My McLaren GT - Ownership Thread
- Thread starter DRZ
- Start date
Soldato
- Joined
- 11 Dec 2005
- Posts
- 11,364
- Location
- Cheshire
Typical the car would breakdown thousands of miles from home. Does seem that Mclarens aren’t the most reliable.
Soldato
- Joined
- 24 Sep 2005
- Posts
- 20,185
- Location
- Middlesbrough
Gutted you're not at Grantley tomorrow in this 
I have the car back with me in the UK 
After some delays getting the new fuel pump to Switzerland, the car was back together and ready to go on Monday. Unfortunately, McLaren Assist (aka "The AA") have been "very busy" and their estimated delivery date to get the car back to me on a covered transporter was 6-8 weeks. As you might expect, I hit the roof and called McLaren Client Services to see what could be done. After a bit of back and forth it became clear to me that the only way to improve on the timescales was to go and collect it myself which I put to McLaren and they agreed. They also agreed to cover the majority of my costs for collecting. Flights were booked - unfortunately I missed the boat on all direct flights that would have worked for me so I ended up flying via Frankfurt. My Star Alliance Gold status expired a few weeks back which is rotten timing too. Never mind... I made it to McLaren Geneva in good time. As I would imagine is commonplace, McLaren Geneva is not a one-make dealership - they are primarily Aston Martin and Rolls Royce but also retail McLaren and Koenigsegg cars. Their website suggested there might have been a Gemera there but sadly I couldn't find it if it was there at all. My car was driven out and handed over and with it freshly detailed etc and looking brand new I headed off toward France on the long, long drive home.
The first road I hit out of the dealership was a pretty incredible winding mountain road (https://goo.gl/maps/oeMzxYMkKAwEs4td7) which reminded me of exactly why I wanted a GT car that drives like this instead of something overweight and numb. In fact, most of the N roads from there up through to where I picked up the A39 near Poligny on the way toward Dijon were great - really nice flow to them and although I was respectful of the speed limits due to not having a co-driver I was still able to really enjoy the roads and the car. The issues I had experienced with the misfire etc were totally gone and a distant memory which was really, really welcome. By the time I'd got to Dijon, I'd covered about 100km of the 680km I needed to cover on Day 1 and was back in love with everything about the car. I had the longest unbroken motorway run of my ownership so far ahead of me and I wondered how I would be feeling at the end of it. I needn't have even given it a moment's thought - the GT really is BMW 5-series levels of ride comfort over long distances. The B&O sound system completely deals with the comparatively high levels of road noise as well so I arrived at my overnight hotel stop feeling much the same as I did at the start of my journey in Geneva. No mean feat considering I'd left for Manchester Airport at 3am and arrived at the hotel shortly after 10pm! Including the twisty mountain roads, I'd averaged just slightly over 35mpg over ~650km / 400 miles.
Day 2 was much the same - I left the hotel nice and early to try and get on an earlier crossing or deal with any queues in good time and thankfully the plan worked and I was allocated a slot on a train almost an hour ahead of schedule. The UK leg of the journey was comparatively dreadful - I am guessing that the train strikes made a significant impact on the traffic levels as once I'd got past the M25 the traffic up the M1 & M6 was pretty bad - I have never, ever queued for the tag lane on the M6 toll before but it took me almost 15 minutes to get through!! My time gains made at the tunnel were obliterated by this point and I got home just after 1pm after another ~350 mile drive.
Total combined mileage was a little over 750 miles with an average fuel consumption of about 32mpg (thanks entirely to the UK traffic being so bad - I expect it would have been somewhere around 35-36 otherwise).
I am super impressed. I doubt I will do so many miles in this fashion again in my ownership as I like to stop and see things on my long road trips but I know I could absolutely do it if I needed to. A 600+bhp, mid-engined carbon fibre-tubbed car has no right to be this capable both across distances like this and when you get it off the motorway onto the really twisty stuff. Yeah, it has broken down and caused me some temporary inconvenience but... what a machine!
P.S. I guess it goes with the territory when you buy a car in bright metallic orange but the amount of attention this car seems to get is far beyond what I expected. I had a car full of extremely excited Italians pull alongside me on the autoroute and the amount of arm waving, positive gestures etc etc was hilarious
Loads of people waved, gave me the thumbs up etc etc as I drove along which was ace as quite honestly I was expecting mostly jealousy and derision from other motorists.
