1 00:00:12,665 --> 00:00:16,104 Tonight, I talk to two old ladies. 2 00:00:16,104 --> 00:00:19,545 Richard makes a phone call. 3 00:00:19,545 --> 00:00:22,306 And James sniffs his own armpit. 4 00:00:24,506 --> 00:00:27,066 CHEERING AND APPLAUSE 5 00:00:31,347 --> 00:00:33,587 Good evening, hello. 6 00:00:33,587 --> 00:00:36,227 Hello, everybody. Thank you so much, thank you. 7 00:00:36,227 --> 00:00:37,628 Now... 8 00:00:38,787 --> 00:00:41,747 we start tonight with the big one, 9 00:00:41,747 --> 00:00:46,629 the all-new, all-British McLaren MP4-12C. 10 00:00:46,629 --> 00:00:48,308 And there are two questions. 11 00:00:48,308 --> 00:00:51,949 One, why have they named it after a fax machine? 12 00:00:51,949 --> 00:00:58,509 And two, how can it possibly be as good as a Ferrari 458? 13 00:01:02,870 --> 00:01:07,990 'McLaren themselves admit that the 458 is a great car. 14 00:01:10,191 --> 00:01:14,311 'But they say that, scientifically and mathematically, 15 00:01:14,311 --> 00:01:17,792 'they can prove that, in every single measurable way, 16 00:01:17,792 --> 00:01:19,952 'their new car is better. 17 00:01:54,916 --> 00:01:58,596 'Well, certainly at £168,000 it is a tiny bit...' 18 00:01:59,956 --> 00:02:03,917 I was going to say cheaper, let's say less expensive than the Ferrari. 19 00:02:05,277 --> 00:02:08,117 'It's also a tiny bit kinder to the environment,' 20 00:02:08,117 --> 00:02:11,958 a tiny bit lighter, a tiny bit more economical. 21 00:02:13,078 --> 00:02:16,279 'It's also quite a lot more powerful.' 22 00:02:24,959 --> 00:02:31,120 The Ferrari has to make do with just 562 horsepower, 23 00:02:31,120 --> 00:02:38,601 whereas the twin turbocharged 3.8 litre V8 in this churns out 592. 24 00:02:50,322 --> 00:02:51,602 'The result is simple. 25 00:02:52,683 --> 00:02:59,844 '0-60 takes 3.1 seconds. The top speed is 205. 26 00:02:59,844 --> 00:03:03,324 'And though it's close... 27 00:03:03,324 --> 00:03:06,084 'the Ferrari cannot live with that. 28 00:03:06,084 --> 00:03:09,764 'And it's a similar story when the going gets twisty.' 29 00:03:27,606 --> 00:03:31,888 'I love that Ferrari, and it is as quick round here...' 30 00:03:32,967 --> 00:03:35,927 as an Enzo. 31 00:03:35,927 --> 00:03:37,767 But I think this is quicker still. 32 00:03:38,888 --> 00:03:42,528 Ferrari has been in the Formula One game longer than anybody, 33 00:03:42,528 --> 00:03:47,209 but McLaren, amazingly, has a higher hit rate. 34 00:03:47,209 --> 00:03:51,249 'They've won one in every four Grands Prix they've ever entered. 35 00:03:51,249 --> 00:03:55,570 'Which shows they certainly know how to make a car go round a corner.' 36 00:03:58,570 --> 00:04:01,410 My God, they've worked their magic with this. 37 00:04:05,411 --> 00:04:09,171 Can you see the Ferrari waggling its tail there? This isn't. 38 00:04:09,171 --> 00:04:15,612 This grips onto the road like a terrified toddler grips on to its mother's hand. 39 00:04:15,612 --> 00:04:18,493 So, Lewis Hamilton, watch and learn. 40 00:04:18,493 --> 00:04:21,413 'This is how you pass a Ferrari...' 41 00:04:24,493 --> 00:04:27,173 without crashing into it. Oh, yes! 42 00:04:38,094 --> 00:04:43,215 'One of the reasons the McLaren is so fast is its traction control system. 43 00:04:44,415 --> 00:04:48,175 'A system that really comes into its own in the rain. 44 00:04:55,457 --> 00:04:59,657 'It lets you drive hard, but it won't let you kill yourself. 45 00:04:59,657 --> 00:05:04,418 'And that is just the tip of a technological iceberg. 46 00:05:08,098 --> 00:05:12,179 'There's a flap on the back which raises when you brake hard, 47 00:05:12,179 --> 00:05:16,139 'so you can't see what's about to crash into the back of you. 48 00:05:18,019 --> 00:05:20,379 'And then we get to the suspension. 49 00:05:20,379 --> 00:05:23,660 'A computer has replaced the anti-roll bars, 50 00:05:23,660 --> 00:05:27,300 'so all four wheels are truly independent of one other. 51 00:05:27,300 --> 00:05:32,101 'This gives you better cornering and, more importantly, a better ride.' 52 00:05:34,421 --> 00:05:38,662 Over the years, we've seen the Stig cutting this corner, 53 00:05:38,662 --> 00:05:43,062 putting two wheels on the grass to get the best possible lap times. 54 00:05:48,023 --> 00:05:51,583 But if you ride a bump like that 55 00:05:51,583 --> 00:05:55,104 in the sort of hunkered-down, firmed-up cars that he drives... 56 00:05:58,424 --> 00:06:00,024 the jolt is horrific. 