Autocar - First for car news and reviews

You’re about to read a watershed road test: not simply because it’s of the fastest road car in history, but, in all likelihood, it’ll remain the fastest road test ever. Until we strapped our equipment onto the McLaren F1 no one knew how fast it was. Now we do, because we’ve driven it beyond 200mph, and timed it to the last hundredth of a second. And here it stops: McLaren will never release another of its amazing £540,000 supercars for road testing to anyone, anywhere in the world. Read the full article

I have to say this is the supercar that makes me go week at the knees (+ an f40). You can keep the Veyron! now all i need is somewhere between 1 and 1.5 million of our english pounds!

I have no doubt in my mind this car would feature in almost every dream-car garage from here to timbuktoo.

 What an achievement, 14 years and counting!

airgith76:

I have no doubt in my mind this car would feature in almost every dream-car garage from here to timbuktoo.

Sorry to disappoint. Not in my dream garage. Veyron every time.

my fave ultracar.  nothing at all to do with that BMW engine.

fave feature is the 3 seat layout.  mid-positioned driver is genius... once you're in it, but great for passengers either side.

love the custom tools, CD player, gold lined engine bay, custom luggage, 24 hr helicopter mechanic service, etc.

not to mention the accidental racing legacy!

a expensive car but one of the best

Seems very dated now. Wonder how it would compare with the current supercars ?

Long Hose:

Wonder how it would compare with the current supercars ?

Very well, Evo magazine recently ran an example round their Bedford Autodrome track and it clocked 1.21.20 which is faster than an Enzo.

Well like any supercar it's super expensive. The mclaren F1 it super fast though. 0-60 only 3.2 seconds not bad. Top speed has defiantly got somthing to say at 200mph+. I like the style of the car too. Much better than some of the ferrari's in production and really really beating the porsche 911's.

I wish autocar had something more about the car for the background though it makes me think it's just some kind of brillant audi not a brilliant supercar!

"Wonder how it would compare with the current supercars ......" I think I have the definitive answer to that question : The much revered and loved Top Gear programme wanted to show off the Bugatti Veyron that they rate so highly. So they put it in a race with arguably the Greatest car ever made. The F1 was made in 1993, and has a 6.0 litre engine. The BV has two engines and four turbo chargers..... It took Audi (?) fifteen years to make a car that could challenge the McLaren F1. The BV is faster than the McLaren F1 - by ten miles per hour. Top Gear announced they were going to show which was the fastest by putting the two cars against each other in a drag race. They then said the cars would race over a standing start mile. The universally accepted standard for speed testing has always been quarter of a mile. The reason Top Gear made the race over one mile instead ? If you watched the episode of Top Gear it very soon becomes clear why, as the Bugatti was shown to be a big heavy lump compared to the McLaren F1. The race took approxiamately 42 seconds start to finish. It took the Bugatti Veyron 29 seconds (well over HALF A MILE) for it to even catch up with the McLaren F1. If they wanted to tell us which was the fastest, everyone already knew the Bugatti had the higher top speed. If they wanted to "big up" the Bugatti they love so much they had to make sure the car had a long enough run to be competitive. If they'd simply run the race over the quarter mile, the Bugatti Veyron would have looked very slow indeed - and they didn't want that. Watch the episode - judge for yourself. I know which I'd choose for the looks, and I can't muster anything like the same level of respect let alone adoration for the Bugatti as I have for the McLaren F1. Gordon Murray designed the McLaren F1 with incredible attention to detail. The car is innovative, gorgeous to look at, and an engineering/motoring masterpiece. The Bugatti Veyron was made to prove their car is faster than someone else's - by putting two engines and four turbo's in it. No comparison. ps Pagani Zonda - what an utterly delicious car ! NUTTERZ

NUTTERZ:

"Wonder how it would compare with the current supercars ......" I think I have the definitive answer to that question : The much revered and loved Top Gear programme wanted to show off the Bugatti Veyron that they rate so highly. So they put it in a race with arguably the Greatest car ever made. The F1 was made in 1993, and has a 6.0 litre engine. The BV has two engines and four turbo chargers..... It took Audi (?) fifteen years to make a car that could challenge the McLaren F1. The BV is faster than the McLaren F1 - by ten miles per hour. Top Gear announced they were going to show which was the fastest by putting the two cars against each other in a drag race. They then said the cars would race over a standing start mile. The universally accepted standard for speed testing has always been quarter of a mile. The reason Top Gear made the race over one mile instead ? If you watched the episode of Top Gear it very soon becomes clear why, as the Bugatti was shown to be a big heavy lump compared to the McLaren F1. The race took approxiamately 42 seconds start to finish. It took the Bugatti Veyron 29 seconds (well over HALF A MILE) for it to even catch up with the McLaren F1. If they wanted to tell us which was the fastest, everyone already knew the Bugatti had the higher top speed. If they wanted to "big up" the Bugatti they love so much they had to make sure the car had a long enough run to be competitive. If they'd simply run the race over the quarter mile, the Bugatti Veyron would have looked very slow indeed - and they didn't want that. Watch the episode - judge for yourself. I know which I'd choose for the looks, and I can't muster anything like the same level of respect let alone adoration for the Bugatti as I have for the McLaren F1. Gordon Murray designed the McLaren F1 with incredible attention to detail. The car is innovative, gorgeous to look at, and an engineering/motoring masterpiece. The Bugatti Veyron was made to prove their car is faster than someone else's - by putting two engines and four turbo's in it. No comparison. ps Pagani Zonda - what an utterly delicious car ! NUTTERZ

If you actually know anything about the Veyron or cars in general you would have realised that they fluffed the start in the Veyron to give the McLaren a chance. The Veyron hits 60 in 2.46secs and the McLaren in 3.2secs, so go figure. The Veyron demolishes the McLaren.

Most importantly, we should thank GERMANY (BMW and VAG) for 2 of the greatest engines ever!

blasos1983:

Most importantly, we should thank GERMANY (BMW and VAG) for 2 of the greatest engines ever!

Agreed. Germany is renowned for its engineering brilliance, and the engines of the F1 and Veyron are some of the best evidence there is to support this. That's why most of the 'Engines of the Year' awards go to German brands...