After some delays getting the new fuel pump to Switzerland, the car was back together and ready to go on Monday. Unfortunately, McLaren Assist (aka "The AA") have been "very busy" and their estimated delivery date to get the car back to me on a covered transporter was 6-8 weeks. As you might expect, I hit the roof and called McLaren Client Services to see what could be done. After a bit of back and forth it became clear to me that the only way to improve on the timescales was to go and collect it myself which I put to McLaren and they agreed. They also agreed to cover the majority of my costs for collecting. Flights were booked - unfortunately I missed the boat on all direct flights that would have worked for me so I ended up flying via Frankfurt. My Star Alliance Gold status expired a few weeks back which is rotten timing too. Never mind... I made it to McLaren Geneva in good time. As I would imagine is commonplace, McLaren Geneva is not a one-make dealership - they are primarily Aston Martin and Rolls Royce but also retail McLaren and Koenigsegg cars. Their website suggested there might have been a Gemera there but sadly I couldn't find it if it was there at all. My car was driven out and handed over and with it freshly detailed etc and looking brand new I headed off toward France on the long, long drive home.
The first road I hit out of the dealership was a pretty incredible winding mountain road (https://goo.gl/maps/oeMzxYMkKAwEs4td7) which reminded me of exactly why I wanted a GT car that drives like this instead of something overweight and numb. In fact, most of the N roads from there up through to where I picked up the A39 near Poligny on the way toward Dijon were great - really nice flow to them and although I was respectful of the speed limits due to not having a co-driver I was still able to really enjoy the roads and the car. The issues I had experienced with the misfire etc were totally gone and a distant memory which was really, really welcome. By the time I'd got to Dijon, I'd covered about 100km of the 680km I needed to cover on Day 1 and was back in love with everything about the car. I had the longest unbroken motorway run of my ownership so far ahead of me and I wondered how I would be feeling at the end of it. I needn't have even given it a moment's thought - the GT really is BMW 5-series levels of ride comfort over long distances. The B&O sound system completely deals with the comparatively high levels of road noise as well so I arrived at my overnight hotel stop feeling much the same as I did at the start of my journey in Geneva. No mean feat considering I'd left for Manchester Airport at 3am and arrived at the hotel shortly after 10pm! Including the twisty mountain roads, I'd averaged just slightly over 35mpg over ~650km / 400 miles.
Day 2 was much the same - I left the hotel nice and early to try and get on an earlier crossing or deal with any queues in good time and thankfully the plan worked and I was allocated a slot on a train almost an hour ahead of schedule. The UK leg of the journey was comparatively dreadful - I am guessing that the train strikes made a significant impact on the traffic levels as once I'd got past the M25 the traffic up the M1 & M6 was pretty bad - I have never, ever queued for the tag lane on the M6 toll before but it took me almost 15 minutes to get through!! My time gains made at the tunnel were obliterated by this point and I got home just after 1pm after another ~350 mile drive.
Total combined mileage was a little over 750 miles with an average fuel consumption of about 32mpg (thanks entirely to the UK traffic being so bad - I expect it would have been somewhere around 35-36 otherwise).
I am super impressed. I doubt I will do so many miles in this fashion again in my ownership as I like to stop and see things on my long road trips but I know I could absolutely do it if I needed to. A 600+bhp, mid-engined carbon fibre-tubbed car has no right to be this capable both across distances like this and when you get it off the motorway onto the really twisty stuff. Yeah, it has broken down and caused me some temporary inconvenience but... what a machine!
P.S. I guess it goes with the territory when you buy a car in bright metallic orange but the amount of attention this car seems to get is far beyond what I expected. I had a car full of extremely excited Italians pull alongside me on the autoroute and the amount of arm waving, positive gestures etc etc was hilarious
Loads of people waved, gave me the thumbs up etc etc as I drove along which was ace as quite honestly I was expecting mostly jealousy and derision from other motorists.