57 00:06:00,024 --> 00:06:03,384 It's like being dipped in liquid nitrogen and then hit with a hammer. 58 00:06:03,384 --> 00:06:05,024 You just sort of shatter. 59 00:06:06,505 --> 00:06:09,865 'In the McLaren, though, it's a very different experience.' 60 00:06:09,865 --> 00:06:12,865 There we go, two wheels off the track. 61 00:06:15,905 --> 00:06:20,506 You'd get more of a jolt if you drove a Rolls-Royce over a Jaffa cake. 62 00:06:23,747 --> 00:06:26,667 'I've never driven a supercar that's even half 63 00:06:26,667 --> 00:06:28,227 'as comfortable as this. 64 00:06:29,507 --> 00:06:31,748 'Or as well-trimmed. 65 00:06:31,748 --> 00:06:36,468 'It's all exquisite leather and stitching and beautiful graphics. 66 00:06:36,468 --> 00:06:41,909 'It's a simple, elegant, a truly lovely place to sit.' 67 00:06:41,909 --> 00:06:45,749 So, yes, in every scientific and mathematical way, 68 00:06:45,749 --> 00:06:49,149 this is better than a Ferrari 458. 69 00:06:49,149 --> 00:06:52,390 It'll even do 30 miles to the gallon. 70 00:06:52,390 --> 00:06:55,710 But there's something missing, something that can't be measured, 71 00:06:55,710 --> 00:06:58,790 something you can't really put your finger on. 72 00:07:00,831 --> 00:07:04,031 There's no... zing. 73 00:07:07,751 --> 00:07:11,072 'This is the factory where the McLaren is made. 74 00:07:11,072 --> 00:07:14,992 'It's like a laboratory. It's quiet, ordered, 75 00:07:14,992 --> 00:07:18,313 'a magnesium and titanium Trappist world 76 00:07:18,313 --> 00:07:21,273 'where perfection isn't quite good enough. 77 00:07:21,273 --> 00:07:22,914 'It's very nice. 78 00:07:22,914 --> 00:07:26,393 'But you can't imagine anyone here has ever put a whoopee cushion 79 00:07:26,393 --> 00:07:28,794 'on the managing director's chair. 80 00:07:32,435 --> 00:07:36,275 'You sense this lack of joy when you're behind the wheel. 81 00:07:36,275 --> 00:07:38,915 'When you drive a Lamborghini,' 82 00:07:38,915 --> 00:07:43,156 it's like you're operating a horse with some mustard stuck up its bottom, 83 00:07:43,156 --> 00:07:47,116 'but when you drive this, it's like you're operating' 84 00:07:47,116 --> 00:07:52,357 the sort of machine they use, I imagine, in ophthalmic surgery. 85 00:07:52,357 --> 00:07:56,957 'We see the same problem with the way the McLaren looks. 86 00:07:59,037 --> 00:08:02,438 'There's nothing wrong with it, but there's no art. 87 00:08:02,438 --> 00:08:07,198 'You get the sense it was styled by software and shaped by science. 88 00:08:07,198 --> 00:08:09,479 'Which it probably was.' 89 00:08:10,559 --> 00:08:12,318 I'll give you another example. 90 00:08:12,318 --> 00:08:14,599 You can turn the traction control off, 91 00:08:14,599 --> 00:08:18,600 but it'd be easier to launch the missiles from a nuclear submarine. 92 00:08:18,600 --> 00:08:23,000 You have to push that button and hold it down for 10 seconds, 93 00:08:23,000 --> 00:08:25,120 then you push those two simultaneously, 94 00:08:25,120 --> 00:08:28,641 and I said to one of the engineers, "Why does it have to be so complicated?" 95 00:08:28,641 --> 00:08:31,681 He said, "Why would you want to turn the traction control off?" 96 00:08:31,681 --> 00:08:33,161 I said, "Well, it'd be fun." 97 00:08:33,161 --> 00:08:36,322 And you could see him thinking, "Hmm, fun? 98 00:08:36,322 --> 00:08:39,402 "I must look that up in a dictionary." 99 00:08:42,323 --> 00:08:44,803 'The McLaren, then, is like a pair of tights. 100 00:08:44,803 --> 00:08:48,403 'Very practical and very sensible. 101 00:08:50,803 --> 00:08:55,524 'The Ferrari, though, that is a pair of stockings.' 102 00:09:17,806 --> 00:09:19,807 What are you on about? 103 00:09:19,807 --> 00:09:25,127 Well, tights and stockings are designed to do exactly the same job. 104 00:09:25,127 --> 00:09:27,527 But they don't. 105 00:09:27,527 --> 00:09:30,408 I don't know, I only wear socks, Jeremy. 106 00:09:30,408 --> 00:09:33,968 Can we just move on from the hosiery, chaps, back to the car? 107 00:09:33,968 --> 00:09:36,049 Is the ride really that good? 108 00:09:36,049 --> 00:09:38,529 Like a Rolls-Royce. Unbelievably smooth. 109 00:09:38,529 --> 00:09:41,609 And do you know why? Wasn't developed at the Nurburgring. 110 00:09:41,609 --> 00:09:43,609 Oh, God, he's off again. 111 00:09:43,609 --> 00:09:45,969 True fact, it was developed, actually, 112 00:09:45,969 --> 00:09:47,9...
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