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Typical. I get to drive a McLaren P1 and rain is biblical. Also, only the first heavy frost of the year in Belgium, so that the rain hits the asphalt slippery jumping into a future that is not for £ 866,000, 903bhp hypercar might be less attractive that if you had oiled some ice and aligned the street with the puppy.
Caution is definitely a good thing, however. How do I find out later. Meanwhile, carefully tiptoeing away from the Spa Francorchamps circuit by 5 clock in the P1 is painfully simple. In fact, not even wake the other guests at the hotel by the simple expedient of reptiles in EV mode, the only sound the crunch of tires on the frozen ground and a low moan of science fiction.
I can see it from the to reverse out of the garage usable thanks to the mirrors, and the view forward is broad and useful display. It feels small. And not threatening. And easy. I did not expect, dass derived The twin-turbo V8 from 12C complains in life after a while and went to Britain. That's when it gets a little scary.
Pull Highway, P1 decides to give me a little shake warning as turbos are at about 4,000 rpm in third increases. Sounds high, but you have already generously driven by the electric motor against the delay perfectly covered by a perforated KERS-like truck. We can cope with a move, however. Is still wet and cold, and the tires are new and freeze.
A few miles later and is still wet, but gently roll on the throttle in fifth place. The P1 facilitates forward, as if oiled, soft and insistent. And then it hits boost and turns the wheels. A lot. There are a lot of swearing, little punctuation.
Lesson One. You must not take for granted the McLaren P1. And the most effective traction control system is obviously the right foot and the feeling of fear. Then, basically, go back about 350 kilometers to the UK as a farm diesel, and trying to figure out whether the P1 well, just a car.
It is. It feels a bit like a Lotus made agile and clear well, and light. The technology works everything: Press the EV mode and the engine dies and you can just drive to the area electric (we are 7 miles on the highway at 130 km in Europe, and in the city).
Press the "Load" and the motor to the motor to drive with e-mail and replace batteries as a range extender. To press a modest power, but a full electric charge when receive the traffic. All we have to do is take off the throttle completely, press the button, and resume.
Inside is a little drone, but the cabin our test car had no carpet (it's a no-cost option) and is made of carbon fiber, so expect some hiss. Even driving with switched chief Ed Turner on a regular basis, and I nodded off quite happily in the passenger seat.
The P1 makes all this complicated, integrated technology extremely easy to use. This is a triumph in itself. But it's all very good, a hypercar that his mother could go to the shops, so if we get to the UK, we entered into a local airport and ask for a little sun. As you do.
P1 driving on the road is an exercise in restraint. If we are honest, you can not really drive the thing and stay safe, much less legal because they., The type of acceleration and the G-curves to overcome produces a sports bike The rest of the world is not ready to cope.
But at an airfield, I was surprised. Put the car in "Race Mode" - a process that takes about 30 seconds, static - increases and the wings that fall 50 mm suspension. Press' boost mode "and slow down the left foot. Flatten the throttle and wait to build on the momentum, then solve only the brake and keep your spleen.
No skidding. Only ... goodbye. And 195 MPH with room to spare, brakes Slam 1395kg car to a halt and then without trembling. Robbie, the man with the camera, announced a series of chirps no adult male to be able to reasonably be able to produce, while not under torture.
Repeat 12 times, just to see if it was a coincidence. It was not. And I've never - really feel - output as in a roadcar. Case in point: the airfield we had a big bump in the track. He hit 90mph with the gas and the car would spin your wheels, hard. Press the same package in 150 and P1 cheated on him only. He felt the blow, but rode hard, instead of lifting it like a giant hand pushing the car to the ground.
All the while, the P1 feeds the information that you, the hands, the wheel, the floor, ears, eyes. It is flat, with no body roll, but - to use strange word, this, but adequate - sensual. It feeds like nothing else. Calls, chat, chatty on the connection. You must recalibrate, and learn.
And that's before you, offering complete engine and power steering even with the button on the wheel DRS rear wing, or IPAS button on the other side, which neutralizes the electric motor flattens play a stroke, as long as you over 80 percent throttle are . It is like a shot of nitrous 150bhp. In a car that is already on the road like a mad rocket.
The truth? The P1 is a very easy to drive with the car, but a very difficult car to drive at the limit. You must learn to understand. It is point and say, more delicate than that. And that's really exciting. Not the fastest car I've driven, but it is the most powerful in terms of experience. It has all the power, and most importantly, all the self-confidence to use the.
The P1 is a great car for Pootle and a burden, but an edge bejeezus scared me a few times. I left fascinated, exhilarated, and still want to take a chance and a little glad I gave it back in one piece.
I loved it bloody. The "best driver on the road and the rail" as McLaren boldly says? Sorry, there is no drive to actually overcome. P1.
