Top Gear does the McLaren MP4-12C vs. the Ferrari 458 Italia comparison

very strange result, in other reviews the 458 was a few tenth ahead and now 3 seconds behind?

u have to take into consideration that the MP4 was developed on the Top gear test track.. so obviously it's very fast round here as they must have benchmarked the 458 during development..

autocar magazine had the ferrari as the better car to buy, just! evo magazine and fifth gear has the mclaren on slower time than the ferrari around a track. autocar magazine has it all mixed up with allan muir saying there is zero understeer on the macca while matt prior says there is a lot and you need more of it to trigger the brake steer, I AM NOT JOKING about this, so it steers like a tank! if the mclaren was so good we wont be getting such a mix bag of results, the british are defending their pride...with a bag full of bull shit and shameless bias

looks like a few ferrari fans are taking reality quite well...smoke up your pain incredulous FF's!

although the mclaren made a blistering time, you can not forget what clarkson said in the end, which was the same conclusion of fifth gear: although this car can be faster then a 458, it lacks the feel of passion and soul of the ferrari, the thing that you can't explain or put your finger on. the first time i saw the mp4 i wasn't fascinated by it, although i knew that it would be a briliant car as performace goes, while the 458 mesmerized me for days, and for that, i would go for the ferrari. sometimes, only the numbers won't make a car excelent. at least this is my own opinion.

Looks like the McLaren is built for a much broader public. Therefore even if you're not a track day master you can still have enough fun combined with a comfortable ride - smart! The Ferrari is a phenomenal car BUT few people would be capable of really pushing it hard enough and feel its soul.

Justice has been served.

Whatever. If you watched Top Gear you'd see they unanimously favored the Ferrari over the McLaren.

Eat it 458 you fugly pos! Fifth gear also said that they can't turn off traction control on the 12C, clearly it can be done... its that dum user thing as with a computer, its always the computers fault when something doesn't work when in actuallity its the user as the drivers in Fith Gear who clearly did not know how to drive the car and I don't care if they are or use to be pro racers. When the 458 was taking corners in front of the 12C on the Top Gear track it was clearly leaning unlike the 12C which looked like it was on rails and could take corners at much faster speeds. Guaranteed any customer spec 12C will take any customer spec 458 any day on any road or track any time!!

TopGear is racist !! if the car is British.. then it's the best!! According to them: - Rang Rover is the best 4?4 ( while porsche cayenne is ugly) - Mclaren MP4 is better than Ferrari 458!! - Mclaren F1 won in a drag race with Bugatti Veyron. - Aston Martin, Jaguar, Bently... etc.

fsnas is spot on. Clarkson does promote british cars. 458 won timed tests in other mags - evo, car, 5th gear.

@nahidrahman Jeremy Clarkson a legend? now you're the one who is the real deluded fool.

Stop bickering over times. I've taken the same car, same day, to the same DRAG strip, and have times varying by 1 second. So different cars, different track, different drivers, different times.. and over a minute of racing, you will have VASTLY different times.

I think TG's typical British Bias was on show here. I will need to see more comparisons before believing there is THAT much difference on such a small track. Would still have the FAZ any day. It's got soul bro's..

It's funny to hear people complaining about TG being biased. Of course they are biased and each of them, May, Clarkson, and Hammond have their own biases as well and they openly admit it on the show. Get over it.

The only bad thing about the McLaren is that name! It sound like the model designation of a cheap blender.

Maybe the bafoons from Fith Gear should take lessons from an average journalist that took the 12C on the Top Gear track which he has never driven on and also had a passenger to boot and still achieved a time of 1:19.4, 0.3 seconds slower than the stig in the 458 Italia!! http://www.carsguide.com.au/site/news-and-reviews/car-news/driving_on_the_uk_top_gear_track

Little digression...I race cars semipro for a long time and I must say that Mclaren MP4 time is unreal. I dont want to dig out the reasons why they (topGear)did make that time official but as we know there could be tons of reasons. Ill only speak about why is that time almost impossible. I say almost just because we can agree that is possible to have two very different drivers driven Mclaren and Ferrari, two very different weather conditions or car setups (electronic aids, rubbers, etc.). But for real and honest comparison between MP4-12c and F-458 all that had to be equal. It is possible that MP4 was developed on that particular track and therefore it shoul or colud get the best result out of it but 3sec better time on 2.8kn track with 12 turns sounds impossible. Based on this data just try to imagine what should we expect from "theRing" time where MP4 should be at its best due to slightly better power/weight ratio on the track configuration with much more straights and overall much lenght where . Dont even have to mention track distance that "the Ring" has. Even from the TopGear track records its possible to see that 3secs is difference like lightyears between some of the cars. For example that is like raceing Ferrari Enzo wich is much more powerfull and real raceing car against Porsche 997 Turbo but cabrio wich is much more havier and 170ps less powerfull car. Dont even need to tell you how cabrios react on a twisty track. I could go further in details but only from these assumptions it is clear that something went realy wrong from TopGear crew in comparing those two cars. Sorry about my english as Im not from your country.

Cant wait to see where will new lambo Aventador and up on that list. With even better power to weight ratio, all wheel drive, new angine and again different suspension approach (push road) it will be very interesting.

Nice Daft Punk sound track they've got there.