Supercar Driver Magazine Issue 21

THE SUPERCAR OWNERS’ MAGAZINE

ISSN 2399-3383

9 772399 338002

21

ISSUE 21 AUTUMN2016

2017 will see the introduction of a bespoke driving tour calendar for members of Supercar Driver. Destinations include: The French Riviera, Scottish Highlands, Le Mans and a Euro Tour.

Dates for the diary...

FRENCH RIVIERA

21-26 APRIL 5 nights TARTAN FLORIO

20-25 MAY 5 nights

CONTACT INFO@supercar-driver.com TO BOOK YOUR PLACE

Welcome to issue 21, a unique publication, written by the owners, for the owners.

Focusing on real life ownership experiences and the Supercar lifestyle, featuring Members Rides, Dealer Drives, Driven reviews, Members Collections, garages and events.

Non members can now subscribe to receive the magazine in print via:

www.supercar-driver.com

THE TEAM

Our writers are Supercar owners and enjoy getting behind the wheel of a variety of cars - meet the team below...

Adam Thorby Director

“Co-founder & supercar obsessive”

adam@supercar-driver.com

Paul Owen

Tim Hanlon

“Porsche addict. Quite Tall”

“Automotive encyclopedia and serial car buyer”

Editor

paul@supercar-driver.com

Writer

tim@supercar-driver.com

Jonty Wydell

Matt Parker

“Driving oracle”

“Porsche nut. The only way is sideways”

Writer

jonty@supercar-driver.com

Writer

matt@supercar-driver.com

Steve Holmes

Dave Baker

“Does my bum look big in this?”

“One life, live it!”

Writer

steve@supercar-driver.com

Writer

daveb@supercar-driver.com

Paul Bailey

Oliver Web

“Serial supercar collector”

“BAC test driver and LMP1 driver”

The Collector

paulb@supercar-driver.com

Resident Racing Driver

oli@supercar-driver.com

Riad Ariane

Tim Crawford

“Likes fast food and takes the occasional photo”

“SCD-TV’s resident Viking”

Photographer

riad@supercar-driver.com

Videographer

tim@supercar-driver.com

Neil Duckmanton

Luke Earnshaw

“Supercar designer... in his dreams”

“Automotive aesthetic admirer”

Designer

neil@upbeatdesign.co.uk

supercar-driver.com

Designer

luke@upbeatdesign.co.uk

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INSIDE ISSUE 21

34

22

72

Features & Articles Michelin Tyres

Events 8

The Supercar Experience 2016

12

Magnitude Finance

10

Pure McLaren Experience Silverstone

28

Total Car Control

14

Diamond 9

34

Focus on: WhitesPay

16

Supercar Days - Anglesey

76

Oli Webb Driving Tips: Oulton Park

18

Tom Hartley Visit

80

Majik House - Home Cinema

20

BOTB Shootout

22

Car Care - Reep Group

26

Litchfield Motors

30

The Collector - Best of the Best

64

Challis Island

72

Final Thought

114

TheSupercarDriver

4

Supercar Driver

@ASupercarDriver

See more at supercar-driver.com

Supercar_Driver

SupercarDriver

46 86

22

66

Members Rides

Driven

Black & Tan Ferrari Trio

41

Ferrari FF

66

Audi R8 V8

44

Porsche Boxster S

70

McLaren 570S

46

Audi R8 V10 Plus

51

Corvette C7

57

Ferrari F40

60

If you would like to submit an article or photo for consideration in a future publication, please email the editor. By submitting an article to us, you are granting permission for its use in future Supercar Driver Publications, promotional materials, or online.

Dealer Drives Aston Martin Vanquish

86

Ferrari 488 GTB

90

Mercedes AMG GT-S

94

Porsche Boxster Spyder

98

Aston Martin V8 Zagato

102

Copyright ÂŽ 2016 Supercar Driver Limited. All photographs, advertisements and editorial content has been used with permission of the owners and may not be copied, duplicated or reused without written permission. Magazine created and edited for and on behalf of Supercar Driver Limited. Content including words and photographs remains copyright of the original author/photographer and used with permission.

supercar-driver.com

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The superlative-charged chronograph. 50 mm case in BreitlightÂŽ. Exclusive Manufacture Breitling Caliber B12 with 24-hour military-style display. Officially chronometer-certified.

