Automotive

ThomasM
[PuristS]
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Excellent short review! some comments in reply...

Hi, unotaz,

Thanks, great short review! Nothing like comments from an owner (who knows how to drive and has experience in the car category...)

"- IRIS (Mclaren's Command system). This thing sucks ass! I guess I wasn't surprised because this is a system where Mclaren tried to do it themselves instead of going out there and just buy an existing system. Navigation is useless, freezes up multiple times. Bluetooth is useless. Thank God the stereo works."

Love it, a true purist telling it like it is!

Of course, there's nothing wrong with trying to do something in house, right? unless there are better systems out there and in house is not the best...

"With all of the new technology in this car, you really need to rethink about how your approach performance driving because it is that different.  I have read a lot of articles that reviewed the MP4-12C and most of them reaches the conclusion that while the car's performance is extraordinary, it is not as fun as a 458.  I have reached a similar conclusion except I find it very exciting to drive, but it is different than the 458.  Most auto journalists talks about the Mclaren being less emotional and have too much driving aids.  I fall into the school of thought where technology improves the breed and hence, the performance.  If you think technology is interfering with the driving experience, then how can you enjoy drifting your 911 without a locking differential?  "

You know, you've raised a very important question. I'm one of those that dislikes "all that technology" and your comments make me think more carefully about this position - it's not TECHNOLOGY that's the problem. Afterall, bulldozer's are technology (that replaces a thousand slave laborers); screwdrivers are technology...

This is a large topic, fraught with potential for misunderstanding and misstatement...but I'll give it a try.

My have no problem with technology, per se; I do have problems with technology that masks bad technique or laziness or ignorance on the part of the operator. So golf clubs or balls that allow a hack to drive like a pro (or even serious amateur); tennis racquets that help lazy fat asses put english on the tennis ball like Bjorn Borg; electronic nannies that allow untrained and brain dead drivers to escape injury or even death with stupid headed maneuvers due to lapse in attention span or lack of training...please note I carefully avoided the term "skill"

Technology is now trying to override a prime rule of existence - Darwinian selection...

(only partially kidding...) 

This position was further cemented during the recent experience in Skippy Formula cars - no ABS, no power steering, no power brakes. Just mechanical engineering and the laws of physics...

I am reminded of the mechanical vs electronic dichotomy in watchmaking.

So it's not just technology, but the type of technology, and how it's implemented. Even intention starts to rear its head here, somewhere...electronic and systems engineers in a laboratory deciding for the driver on the street in the drivers seat when high beam is necessary and when low beam must be used? hmmm....

I guess it boils down to whether I distrust the clean room "electronic nanny" designers more, or the brain dead drivers next to me on the freeway and roads more...

So back to your comments, locking differential (preferably mechanical) is no problem; torque vectoring, ABS / ABC / ASC / ESC / ETC / etc are a whole 'nother matter... 

Thanks for your quick look!

TM