P.S. I guess it goes with the territory when you buy a car in bright metallic orange but the amount of attention this car seems to get is far beyond what I expected. I had a car full of extremely excited Italians pull alongside me on the autoroute and the amount of arm waving, positive gestures etc etc was hilarious
Its one of the amazing parts of ownership, sure you get some people (read, jealous failures) every now and then, but most people are just amazed to see such cars.
Soldato
- Joined
- 19 Oct 2002
- Posts
- 17,527
- Location
- Shakespeare’s County
Top level defensive parking there too 
Haha! Looking at that the time of your post I can only have been there for a few minutes at most but I suppose it does stand out a bit
It is my last night in Ireland tonight, it’s been awesome. I’ll do a proper post at some point
It is my last night in Ireland tonight, it’s been awesome. I’ll do a proper post at some point
I took the GT across to Ireland for a week-long road trip, starting with a friend's wedding and then heading south to Cork and then winding round to the Wild Atlantic Way. We took in both the Ring of Kerry and the Dingle peninsula, both stunning in their own right!
The GT once again showed its GT credentials in that whenever we arrived at a stop we weren't grumbling in discomfort and nor did we have to make unscheduled stops to stretch our legs or backs etc. On the other side, it performed really well on the twisty (and sometimes extremely bumpy) roads and when I wanted to just open the taps and enjoy some of the roads it never disappointed.
Between that and my visit this weekend to Salon Prive, I've now done just a little over 7,000 miles and that means the car is coming up on the 10k mile mark
I bought it to drive it though so this is good news I've got a top speed run day to do at Elvington in the near future - I managed 156mph at Supercar Fest on a much shorter runway but with a rolling start so we'll see what I manage to hit and report back.
I've also got a service booked in toward the end of October which is the "major" service, looking like a ~£1400 bill at the moment but we'll see if there's some negotiation there.
I absolutely bl
dy love this car and the experiences I have had in it so far 
Man of Honour
- Joined
- 11 Dec 2002
- Posts
- 10,870
- Location
- Darkest Norfolk
We're planning on doing a similar route next summer so glad you enjoyed it - looks like some great roads and amazing scenery (plus a few good pubs apparently)
I'm sure you'll have a fantastic time. Make sure you've done your homework regarding which direction around the Ring of Kerry you want to travel and what time you want to set off accordingly. Dingle is not quite as critical I don't think but still, we managed to beat the rush on a few occasions where we might have been unable to park had we been a little later. Oh and don't bother with the Cliffs of Moher unless you have a really special reason to go - it is extremely overpriced, overcrowded and not at all worth the time or money (IMHO) given everything else you can see in the immediate surroundings for zero cost whatsoever.
Ireland feels like an eternity ago but I still look back and smile at the adventure we had over there. With 2022 almost over, 2023 is shaping up to be awesome, in car terms at least. I'm doing a big Europe trip with some club friends and that will be mega. Road trips in this car are just fantastic as there's so little obvious compromise. I'm also trying to make a trip to the Arctic Circle work in my personal calendar plus some other little personal bucket list items.
Since Ireland, I've taken my car to Salon Prive (one of the best motoring shows of the year, year in, year out), went up the runway at Elvington, visited the McLaren Technology Centre and generally attended as many interesting car meets and drives out as I could. The car gave me no trouble at all - just been feeding it fuel and I've had to top up the oil and screenwash here and there too. I think I've put 1L total of oil in the car over 9,000 miles or so.
Elvington was a great day of fun - 187.1 for the standing mile and 193mph over 2km. Not bad! Stock 720S/F8s were just cracking 200mph over the 2km and the sport series cars (570S and 600LT) were just slightly behind so all things considered it went pretty much exactly as expected and the GT sort of sits where you'd imagine it does.
(thanks to @peterattheboro for these shots!)
Driving it in October conditions hasn't been overly kind to the cosmetic state of the car - if you follow my instagram you'll have seen the state it is in at the moment
It'll be washed soon...
Since Ireland, I've taken my car to Salon Prive (one of the best motoring shows of the year, year in, year out), went up the runway at Elvington, visited the McLaren Technology Centre and generally attended as many interesting car meets and drives out as I could. The car gave me no trouble at all - just been feeding it fuel and I've had to top up the oil and screenwash here and there too. I think I've put 1L total of oil in the car over 9,000 miles or so.
