[Kirium]

Originally Posted by drewwtms

Kirium, your points of view are great and I have to say this is one of the best discussions on these cars that I have read. Often times these can get ridiculous but this has gone on for (phew!) 4 pages and it's still a mature discussion.

I have to say that I expected many more irrational comments and a more hostile reception to my opinions than have been put forward by others here, and it's such a refreshing change to most auto forums I frequent, even tho we've gone around in circles a couple of times. Most have responded with well-rounded and well researched responses based on honest opinions.

It seems like this John Barker guy prepared for his interview by looking up "McLaren F1" on his closest bulletin board. He got it all wrong! I don't blame GM for being short with the guy. He's been answering the same questions over and over again since Ferrari released the F50 in 1995(?).

I'd give John Barker a bit more credit than that. He's the motoring editor of one of the more respected performance car magazines around, and one which focuses on the thrill of driving. EVO has quite a record of holding and promoting track days often in association with Caterham, Lotus and other brands under their EVOactive program. Their writers appear to be car enthusiasts who happen to write about cars as opposed to writers who just write about cars. I can't say I have anywhere near the same level of respect for Australia's local performance car mag MOTOR. Like I said, i'd give him a bit more credit. (But not too much, he's still a journo... up there with lawyers... )

As for this debate about what the best supercar is, GM has one vision of what a sportscar/supercar should NOT be. And the F1 is thus far the best example of that vision. No one has to agree to it or accept it as the end-all-be-all of supercar design and engineering.

By stating what a sportscar/supercar should not be, he almost eliminates and discredits anything that doesn't fit his criteria which he built the F1 by though, thus leaving us with what a sportscar/supercar should be, and this is his formula, and anything else doesn't really count. That's essentially what doesn't sit right with me about his comments. He's essentially defined how such a car should and shouldn't be built. If someone had told him how a supercar should and shouldn't be built back in the late 80's, he would have rejected them instantly. He looked to alternatives and succeeded with it. now he's telling people that his formula is the best way, and the next supercar can only beat the F1 is they merely advance those principles, and now he's bagging alternative thinking in the area of making power. Some people might consider that a bit hipocritical also..

I don't get the impression that he is worried about another car(s) knocking the F1 off the top of the supercar pedestal. He said it best: "We’ve had our 10 year reign, take the crown."

If it were a car that were in line with his concept of what makes a pure drivers car (everything he put into the F1), I agree, I'm sure he'd be accepting of that. However, if the K'segg CCR were to topple it, I think he'd be quite displeased and unaccepting, mainly due to it's forced induction, which doesn't fit his concept of a supercar.

I guess to sum up my point, any supercar will have an enormous task of creating, developing, selling, and supporting a car that will better the F1 in all categories (fun, driveability, speed, reliability, comfort, design, build quality, etc). In my humble opinion, it's going to have to be a manufacturer with deep pockets and a strong belief in the seeing the project through to the end. Ferrari certainly could; Porsche could; maybe BMW if they had the interest.

Ferrari certainly could, if they weren't so obsessed with creating a car which tries a bit too hard to make the link of Formula 1 to road car, like the F50 and Enzo are, IMHO. Porsche I think have tried their best with the C-GT, and fallen a bit short. I'm not sure they can come up with a better engine than racing derived one they've got in that car. Despite how much I'd love to see a BMW supercar (Does anyone remember the Nazca C2 and M12? http://images.google.com.au/images?q...ff&sa=N&tab=wi) I don't think the Quandt family have the commitment to create a car along the same uncompromised theory as the F1. We know they can certainly create the worlds best engines, but to create an entirely new, uncompromised sportscar/supercar in the F1 mould is far too much risk for such a global company... Having said that, Chrysler are having a shot at it with the ME Four-Twelve... http://www.roadandtrack.com/article....rticle_id=1167Perhaps BMW will one day too... We can only hope...