Supercar Driver Magazine Issue 25 by Supercar Driver

THE SUPERCAR OWNERSâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; MAGA ZINE

ISSUE 25 AUTUMN2017

Supercar Driver is a new breed of car club. Your membership will give you access to a new way of life centred around your passion for cars. We give you a reason to use your car, but more importantly meet new friends and enjoy new experiences.

Drives • Visits • Tours • Track Days • Factory Tours • Suppers • and more...

Join us today at supercar-driver.com

SCD STAFF Jonty Wydell

Tour Manager & Writer jonty@supercar-driver.com

Matt Parker

Membership Manager & Writer matt@supercar-driver.com

Riad Ariane Photographer

riad@supercar-driver.com

Tim Crawford Videographer

Welcome to issue 25 of Supercar Driver, a unique publication, written by the owners, for the owners. If it wasn’t for what is documented within these pages, summer would be but a distant memory by the time you’re reading this. We have run over sixty events so far this year, a huge variety of events all over the UK. We will keep going until snow stops play and events will soon change to more visits and breakfast meets for the winter months. On another note, we have recently added another team member by way of Debbie who is our Accounts Manager and much needed admin support. Welcome aboard!

Adam Thorby

Director & Co-Founder adam@supercar-driver.com

tim@tc-media.co.uk

CONTRIBUTORS Tim Hanlon Writer

tim@supercar-driver.com

David Baker Writer

daveb@supercar-driver.com

Oli Webb

Resident Racing Driver oliwebbracing@me.com

Neil Duckmanton

Editor’s Note: Welcome to the quarter century edition of the SCD magazine, brought to you at the close of the summer season. Not that you might have noticed as our inclement weather has brought what seems like sunshine and rain in equal measure every single day, but for the bright spells, we’ve certainly made the time to enjoy it with a calendar packed full of events. Featured in this edition is a look back at the Isle of Man tour, a spectacular track day at Anglesey and our ever-popular annual visit to Tom Hartley. We have some great members’ rides featuring in this edition too and I’ve really enjoyed discussing your car ownership when penning some of these articles. As the world is moving apace in designing out combustion engines (a reflection that Tim picks up on for his final thought, p130), Chris is one of the first SCD members to get hold of Honda’s latest technical powerhouse, the NSX. You can read about his experience on p38. This issue is packed with other articles including reviews and ownership reports and we hope you enjoy reading them as much as we have collating them. If you’d like us to feature your car in a future issue, get in touch with me at paul@supercar-driver.com

Designer

neil@upbeatdesign.co.uk

Paul Owen Luke Earnshaw Designer

Editor

paul@supercar-driver.com

luke@upbeatdesign.co.uk

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INSIDE ISSUE 25

ON THE COVER 56

FEATURES & ARTICLES Winter is on its way - Reep Car Care Tips

Five of the Best - JBR Capital

Oli Webb - Imola Circuit Guide

The Superbrand Bodyshop - Chartwell

Fiorano on Fire

Car Control Tips - Balancing Act

Great Expectations - Litchfield

DRIVEN

Home Security - Majik House

XL Responsive Vehicle Leasing Q&A

McLaren 720S

Member Review - Michelin Pilot Sport 4 S

Focus on - Leighton Vans

NG AutoArt

100

Focus on - SMC BIkes

102

Final Thought - Technology Never Sleeps

130

TheSupercarDriver

Supercar Driver

Aston Martin Vanquish S

Lamborghini Miura S

See more at supercar-driver.com @ASupercarDriver

Supercar_Driver

Subscribe to get your print copy online at supercar-driver.com

EVENTS

MEMBERSâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; RIDES Honda NSX Dodge Viper SRT-10

Silverstone Hypercar Run

Tom Hartley Visit

Isle of Man Tour

Supercar Days Anglesey

66 71

Jaguar F-Type Project 7 - Aston Martin Vantage GT8 76 McLaren 675LT

Nissan GT-R LM20

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.

Exceptional Drives - South Wales

DEALER DRIVES Mercedes SLS Black Series

Ferrari 458 Italia

104

Ferrari 599 GTB

108

Lamborghini Aventador Roadster

112

Porsche 991.2 Targa 4

116

Copyright ÂŽ 2017 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.

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The he future is bright Tim looks at the relentless charge for more power in recent years and tests McLaren’s latest powerhouse, the hypercar-rivalling 720S. Written by: Tim Hanlon Back in the 90s, the Japanese government and Japanese car manufacturers had an agreement that no cars would be produced with more than 276 bhp. I remember it clearly as, some years later, I was dithering over an R34 GT-R V-Spec and an Impreza Type-R, both imports as the UK only got the softer stuff and, having driven an R34, I couldn’t believe it only had 276 gee-gees. Back then, power figures were being hiked on an almost monthly basis and governments globally wondered if we mortals could cope with all that power. When the Lotus Carlton was launched in 1990, the greenies were outraged at its 377 bhp – I remember it well as I was selling these crazy killer machines at the time. These were also the days when Bentley and Aston didn’t always publicise crass power figures, instead opting for terms such as ‘ample reserves’ until the EU forced all manufacturers to declare power outputs. And now, a couple of decades on, we are told by our governments that the devil’s diesel is soon to be dead and in some 23 years petrol propulsion will be going the way of the dodo too, leaving us all silently zooming around in our ‘people pods’. Until then, we SCD folk can bask in what will be firmly remembered as the heyday of the fossil-fuelled super and hypercars because, right now, we have the finest selection of mega-powered road rockets in automotive history from a bevy of manufacturers for whom 276 bhp would barely be enough to power their CEO’s lawn mower. McLaren is currently at the forefront of this turbocharged race, topping the Ferrari 488’s 661 bhp and even its own 675LT with the 720S. The latest offering from McLaren musters up 720PS (or 710 bhp in British money), more than two and a half times the power limit set by that gentlemen’s agreement a mere twentyodd years ago.