Elvington was a great day of fun - 187.1 for the standing mile and 193mph over 2km. Not bad! Stock 720S/F8s were just cracking 200mph over the 2km and the sport series cars (570S and 600LT) were just slightly behind so all things considered it went pretty much exactly as expected and the GT sort of sits where you'd imagine it does.
(thanks to @peterattheboro for these shots!)
Driving it in October conditions hasn't been overly kind to the cosmetic state of the car - if you follow my instagram you'll have seen the state it is in at the moment
It'll be washed soon...
Soldato
- Joined
- 24 Sep 2005
- Posts
- 20,185
- Location
- Middlesbrough
Elvington was awesome
One year anniversary!
It has been a relatively quiet winter hence the massive lack of posting. Not much to report since October really. The car was serviced at the end of October at a cost of £1394. This is the "tock" service of the tick/tock rhythm, with the more minor service coming in at about half the cost. There's nothing particularly standing out to me as especially expensive from the itemised invoice given this is a main dealer service, more than 50% of the cost is labour. I did raise an eyebrow at the air filters costing significantly more than the engine oil but it is what it is I guess. They do give you a nice box of chocolates to soften the blow though
Took it down to the Collecting Cars Donington meet in November and that pretty much wrapped up 2022 for me
I've hardly used it since then in all honesty. It remained tucked away in the garage through to early Feb just waiting for the weather to clear up a bit and for the excuses to use it to come up again. The first run of the year was a run down to Millbrook where my car was used to sample audio for an upcoming video game, which was very interesting. I also took a day out from the madness to head to Caffeine and Machine.
They were very careful plus I have full-car PPF so I wasn't worried about any damage!
Year One Review
I've posted honestly throughout the thread and hope to always present a balanced and unbiased view of the good and bad of ownership, so there shouldn't be anything new here. Looking back through the thread and thinking back through the year, there have been some really good bits and some bad bits. Overall, knowing what I know now, would I buy this exact car again? Absolutely I would, although I would probably not go about it in the exact same way. The start was bumpy and there have been little bits here and there but all is forgiven when put in context of how much I enjoy ownership. In a world of Instagram where the perception is that everyone earns more than you, has huge car collections and the free time to use them all it is really easy to forget just how special it feels to own even just one car like this in a lifetime, especially in my mid 30s where I have the health and opportunities to enjoy it to the fullest. I smile to myself every time I see it, even if I'm just popping into the garage to grab something or walking back to it at a petrol station.
I've covered well in excess of 10,000 miles since picking it up - I've driven it to France and back from Switzerland, toured around Ireland, taken it up to 200mph, been to events, car shows etc around the country and thoroughly enjoyed it all.
What has that cost? Aside from the servicing I mentioned above, I've replaced the rear tyres twice and the fronts once. The first set of rears met their end after a DriveLimits day on ~5k miles, the second set surprised me as they "only" lasted 8k miles and I don't think I've really abused them other than enjoying some spirited driving. In any case, I was looking for an excuse to ditch the MC-rated Pirelli P Zeros in favour of a tyre that works better more of the time in the UK climate. As an aside, I chose Continental SportContact 7 over Michelin Pilot Sport 4S as from the reviews they seem to be the superior tyre. I was very impressed with Continental SportContact 5s in the past in every department except insane wear rate, so if the 7 is improved in this regard as the reviewers claim then I expect to be seriously impressed. My initial feedback given the cold winter conditions is that they are immediately more grippy at every temperature I've seen yet. They are also quieter, or at least make a different noise which I perceive to be quieter. Given the Pirelli tyre has huge foam blocks glued inside, this was a real surprise to me and was noticeable within 100 yards of the tyre fitter. I'll feed back on how they are as time goes on and I have more data. The fitted cost for the set of 4 Contis was £1006. The pair of MC-rated Pirelli rears was around £650 which is very slightly more expensive than the Continentals.
