MCLAREN MP4-12C; THE GOOD AND THE BAD (WITH GALLERY)

The introduction of a new car receives attention. News of a new automaker is received with a mixed welcome and no small degree of regard. Beyond that point, the introduction of a new supercar manufacturer is, in the car enthusiast community, an event worth covering for days and weeks on end.

In a manner of speaking, the McLaren MP4-12C represents a new dawn. Yes, McLaren was the builder of the F1, a vehicle named by many as the greatest supercar of all time. But that was the poster car of my generation - the teenagers of the late 90s. The F1 has been out of production for more than a decade and was never really much of a production car anyway - scarcely more than 100 were built.

Read more about McLaren on GCBC

So here is the McLaren MP4-12C, the most anticipated new supercar since the Bugatti Veyron EB 16.4. Much will be written about the new McLaren in the next few months, especially when the time comes for the big-named auto journalists to take a passenger ride... then a drive.... then a real-world drive back-to-back with the Ferrari 458 Italia and others. For now, based on the information and pictures released by Ron Dennis and the folks at McLaren headquarters in Woking, England, these are the Top 5 Good Facts and the Top 5 Bad Facts in regards to the new McLaren MP4-12C.

GOOD THINGS ABOUT THE MCLAREN MP4-12C

#5- 600 horsepower ain't bad. In a car of this size; with competitors generally offering 100 horsepower less; the MP4-12C should cruise.

#4- The word "weight" is mentioned 59 times, in one form or another, inside McLaren's press release for the MP4-12C. The lack of that term as a reality in this car should help 600 horsepower feel like 700.

#3- "Nothing has come from another manufacturer’s parts bin," says McLaren. They're serious; strongly hinting at the absence of Mercedes-Benz in the process. (Interestingly, new pics of the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG were released around the same time as this McLaren MP4-12C info.)

#2- McLaren's 3.8L twin-turbocharged V6 helps make the MP4-12C the possessor of "the highest horsepower to CO2 ratio of any car on the market today with an internal combustion engine," including, say they, all diesels. That doesn't make this 3.8L V8 clean - but there is a measure of having cake and eating cake, too.

#1- Revs rise to 8,500 rpm, yet 80% of the 442 lb-ft of torque is available below 2,000 rpm. Adding to the cake possession/cake edibility equation, the McLaren's engine offers up an extreme nature but clearly doesn't need to be driven like a Honda S2000 to have fun.

BAD THINGS ABOUT THE MCLAREN MP4-12C

#5- Mid-engine placement subtracts a designers album of creativity. While necessary for optimum performance, the shape of the car becomes terribly derivative. Lamborghini managed to make the Gallardo unique; the new Ferrari 458 Italia is delicious; and the Bugatti Veyron is.... special. This MP4-12C is simply a clean shape, nicely unadorned, but bland to the point where I'd be critical even if the price were cut in half. Engineering isn't enough at this price point - I want my car to look like nothing else.

#4- A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, one wise man wrote. MP4-12C? McLaren submits this: MP4 goes with all their cars since 1981. What happened to the F1? 12 marks this McLaren's rating on their internal Vehicle Performance Index. I guess we should be glad it's not a 10. C means Carbon, since carbon fibre played such an elemental role. Makes you wonder why the Jaguar XJ doesn't have an A for aluminum and the Chevrolet Corvette lacks a B for balsa wood.

#3- Regardless of the cars on which McLaren has set its sights, early speculation will still revolve around the old McLaren F1, a car which sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars more in its day. Sucks to be the MP4-12C.

#2- Changing gears with your left leg, right hand, and your brain appears no longer to be stylish. McLaren is selling the MP4-12C with a standard fit dual-clutch gearbox. Fun and amazing t'will likely be, but the lack of interaction in supercars is something I didn't think McLaren would cater to.

#1- Do we really have to hear more about Formula 1 inspiration? 26 times in McLaren's press release, the term Formula 1 was used to make us think the MP4-12C is Lewis Hamilton's car rebodied. Inspired or not, the McLaren MP4-12C's sometimes rightful use of the term is inconsequential and highly annoying to those of us who hear about the Honda Fit's F1 paddle shifters.

Check out the Caparo T1 for more crazy supercar stuff