Just some initial info from the test : Full test, 5 drivers, 5 days, 6 cars, 1000 miles and a track. (quite a mixture of cars) MP4 12C 458 Italia Merc SLS 911 Turbo S Ford GT Noble M600 To cut 35 page report to the final decision. Overall - Best car 458. Also scoring 5 out of 5 - SLS, GT, Noble, 4 out of 5 911 and MP4. Standing start: 0-30 1st 911, 2nd MP4, 3rd 458 0-60 1st MP4, 2nd 911, 3rd 458 0-100 1st MP4, 2nd joint 911 and 458 Track Times - Now here is the shock!!! - Bedford Autodrome. 1st 458 - 1.19.3 2nd MP4 - 1.20.6 MP4 support team then fitted corsa tyres - still second - 1.19.6 McLaren sent full complement of engineers for the track test - more than Ferrari did according to the article. MP4 weight as tested with Carbon brakes (IRIS not functional) - 1433 kg 458 weight as tested - 1469kg General comment, no tester chose MP4 as favourite, MP4 great to drive at 5/10th's with perfect ride and muted sound and also great at 10/10 th's with all it's technology, but most importantly not rewarding between these ranges where most of the time these cars will be driven for spirited road driving. Brakes slated (carbon), seems similar to Merc SLR, all or nothing with no feel. Seems that at normal fast road speeds the car doesn't manage to respond to the road surface - 'suddenly feels all at sea, with only moderate loadings to deal with, the strange Citroen like ride reactions are back and the chassis feels out of tune with road' - perhaps more fine tuning needed.