Fuel... I've not tracked this precisely as, frankly, I don't really want to know! I can easily hit 35mpg on a long run, 37-38mpg if I stick the cruise on at 70mph indicated and there's no traffic. Nobody buys a McLaren for fuel economy reasons but it really matters quite a lot when you want to travel long distances in one go. For perspective, the difference between 27 and 37 mpg is about 100 miles extra between fuel stops, which is often the difference between stopping or not stopping at all! On the flip side, it can also hit less than 10mpg no problem when pressing on. This variability is actually somewhat annoying because it means as soon as you peel off the beaten track onto more interesting roads the range you thought you had just evaporates and a search for a petrol station often results. I think a reasoned estimate of my fuel spend would be in the ballpark of £5000. I've also topped up the oil, a little over a litre total which probably comes to about £40. Other than that and screenwash my personal bills have been zero.
Insurance is one of the great mysteries of life and varies hugely from person to person and from car to car. This year, my renewal is £830.
I had the whole car PPFd which has definitely proven to be worth the money as it has some pock marks here and there which would probably have been colossal stone chips. The cost of that was about £2.5k which I think will pay for itself given my usage of the car!
Warranty claims? Yep. Three replacement panels, a fairly significant coolant leak, a drivers door strut, the front suspension "failed" according to the computer which was just a software update to fix, the front boot latch needed some adjustment so I could close it properly and it has an intermittent rattle from the rear which as I type this it is in McLaren for the 3rd (and hopefully last) time to be rectified.
Y1 total, circa £10k spent all-in excluding depreciation, or £1/mile. [NB: Depreciation is hard to judge and a guess at best - one for the end of the road when I look back and calculate TCO.] Honestly, I don't think I can put a value on how much I enjoy it so I don't feel like that is a particularly relevant number for me, just providing numbers for interested readers
Boring reality stuff out the way, what's it really like? Does it meet the requirements I set out to fulfil at the start?
Overall I think it is absolutely superb.
Speaking openly, it is probably better than I thought it would be in some ways and not quite as good in others. When I set out to buy a car, I wanted something that could cope with ~2 weeks of luggage for two, get me across continents comfortably and yet still be amazing fun when out for a drive in Wales or the Alps or wherever the road takes me. The 2 week luggage thing is the Achilles heel of most supercars, or at least it is when one of the two people wants to take a hairdryer, straighteners and who knows what else. The GT has a lot of luggage room - more than enough for a pair of cabin sized bags at the front and then even more storage at the rear. The rear space is a weird shape but also bigger than it looks, which means you can put way more back there than you think... However, it is mostly open to the cabin aside from a section right at the very back which is big enough to take one large or two smaller backpacks - so without adequate strapping it is probably going to hurt if you have to stop in a hurry. The practical reality is that a one week trip is totally fine (and would have been totally fine in a 720S...) but 2 weeks takes some planning and is maybe slightly more compromised than ideal but a compromise I am happy with. Certainly weighted against the alternative in something like a DB11, this is still the right call for my personal blend of wants but it isn't quite as good at accommodating luggage in the real world as I thought it would be.
From a performance perspective it remains about where I thought it would be - more than fast enough, excellent chassis, steering is telepathic and the feedback is really great. I think it fair to say that when at the upper reaches of the performance envelope you can start to feel the GT-ness of the setup vs 720S. Not a criticism, not a bad thing but it isn't quite as on its toes as the "sportier" cars feel when really "on it". All relative of course, you couldn't make a Bentley do the things that this car does in sportiness terms and nor do I think the 720S would be quite as good as the GT long distance. That's about what I thought it was after my first ever drive and I still hold that view today with a lot more experience behind the wheel.
When I first got mine, I'd almost never see another one anywhere. At most big meets I would be the only GT there and there are hardly any owners on the owners club groups etc. That's starting to change a little bit as the market starts to understand the GT a bit more. I've noticed a couple out and about and started to even see others at shows and things. I was in NYC last week and one with an identical spec to mine drove past which is something I never thought I would see.
I'm looking forward to 2023 with the GT - plans include attending an F1 race in Europe, another European long drive adventure, a few UK-based road trips and more besides!
