McLaren P1 vs McLaren F1 | evo REVIEW

f1 versus p1 is a test that we spent a very long time trying to pull together just trying to sort out the insurance for 10 million pounds worth of MacLaren's isn't exactly easy at first we thought we might get a couple of cars to go in Switzerland then Wales and then to be honest after several months of plotting we would probably have settled for an hour on the roads near working given her difficult it seemed to be but then a very kind owner came up trumps would we like to drive his cars in the South of France well needless to say we were on a budget flight to Marseille almost before we'd put the phone down this spectacularly serpentine piece of Tariq is the D to the road not far from the stripy Paul Ricard circuit which is stunning all their cars with power-to-weight ratios in excess of 550 brake horsepower per tonne devour even medium length straights with the disdain of mr. creosote popping the first can appear in his mouth nonetheless automotive amphitheaters don't come much better the f1 is still after but getting on for sort of 23 years now just the most incredible cars drive 627 brake horsepower from that 6-litre v12 behind me the over aluminium double overhead cam four valves and designed by paul russia by BMW they absolutely properly dated rathaway is the most exciting engine fit naturally aspirated I don't care what anyone says on a road car gives such throttle response it's staggering it makes the car feel like it weighs absolutely nothing curb weight from McLaren f1 there's 1137 kilos officially although this has got the sports exhaust on it so it might be just a touch lighter and and just it feels like it suggests it's staggering I just don't think you'd ever get bored of this car steering is quite heavy on this one outside xp5 is the 100,000 mile prototype still owned by McLaren that we use for our analog suit contest back in 2013 it is also the car that was used to set the then-record top speed at error lesson a standard f1 will actually run into his limiter 231 miles an hour but for the record they removed the limiter it ran on to 243 Kerry went through a slight weave at about 230 miles an hour but it has settled down again as Andy Wallace says is inevitable car fashion hardly the best place race you hear the engine is from the passenger seats because you get the induction from the roof scoop going down literally next to your head I'll settle for the driver's seat the gear shift and the f1 is it's quite tricky the first sort of shifts in the morning you have this horrible suspicion you might be about to go from second first and you really really really don't want to go from second first but once you're used to it and once you're aware of genocide had titled is across that gate then you can flash it through and it's a really lovely snaky little but engine would just never get boring you can probably hear the squealing of the brakes but are certainly the weakest part of the f1 as you might imagine return wanted small weights only toyed with the idea of putting ceramic brakes on deck one man I just couldn't get into back in the early 1990s it just wasn't gonna be feasible for a road car they didn't work at low speeds at all so they had to go it stills but the trouble was the regulations at the time said that they had to do repeated stops from 80% of their maximum speed which is quite a Charlie McLaren f1 as well as the usual run-of-the-mill details like gold in the engine bay this particular f1 has a few individual things you can see the plumbed in TomTom sat-nav and I've mentioned the sports exhaust already but this car also has a removable steering wheel some extra 12-volt sockets and as it gets used on a regular basis it has a headlight upgrade which was extremely welcomed when night fell at the end of the test apart from these relatively minor details everything else is standard and there really isn't anything that you'd want to change from the original early 90s design the whole project fantasy started is three chairs laid out of Delta formation and then it went onto a wooden bucket center and it is an absolute masterpiece of packaging it's just magical like it really does put you right at the center of everything and you can look so far through the corners without being hindered by the a-pillars one thing about the central driving position might notice most of the interiors are fairly muted color it's the same in all F ones but if you look at the central panel of the seat that I'm sitting in it's usually a bright color that's kiss good Mary wanted people when they looked into the car to only focus on the driver's seat event like looking into but a single seater it really is so mechanical this car you can tell that everything your pedals staring are all connected to something there's no there's no electrons getting involved here throttle response it's my birthday today I don't think I could have a much better present than this face I was going for one last Drive I think I'd want this throttle response in this engine it seems almost unfair for any other car to have to try to live up to the almost religious experience of an f1 but that is exactly the task given to this so here we are two cars separated by one letter in 20 years the left one to p1 first things in striking well similarities if you look just down as you get in you'll see that this is chassis plate number 46 which matches the f1 because all the owners of F ones were given the chance to buy the same number of p1 this is also the same color it's Genesis bloom Genesis Genesis park and Genesis building well where McLaren was based when they were building the f1 so it's quite a nice link between the two cars it's a beautiful color as well really sort of oily blue things that have obviously changed when you look around the car well carbon fiber to me is the biggest change I mean you look at the rear diffusers on both cars and the intricacy of the p1 is just extraordinary I mean it must have would have blown the designers minds if they could have seen what you'd be able to do with carbon 5 at the time the p1 came along other things well the rear lights I mean the lights from the f1 were from AB / coach bizarrely and actually they they'd been our TVR before and and the designers thought well obviously they must have been homologated for cars then no see they are just just done it but compared to the wonderful swooping LEDs you get on the back of the p1 it's very different the faces of the two cars I think look surprisingly similar actually both of these wonderful sort of hygiene pirates this is so fast so what's this like to drive well compared to the f1 it is obviously supremely easy basically which you wouldn't expect for something that has over 900 brake horsepower but jumping out to the f1 this really does feel like an absolute pussycat you've obviously got light steering so is easy to a sort of overwork the run tires actually because you know you it's so easy to have so much input gear changes obviously for nominees hearing it'll do it itself if you want and the other big thing of course see we can do this I'm travel long an electric motor which is them fairly freaky far out the engine again I think now the noise is obviously such a massive thing with the f1 and the p1 it can't compete but it is interesting you you get to all these wonderful sort of little turrets and then snuffles and so depending what sort of speed you're doing and well throttle is you get all sorts of interesting things going on behind you which is it's fascinating really and then of course the press active fire everything up and it turns into a whole other beast you're not right up in the top of the rev range like you're on track you do notice there is turbo lag Thomas is poorly off on 3.8 v8 as a result unless you're in full attack talk filter track mode you don't quite get the instant throttle response now for corner that you do with the naturally aspirated f1 although inevitably 903 brake horsepower will reel in the tail of the f1 as the streak continues that confident you feel in it that you can actually squeeze the throttle on because otherwise you'd be terrified of all that boosted talk coming in and so quickly the performers as well on the scene in 20 years the Lord 60 mile an hour time his drops by point four of a second 2.8 seconds and a fully standing started p1 for the top speed it's just 217 terrible what a car though amazed by the similarities and the differences between these two cars and in their own way each one is a very very special thing and this has been a very very good day whether driving quickly or puttering slowly the wonder of jumping from one to the other never wore off throughout our time with these two the p1 makes it's outrageous performance seem insanely accessible after the f1 the ability to break so late change down and turn in all at the same time is mind-blowing after the more conventional sequence of inputs that you have to follow the f1 the lateral grip of the new car also makes progress breathtaking surgical with anything less than maximum attack the p1 slicing through corners fast and flat yet even after the sort of flame spitting drive that leaves you tingling for hours it cannot overshadow the engineering genius and sheer character of the old car the yelping howling everyone lights up your senses lighten nothing else communicating with you through every point of contact and asking more of you in every situation whether accelerating changing out breaking changing down cornering or just getting in and out it is a car that was ahead of its time when it was created and in spite of the relentless march of time and progress you get the feeling that it may never be surpassed if you want to see more on what it's like to drive a McLaren f1 then just click on the link to our analog supercars test on the left and if you want to see the p1 being driven to its absolute limit on track against the Porsche 918 Spyder then click on the link on the right

