Sacramento drags 6/23: 458 vs MP4

[treynor]

I realize this is more a roadcourse than drag race crowd, but - the opportunity to race is not easily denied So, tomorrow Christine and I are going to pit our respective DDs against one another on the 1/4 mile:

Sacramento Grudge Drags, 6/23/2012, 6pm-10pm.
Ferrari 458 vs McLaren MP4-12C
91 octane pump gas, regular street tires, no tricks, no mods
Both drivers, both cars, both lanes.
Regular and launch control starts

(also, I apparently need a couple people to vouch that yes, we own a Ferrari so we can get the 'member' bit set on this board. So if any F-chatters end up visiting, please stop by and say 'hi'!)

[Brian Harper]

Good luck at the drags!

I'm not far away and I'd gladly vouch for you, but I might need a ride purely to be sure it is really yours!

[treynor]

Video from the drags is up: http://youtu.be/SEOb35UCRyE

Both cars spun through 1st, and the 458 also spun on the 1-2 and 2-3 shifts, which really hurt its 1/4 mile performance. Ferrari launches better from idle; McLaren seems to have a bit more HP once it's hooked up.

[Financialman]

Great video! The 458 really seems to lack traction compared to the Mclaren.

[treynor]

It was interesting - we spent some time analyzing what was happening.

The Ferrari actually launches better than the McLaren - the 60' times for the 458 were consistently 0.1 seconds better than the MP4. Best guess: the combination of not waiting for turbos to spool and better throttle response helps.

Once under way, the Ferrari shifts are significantly firmer than the McLaren. That is good when you have traction - less power lost - but is bad when you're on a slippery surface like the dragstrip. You can see at 1:32 for example that the Ferrari gets loose on the 1-2 shift, and Christine had to back out of 3 of 5 runs because it would get loose again on the 2-3 shift.

So now we're thinking - rematch, with Corsa tires and a good burnout. The local McLaren dealer may also try to rent out an airstrip so we can do FvM runs with warm tires. The fun continues.

[Financialman]

Yes, after watching the video again you can see the 458 losing traction, then the car slowing down, perhaps the Mclaren electronic aids were better at analyizing the available traction?

Did you try various modes, race, sport, ect..?

[treynor]

The McLaren simply shifts more softly - it's easy to feel when you drive each vehicle.

Christine tried both Sport and Race for the track. She didn't try any of the more aggressive modes because we didn't want any risk of an accident. When we have more time for runs we'll try seeing if Sport or Race is better; I suspect Sport may actually be superior when traction is iffy.

[Financialman]

Thanks for posting the video and your honest analysis. You have the two finest sports cars in the world in my opinion!

[ferrari_jjc]

I'm sticking with my inbound 458!