The McLaren in Park Lane is an Early One

[mini magic]

Originally posted by tvrfreak
According to Driving Ambition, Peter Stevens liked these mirrors and originally used them on the Esprit Mk2 and Jaguar XJR-15. They are originally from the Citroen CX.

Later on, other people also put them on the XJ220 and a couple of other cars.

even tho i like the looks of the xjr15, it was the worst handling car EVER according to tiff, jc and others who drove it. jc actually crashed it, and that was even when it had a HUGE lemans style wing. i'll scan the article later

[tvrfreak]

you have to remember the context that these cars are evaluated in. it may be at the bottom of the supercar heap, but that is still a far superior driving experience than 95% of the cars out there.

there was a one-make series for these powerful cars, and i am sure that as race cars, they are extensively adjustable. i would be more inclined to believe the journalist if he spent a day or two testing with the car and setting it up with an engineering support team. if he still said that it handled terribly, then i would believe him. otherwise, it's a matter of dialling the car in properly. i don't think these cars can be evaluated by a journalist like any other mass-produced sedan.

as for a wing, all it does is produce downforce at speed if it's working properly. it won't stop you from driving wrong or from driving into obstacles or off the track. again, it needs to be dialled in for the conditions. and once you get a car sideways, it does nothing. in fact, the turbulent wash of air over the wing presenting itself to the wind at an unintended angle can make it more difficult to regain control of the car. heck, the clk-gtr's wing causes it to take off instead of pushing it down on the track. that doesn't mean the car is a piece of crap.

tiff needell is able to get comfortable in all sorts of cars rather quickly, and give us a good feel for it. he has extensive racing experience, and i respect his opinion greatly. so there is probably some truth in the xjr-15 not handling well. but i think it can be set up to be far better than it is.

jc, on the other hand, just loves to come up with humourous quips. i enjoy his commentary, but don't really take him too seriously. he didn't even include the mclaren f1 in his list of the top 100 cars of all time. he claimed that getting in and out was too difficult, and the driving position was "just silly." and his pick for the number one car was an eagle jaguar e-type. it's a great car, yes, but number one? please!

[mini magic]

Originally posted by tvrfreak
you have to remember the context that these cars are evaluated in. it may be at the bottom of the supercar heap, but that is still a far superior driving experience than 95% of the cars out there.

there was a one-make series for these powerful cars, and i am sure that as race cars, they are extensively adjustable. i would be more inclined to believe the journalist if he spent a day or two testing with the car and setting it up with an engineering support team. if he still said that it handled terribly, then i would believe him. otherwise, it's a matter of dialling the car in properly. i don't think these cars can be evaluated by a journalist like any other mass-produced sedan.

as for a wing, all it does is produce downforce at speed if it's working properly. it won't stop you from driving wrong or from driving into obstacles or off the track. again, it needs to be dialled in for the conditions. and once you get a car sideways, it does nothing. in fact, the turbulent wash of air over the wing presenting itself to the wind at an unintended angle can make it more difficult to regain control of the car. heck, the clk-gtr's wing causes it to take off instead of pushing it down on the track. that doesn't mean the car is a piece of crap.

tiff needell is able to get comfortable in all sorts of cars rather quickly, and give us a good feel for it. he has extensive racing experience, and i respect his opinion greatly. so there is probably some truth in the xjr-15 not handling well. but i think it can be set up to be far better than it is.

jc, on the other hand, just loves to come up with humourous quips. i enjoy his commentary, but don't really take him too seriously. he didn't even include the mclaren f1 in his list of the top 100 cars of all time. he claimed that getting in and out was too difficult, and the driving position was "just silly." and his pick for the number one car was an eagle jaguar e-type. it's a great car, yes, but number one? please!

i'm not sure, if you read the article you may think differently, unfortunatley my scanner is broken (damn drivers) so you'll have to wait 3 weeks until i get back from england to read it. but you made some good points