If you would rewind the clock just a rounds back, you would remember that Fifth Gear has pitted the newest kid on the supercar block, the McLaren MP4-12C, against the benckmark on said block, the Ferrari 458 Italia.
The verdict from that show was damning for British pride, the hosts, Jason Plato and Tiff Needell, carved the McLaren apart for its lack of emotion and for lacking the fun factor, something that the Prancing Horse had bucket loads of. The fact that the McLaren was always looking to be quickest around the corners meant that the trademark Needell powerslides were not to be. Furthermore, Plato spun the car on a fast lap and even he couldn’t remember the last time something of that magnitude had occurred.
The Ferrari on the other hand was praised for its emotional connection to the driver and having a sense of occasion every time you stepped on the gas. It was indeed looking bleak for the McLaren, until Top Gear got their hands on the same two cars that is.
Jeremy Clarkson took to the wheel of both those cars and the verdict was the direct opposite of those at Fifth Gear. The MP4-12C shredded the 458 into strands of pasta. On the Top Gear track, the McLaren lapped it in 1:16.2, the second fastest time of all, ahead of the likes of the Porsche 911 Turbo, Bugatti Veyron and Lamborghini Mircuelago. The 458 was almost three seconds behind on 1:19.1.
Granted, the research and development for the McLaren was conducted on the Top Gear track itself, giving it an upper hand on its home course. Nonetheless, both comparisons does provide for some pretty interesting food for thought doesn’t it.
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Source: YouTube
