Comparison Tests
Once upon a time—okay, right now—three automakers set out on a quest to offer passage to sports-car paradise. The fare, starting at about a quarter-million, is not cheap. Expectations are correspondingly high. The requirements necessary to reach this automotive Shangri-La are constantly shifting, like the coordinates of the island in Lost.
In this class, raw performance hangs just one rung below the mighty Bugatti Veyron. But mere speed is not enough to reach the Promised Land, nor is prodigious grip; high horsepower and sticky tires can be found in the lower realms. The perfect car will offer a combination of highly evolved engineering solutions, rare and fine materials, and the most critical element of all: bandwidth. The perfect car will force lesser machines to the side of the road, both through sheer presence and force of will, and also handle the everyday commute and the long-distance haul. After all, what good is the ultimate car if you can’t drive it anywhere, at any time?
Nothing less than the arrival of the McLaren MP4-12C led us to this question and, consequently, this three-supercar comparison test. The 12C is built around a central carbon-fiber tub, heretofore unheard of at this price and production volume. It also comes with a 593-hp, twin-turbo V-8; a trick adaptive suspension that routes damping fluid to all four corners; and a rear wing that pops up to help high-speed braking. Performance options above the $233,500 base price are limited to a sport exhaust ($5430), lightweight or super-lightweight forged wheels ($5140 for the latter, plus $1430 for the “stealth” finish), and $13,130 carbon-ceramic brakes. Throw in extra-cost paint and some optional trim items, and you get to our $303,690 as-tested figure.
The McLaren’s natural enemy, thanks to a 45-year history of Formula 1 battles, is Ferrari’s 458 Italia. With sensuous curves and 562 horsepower screaming from its 9000-rpm V-8, the 458 is four-wheeled amphetamine. The only thing that kept the 458 from winning our November 2010 comparison test was a $270,790 as-tested price, high enough to lose major points in our results calculation. This time, the Ferrari is an eye-popping $332,032, which includes $28,000 of paint and $52,683 in carbon-fiber trim alone. (And dare we say that the paint is worth it?) Higher-priced competition this time around makes cost less of a factor. Judging by the long waiting list for a 458 (the full production run is essentially sold out), potential owners don’t seem to mind Ferrari’s pricing.
Porsche, whose 911 Turbo S took top honors in our last supercar comparison test, is represented here by the GT2 RS. In reductive terms, the GT2 equals a Turbo engine plus a GT3 chassis. RS trim brings 90 extra horsepower and an aggressive weight-saving program that includes a carbon-fiber hood and numerous aluminum suspension pieces. It is a 620-hp, rear-engine, rear-wheel-drive terror. A back wing resembling a pair of horns and a soul full of menace earned the GT2 the affectionate nickname “Beast.” Production is limited to 500, and the price tag is $245,950. Add in black paint for $3140 and delete the radio and air conditioning (both at no charge), and the total comes to $249,090. Our quest for perfection took us to Northern Wales, itself a sort of driving utopia with plenty of desolate winding roads. There we discovered which supercar represents the current state of the art.
