Thursday, March 18, 2010

McLaren MP4-12C or the Ferrari 458 Italia?

Today McLaren released a video and confirmed the technical specifications of its upcoming supercar, the McLaren MP4-12C. The MP4-12C will be powered by a 3.8-liter twin-turbocharged V-8 engine making 592 hp. With a redline at 8,500 rpm and an engine that produces 442 lbs.-ft. of torque at 3,000 rpm, power should come on early and plateau to the upper limits of the rpm range.

Transferring that power to the rear wheels will be a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission with gear changes actuated by F1-style paddle shifters. To keep weight to barely above 3,000 pounds, McLaren has decide to utilize a carbon composite chassis. No performance figures were supplied but you can anticipate acceleration to be brisk, with zero-to-60 mph requiring only a few milliseconds more than 3 seconds and top speed to touch 200 mph.
Since the McLaren will certainly be compared to the 458 Italia, let’s put some of the cars' features side by side. The Ferrari car uses a naturally-aspirated—Ferrari claims that the F136FB engine found in the 458 sets a new world record for specific output in a non-turbo production engine—4.5-liter V-8 making 562 hp at 9,000 rpm and 398 lbs.-ft. of torque at 6,000 rpm. Without putting both cars on a dynometer to compare their power curves, we can anticipate the McLaren to make more grunt in the low revs but the Ferrari engine to be able to hold onto to its power for a just a little longer before hitting its redline.




Both cars utilize seven-speed dual-clutch transmissions. McLaren‘s gearbox comes with a F1-inspired Seamless Shift technology, which primes the gear change as soon as slight pressure is applied to the gear-change rocker and helps it save milliseconds when changing gears. You won’t need to worry about the Ferrari’s gear changes; at 0.4 seconds, you won’t even realize they are taking place.

The 458 Italia is a marvel on the track. Its integrated electronically managed shocks, electronic differential, and F1 Trac stability control system all work together to improve the longitudinal acceleration out of corners by 32 percent compared to the previous models

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