Channel: EVO

Views: 1,232,922

Rating: 4.9236741 out of 5

Keywords: McLaren (Business Operation), McLaren F1 (Automobile Model), McLaren P1 (Automobile Model), Supercar (Automotive Class), Evo (Magazine), performance car, premium

Id: 4bziUYnN8Mg

Length: 14min 32sec (872 seconds)

Published: Fri Apr 17 2015

Reddit Comments

[u/FastBetsHenry]

The sound of the P1 is just amazing.

[u/dicer]

The flames out the exhaust were a nice shot.

I think it's cool that someone who can afford those vehicles is willing to share the experience with others. The whole sharing the plate number thing is a nice touch as a luxury brand, too.

[u/karlrocks23]

This is one of the best car reviews I've seen in a long time. There's no annoying music drowning everything out, just a symphony of sounds from those amazing machines.

[u/yinzertrash]

Missin' you Top Gear.

[u/brobaru]

F1 was my dream car as a child. It will always have a special place with me. Love the P1 as well but man I would love to see a F1 in RL.

[u/[deleted]]

The F1 is simply the greatest car ever created.

[u/NXS175]

If anyone is curious both cars are owned by the avaition tycoon Clive Joy.

[u/TheDemosKratos]

Well, as the F1 was the bleeding edge in engineering when it came out, the P1 managed to push the standart of measuring acceleretion to seconds from nought to 120 instead of 60 so there's that. I liked the video but I feel the guy was a little biased. In track mode the P1 throttle response should have blew F1's to shreds since the electric motor takes over when the V8 prepares to strike yet he never tried it. IMHO you can like F1 over P1 only if you value age for age's sake.

[u/dudethatsmeta]

This man is a true connoisseur. The way he describes the F1 sounds like he's swishing wine.