Gallery: Jay Leno Explains Why McLaren's MP4-12C Is Awesome
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When McLaren said it was building the MP4-12C, I knew it had to be good. We’re talking about a successor to the incomparable McLaren F1, after all. With that kind of family DNA, how could it not be good? So when [McLaren](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/autopia/tag/mclaren/) gave me a chance two years ago to be among the first in the world to see the new car, I leapt. It was really impressive, from the clean lines to the carbon fiber tub to the fact that the guys at Woking designed their own engine. I decided right then, right there, that [I must have one](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/autopia/2011/07/jay-leno-on-buying-his-mclaren/). I placed my order. I finally got it, just in time for Christmas. How good is the [McLaren MP4-12C](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/autopia/2010/03/mclaren-mp4-12c/), you ask? So good I put 1,000 miles on the clock the first week I had it.
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This being McLaren, a company synonymous with [Formula 1](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/autopia/tag/formula-1/), the MP4-12C was designed to make quick work of a track. To prove it, McLaren invited me across the pond last year for a driving lesson with Chief Test Driver Chris Goodwin. We put the car through its paces around the *Top Gear* track at Dunsfold. It was great. But I use the car on the street, with occasional sorties into the hills above Los Angeles. It’s actually quite nice on the street. Put the car in “normal” mode it rides like a sedan. It’s polite, almost docile. This is the only supercar I’ve owned where I don’t scrape the bodywork going up the driveway. Flip the switch to track mode, though, you feel it hunker down and get tight. __Above__: Jay Leno with his McLaren F1 and his McLaren MP4-12C.
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There are some cars people just beat the hell out of. [Porsches](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/reviews/2012/01/porsche-911/) and Corvettes come to mind. There are others, which I won’t name, that people tend to treat carefully, as if handling fine china. The McLaren is not one of those cars. It was meant to be driven, and hard. You can put it away wet. McLarens are road cars with race car performance, not race cars diluted for the street. The [McLaren F1](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/autopia/2011/05/ralph-lauren-collection/?pid=980) was an excellent example, and probably the last car you could drive to Le Mans, win the race and drive home again. Anyone who [takes the MP4-12C racing](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/autopia/2011/05/mclaren-mp4-12c-gt3/) should do quite well.
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For all the focus on performance, though, the McLaren is remarkably efficient for what it is. It doesn’t even have a gas guzzler tax. I took it on the freeway the other day and averaged 23 mpg – in a car with close to 600 horsepower. Granted, you’re probably using just 10 percent of that at freeway speed, but that’s a remarkable figure for something this fast. The sound of the 3.8-liter twin-turbo V8 is intoxicating. So is the acceleration. Sixty mph arrives in 3 seconds and you can do the quarter in less than 11. There are two turbos but no lag. You’d think you’re driving a normally aspirated car. It’s got amazing torque, everywhere.
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Now, anyone who drives – really drives – knows the real thrill comes between 40 mph and 120 mph. Top speed is about little more than marketing, even if the MP4-12C does top out at 205. Frankly, I’m a little tired of the supercar top speed war, where one company says, “Hey, ours can do 258 mph” and another says, “Yeah? Well ours can do 259.” Those numbers are meaningless on the street. You can’t use them. And if you do, you ought to be in prison. The numbers between 40 and 120 mph are where everything happens. And it all happens so beautifully in the MP4-12C.
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So the inevitable question is how does it compare to the F1? It’s hard to say and, frankly, not a fair question because they’re entirely different tools for entirely different jobs. The F1 is more than a car, it’s an experience. But for real-world, everyday driving, I prefer the 12C. When the F1 appeared in 1992, it was the ultimate expression of the automobile, the very best it could be. For me, the 12C is the modern equivalent. http://www.youtube.com/embed/ZhnDOiDKDtk