The 720S is probably McLaren’s most significant car since launching the original MP4-12C, it’s a completely new car boasting an all new carbon monocoque, called Monocage II, which incorporates a full carbon fibre cockpit shell with skinny but strong pillars, enhancing visibility, strength whilst also saving 18kg over the tub used in outgoing models. It has done away with the side scoops of the 650S in favour of door ducts to help cool the new 4.0 twin-turbo V8, a revised engine which has enhanced turbochargers, lighter pistons and a stiffer crank. The 720S also makes use of active aerodynamics to complete the package. It truly is a leap rather than a step forward, think 430 to 458 evolution and you’re about there. The 720S is part of McLaren’s Super Series, but let’s be honest, a car that can hit 0-100mph in 5.6 seconds and 0-124mph in 7.8 seconds is rivalling hypercar pace at a fraction of the price.

...for a car that can take on and dominate any given circuit, it rides with incredible composure...

After a long wait and lots of begging, today is the day we finally get to sample McLaren Manchester’s 720S. I arrive early, full of pent-up excitement – having driven the MP4-12C, 650S and 675LT, I have great hopes for the 720S. Photographer Riad rocks up and is as excited as I am at getting our hands and lens on the 720S in musthave Azores Orange – similar to the old Volcano Orange – stacked with options including the fantastic glass roof inserts.

mode where, at the push of a button, the dash revolves and retracts into the dashboard, leaving just a strip tach and gear selection display. Wow, this thing is cool! Next up is ‘loud start’, made for the inner child in us all. Chris presses a few buttons and dials in some secret sequence then hits the start button and the V8 revs into life with an ear-splitting crackle as the best part of a litre of super unleaded spits out the back. I’m already sold!

I originally thought the new nose wasn’t as pretty as the 650S but I have to confess that, in the flesh, it looks awesome. The headlamps, scoops and body sculpting make it ultra aggressive in stance and the interior is simply gorgeous with beautiful leather work and naked carbon detail.

Anyway, time for a drive and, luckily, it’s almost dry after an evening of rain. Chris drives first and, having done a lot of miles together, I’m comfortable in the passenger seat as he demonstrates the abilities of this staggering car. The 720S is eye-popping fast, it reaches big numbers very quickly and just when I think to myself, “hmm, we might need to scrub off some speed for that next bend”, Chris squeezes the brakes and it wipes off

Chris, sales specialist at McLaren Manchester and long-time friend of SCD, eagerly shows me the 720’s party tricks. The speedo console has a track display

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the speed nonchalantly as my seatbelt tightens, before firing itself out onto the next straight which seems awfully short in this road projectile. McLaren have pulled it off again, I don’t know how their chassis team do it but, for a car that can take on and dominate any given circuit, it rides with incredible composure, absorbing road imperfections beautifully without a single thud or wallop – Chris and I muse that you could travel to Nice and back in total comfort. My turn now and my first observation is that getting in is easier than previous models due to the lower sill and doors opening wider – great news for us mature folks! We are straight out onto some stunning roads with massive straights and Chris is keen for me to feel what the 720S can do. I give it a loafer full and it hunkers down for a split second and fires itself down the road as the computers

move power and braking force around for maximum traction, which it finds plenty of. Gear changes are seamless, they feel almost non-existent as we charge towards the horizon – this thing is crazy fast! You’re going to need something serious to get near this thing, even the Porsche 991.2 Turbo S we drove in issue 24 would have its work cut out once rolling. It’s a devastatingly competent car but one that, dare I say, needs total concentration as the combination of speed and go kart sensitive steering mean everything happens very quickly, you wouldn’t want a lapse in attention while pushing on. It’s really worth doing a day with McLaren or Ivan at Total Car Control to get the best from these new era monsters. We then spend the next hour or so enjoying the ferocious wave of power and enormous turbo torque – 568lb ft of the stuff – learning which combination of powertrain and chassis settings works best to extract the performance of the 720 while Riad gets the challenging but fabulous tracking shots you see here. Thankfully, no Riads were hurt in the making of this article! The 720S is a wondrous beast, a great hoorah for British car manufacturing and McLaren should be praised for creating such outlandishly epic cars so we may enjoy the last of the Mad Max petrol years and go out in style. Huge thanks to Chris and the team at McLaren Manchester.