 seconds, but wait, the bug has 4 turbos propelling it to top speed whilst the F1 is Naturally aspirated. I am waiting a eager comeback by maclaren to crush the veyron. I just cannot stand knowing that the veyron is currently no. 1. Also, the veyron is far heavier than the maclaren that only shows the amount of research, love and dedication murrey put into the F1. Don't worry Murry, you still rule ;-)
Kurt
550 RWHP Rx7.
I am surprised no one has apparently posted this up before: the new 1001 HP Bugatti Veyron just released accelerates to 100 kays in less than 3 seconds (2.5 in fact)! It can do over 407 kays top speed - and that's with a speed limiter! So the King (Macca) is dead at last. Long live the King (Veyron).
Alright, Do you really think if you buy a McLaren F1 it is for pure speed? No! Sure this car is fast, but if you buy one you are going to buy it more for being able to say "I own a McLaren F1" If you are rich enough to get a 1.8 million dollar car and you want just pure speed you would just get a Supra and Upgrade the hell out of it Until it is over 1000 horsepower and save over 1 million dollars. As for me, I am truly a speed demon, and If I had the choice of a McLaren F1 or a Supra with over 1000 hp that would beat the Mclaren in a straight line, I would choose the McLaren over the Supra in a heartbeat.
Reading all these reviews has been quite amusing and there is no doubt the F1 is one of the greatest cars ever made whats been funny is all the obscene claims of cars faster than an F1 such as japanese cars Skyline, evo, rx7 etc. You may well have a 1000bhp skyline which can do 0-60 in 2.8 sec which was actually featured in a top gear video, but still it can't match the mclarens top speed and as for reliability well give it a few thousand miles and an engine rebuild will be on order something which the mclaren owners need not worry about.