B R E IT L ING . C O M

David Johnson, PR Manager at Michelin, looks at the rise and rise of car and driver interaction I once had a car which had an annoying habit of telling me at regular intervals that I had a problem with one of my tyres.

Admittedly it wasn’t as annoying as the habit it had of losing large chunks of metal and plastic, such as doors and bumpers, but it was frustrating nonetheless.

Every time I turned the engine on for the morning commute I received a message that my front nearside tyre was underinflated. By the time I got to the post box on the corner this would change to: “Flat tyre - stop!”, before progressing to a simple screamed: “STOP! DANGER!” shortly after the church.

Initially I trusted the damn thing, stopping at regular intervals, checking pressures, swapping pressure gauges and so on before driving off gingerly, expecting to collapse on to the rim at any second.

This campaign of malicious misinformation went on for three years, foxing many mechanics along the way, before the inevitable “car who cried wolf” conclusion to the sorry tale found me ploughing furrows out of the A500, trailing ribbons of front nearside tyre as I did so.

This sort of monitoring and information technology has moved on considerably since then, of course, and supercars have often been early adopters - if not pioneers - of cutting edge innovations.

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But usually the information gathered and transmitted to the driver has focussed on safety and economy - important for fleet managers and the everyday motorist, but not necessarily the key priorities of supercar owners or manufacturers.

The information passed from supercars to their drivers has tended to focus on performance and, increasingly, the flow of information is becoming two way as we move into the era of the connected vehicle.

Which makes Apple’s reported interest in McLaren all the more interesting. At the time of writing, there was no real clarity around Apple’s interest other than a statement saying that no “full takeover” talks had taken place.

The industry rumour mill speculated which specific parts of the business Apple could

be interested in, including the division responsible for applying hardware and software developed through F1 and supercar development to completely different industries.

There has always been technology transfer from track to street, and premium tyres are no exception. Michelin has won Le Mans for the last 19 years, and that run has everything to do with learning about how track, tyre, car, and driver interact.

The tyres are fitted with Radio Frequency Identification chips which transmit data that is vital to the team and to us as a manufacturer - what we learn at Le Mans is incorporated into our high-performance road tyres.

It’s just another example of that two-way flow of information which supercar drivers are becoming used to.

The ultimate expression of that dialogue is probably the autonomous vehicle.

At the moment, the communication between driver and supercar affect vehicle performance and cockpit environment both of which help define the character of the car and cement the relationship between car and owner. Driverless cars undoubtedly have huge potential, but it’s hard to imagine a time when they will provoke the same bond between driver and vehicle - or the same thrill in getting from A to B.

Whatever you’re buying next contact Magnitude Finance for a quote first

Magnitude Finance has amassed a large client list of high net worth individuals including many SCD members, company directors, business owners, sports and music stars and Lottery winners. Head of Sales, Tim Marlow, explains why so many finance their cars.

Why do your clients such as SCD members use finance instead of writing a cheque for their cars?

Interest rates were at a historic low of 0.5% for seven years until 4th August and were then cut to 0.25% with little chance of them increasing for the next five years.

This makes financing luxury cars a cost effective way of owning and high net worth individuals prefer not to tie up their capital and invest it where they can enjoy far greater rewards.

Financing also allows them to change their cars regularly so they are always in the latest must have model.

Lets also not forget that not everyone has the liquid reserves to go out and spend £100,000+ on a supercar!

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Why do they choose Magnitude Finance rather than a bank?

They come to us because we are a specialist luxury car finance company.

Traditional banks don’t have the knowledge or expertise to understand the value and potential future worth of cars of the ilk we provide finance for.

This means they often overlook the investment opportunity especially when it comes to classic cars or modern day classics.

One client told us a mainstream lender was trying to decide whether to finance a car for him recently and asked him how many miles he drove in a year and his response was “In which car? I’ve got six” they clearly didn’t understand the client or the product.

What is the most expensive car you’ve financed?

This year we have seen a big increase in the value of cars we finance with the average balance in the late £70,000s.

We are funding £300,000 cars on a weekly basis but the largest to date was £1.4m on a Pagani, however we are currently working on several deals in excess of this so watch this space.

Of all the cars you’ve financed, which would you most like to have owned yourself and why?

It would have to be a LaFerrari as they are so special: performance along with amazing looks.

Anyone lucky enough to purchase one brand new is probably looking at a £1m+ profit if they were to sell, which no doubt will continue to increase in years to come!

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