Just to set a few things straight. (Mclaren F1)

Member Name: Frik7

Product:	Mclaren F1
Date:	08/10/02 (668 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Very Fast, Very Rare, Very Personal

Disadvantages: Expensive to buy, Expensive to service (£20,000), Very Rare

Firstly I should point out that the car cost £540,000 + VAT new. To get hold of one these days - if you were to find one - would cost at least £1,000,000, so hardly a loss. As far as being a second hand car, if you were to purchase one, McLaren would re-trim and respray the car how you wanted it.

It would not be fair to say that no car before the McLaren was built with the same "the best, regardless of cost" ethos but it is surely the only car in the world with which form follows function so closely. The styling is the result of extensive wind-tunnel testing and was not the first thing to be put to paper (unlike most "supercars"). Gold is the best reflector of heat, so the engine bay is lined in gold leaf. Having seen the latest Lamborghini Murcielago up close, I honestly say it just isn't in the same league as the McLaren on the build quality front. Mind you, it probably doesn't take 6,000 man hours to produce a Lamborghini!

Although quite noisey due to the lack of sound deadening material (which would prove extremely heavy), the car was designed to be a road car only. It was only after production had been underway for a few years that a racing version was produced. This is an important point and is what distances this car from others.

It is true that the F1 is not the easiest of cars to get into if you are driving. However I would like to point out that sitting in a £6000 seat that is custom made for you (and is by far the most comfortable seat I have ever sat in) is probably more than worth the effort.

To say it is impractical as a road car is misleading. I for one cannot think of another so call "supercar" that has as much luggage space as a Ford Fiesta and the BMW engine is so fantastic and torquey that driving around town all day in sixth gear is more than possible. It also comes with its own luggage (including a golf bag) as well as a small onboard (titanium) tool kit, a box with spare
fuses and bulbs and a first aid kit.

In the end I suppose it is the facts that speak for themselves:

6064cc BMW engine producing 627bhp and 479 lb/ft of torque
0-60mph in 3.2 seconds
0-100mph in 6.3 seconds
0-200mph in 28 seconds
top speed of 240.1 mph
£634,500

P.S. Rowan Atkinson did not in fact write-off his F1. When the car costs as much as it does, a mere £150,000 worth of damage is not technically a write-off!

Summary: