CHRIS HARRIS: Welcome to my home movie of the new McLaren
12C Spider.
It costs 195,500 pounds, which is 19 and 1/2 thousand more
than the coupe.
It uses a folding hard top that folds in just 17 seconds.
That's right, you clever people, the opening shot was
actually speeded up.
The rear screen is electric, and you can lower it with the
roof up to allow some more V8 noise into the cabin.
Apart from a new, smaller bonnet badge, the 12C is
pretty much as before, and that's to say far more
interesting up close than in pictures.
There are some great shapes and scoops on this car and
some lovely sculpted details, especially around the rear
tail pipes.
But just like the 458 Spider, which is a very similar roof
arrangement, those buttresses do look a bit odd from the
front three quarter view.
Allowing natural light into the cabin makes it look even
better than before.
If the exterior styling is a bit easy [INAUDIBLE], the
cabin is just what you'd expect from McLaren, simple,
clever, and with some of the coolest clock
faces on any new car.
And just to remind those of you who have forgotten, the
12C has a chassis unlike any other motor car.
The dampers are all hydraulically connected, which
allows support to be transferred to each corner in
fractions of a second.
The test car was running optional carbon ceramic disks,
the stickier, thready, coarser tires, and
lightweight alloy wheels.
We were at Ascari race resort, to only seem sensible to see
how much damage chopping the roof from a 12C has actually
caused to the way it drives.
OK, children, this is the MP4-12C Spider, or as we now
have to call it, the 12C Spider because they're sort of
dropping the MP4 bit.
We're at Ascari circuit, which is a mecca
for going very fast.
But there's lots of stuff to hit, so we have to treat it
with some respect.
So what are we looking for?
Well, I'm not sure actually, because we know that the car
is 40 kilograms heavier, but we also know it's
got a carbon top.
So it doesn't matter that the roof's been removed.
That in itself should mean that, dynamically, the car is
very similar.
Tell you what it is, fecking quick.
This has got the upgraded motor in it, 625 PS.
Fuck me, it's proper fast.
I mean, convertibles should not be this much fun.
Convertibles, right, are for sissies, but this is a bloody
animal, this thing.
The performance is just barking.
You can hear the traction going [INAUDIBLE].
I have to say, in super stiff mode, there is something a
little bit artificial about the way the chassis feels, but
do you know what, it's not like any other
car you get to drive.
That's what I find so interesting about it.
Oop, got that all wrong.
This is unlike any other car out there.
It's just so flipping capable.
Definitely feels quicker than the last one I drove.
It's just so clever.
I don't know whether to respect it for doing
everything for me, or to resent it.
It's difficult to decide.
What it is is very good.
As the tires are getting hotter, I'm getting a little
bit of understeer.
I'll give you that.
I love that, ba-ba-ba.
The direction changes on the car are remarkable, and it
just, obviously, has no flex at all, absolutely no flex.
If there is a difference between Spider and Coupe, I
couldn't pick it on the track.
And once we've done the sensible fast stuff, it only
seemed right to prove that the Spider somehow skids like it
has an LSD when it doesn't have an LSD.
But perhaps the biggest surprise is on the road, where
the latest gearbox and engine calibration makes the car
smoother and faster.
In fact, it is just crazy fast.
Is it a good convertible?
Well, the hood mechanism is excellent, but I thought the
cabin was quite windy at 85 miles an hour.
McLaren reckons 80% of 12Cs sold will now be Spiders, and
I can see why.
Me, I always prefer a roof over my head,
so I'd take a Coupe.
Either way, you get an outstanding machine.