It has been a relatively quiet winter hence the massive lack of posting. Not much to report since October really. The car was serviced at the end of October at a cost of £1394. This is the "tock" service of the tick/tock rhythm, with the more minor service coming in at about half the cost. There's nothing particularly standing out to me as especially expensive from the itemised invoice given this is a main dealer service, more than 50% of the cost is labour. I did raise an eyebrow at the air filters costing significantly more than the engine oil but it is what it is I guess. They do give you a nice box of chocolates to soften the blow though
Took it down to the Collecting Cars Donington meet in November and that pretty much wrapped up 2022 for me
I've hardly used it since then in all honesty. It remained tucked away in the garage through to early Feb just waiting for the weather to clear up a bit and for the excuses to use it to come up again. The first run of the year was a run down to Millbrook where my car was used to sample audio for an upcoming video game, which was very interesting. I also took a day out from the madness to head to Caffeine and Machine.
They were very careful plus I have full-car PPF so I wasn't worried about any damage!
Year One Review
I've posted honestly throughout the thread and hope to always present a balanced and unbiased view of the good and bad of ownership, so there shouldn't be anything new here. Looking back through the thread and thinking back through the year, there have been some really good bits and some bad bits. Overall, knowing what I know now, would I buy this exact car again? Absolutely I would, although I would probably not go about it in the exact same way. The start was bumpy and there have been little bits here and there but all is forgiven when put in context of how much I enjoy ownership. In a world of Instagram where the perception is that everyone earns more than you, has huge car collections and the free time to use them all it is really easy to forget just how special it feels to own even just one car like this in a lifetime, especially in my mid 30s where I have the health and opportunities to enjoy it to the fullest. I smile to myself every time I see it, even if I'm just popping into the garage to grab something or walking back to it at a petrol station.
I've covered well in excess of 10,000 miles since picking it up - I've driven it to France and back from Switzerland, toured around Ireland, taken it up to 200mph, been to events, car shows etc around the country and thoroughly enjoyed it all.
What has that cost? Aside from the servicing I mentioned above, I've replaced the rear tyres twice and the fronts once. The first set of rears met their end after a DriveLimits day on ~5k miles, the second set surprised me as they "only" lasted 8k miles and I don't think I've really abused them other than enjoying some spirited driving. In any case, I was looking for an excuse to ditch the MC-rated Pirelli P Zeros in favour of a tyre that works better more of the time in the UK climate. As an aside, I chose Continental SportContact 7 over Michelin Pilot Sport 4S as from the reviews they seem to be the superior tyre. I was very impressed with Continental SportContact 5s in the past in every department except insane wear rate, so if the 7 is improved in this regard as the reviewers claim then I expect to be seriously impressed. My initial feedback given the cold winter conditions is that they are immediately more grippy at every temperature I've seen yet. They are also quieter, or at least make a different noise which I perceive to be quieter. Given the Pirelli tyre has huge foam blocks glued inside, this was a real surprise to me and was noticeable within 100 yards of the tyre fitter. I'll feed back on how they are as time goes on and I have more data. The fitted cost for the set of 4 Contis was £1006. The pair of MC-rated Pirelli rears was around £650 which is very slightly more expensive than the Continentals.
Fuel... I've not tracked this precisely as, frankly, I don't really want to know! I can easily hit 35mpg on a long run, 37-38mpg if I stick the cruise on at 70mph indicated and there's no traffic. Nobody buys a McLaren for fuel economy reasons but it really matters quite a lot when you want to travel long distances in one go. For perspective, the difference between 27 and 37 mpg is about 100 miles extra between fuel stops, which is often the difference between stopping or not stopping at all! On the flip side, it can also hit less than 10mpg no problem when pressing on. This variability is actually somewhat annoying because it means as soon as you peel off the beaten track onto more interesting roads the range you thought you had just evaporates and a search for a petrol station often results. I think a reasoned estimate of my fuel spend would be in the ballpark of £5000. I've also topped up the oil, a little over a litre total which probably comes to about £40. Other than that and screenwash my personal bills have been zero.
Insurance is one of the great mysteries of life and varies hugely from person to person and from car to car. This year, my renewal is £830.
I had the whole car PPFd which has definitely proven to be worth the money as it has some pock marks here and there which would probably have been colossal stone chips. The cost of that was about £2.5k which I think will pay for itself given my usage of the car!
Warranty claims? Yep. Three replacement panels, a fairly significant coolant leak, a drivers door strut, the front suspension "failed" according to the computer which was just a software update to fix, the front boot latch needed some adjustment so I could close it properly and it has an intermittent rattle from the rear which as I type this it is in McLaren for the 3rd (and hopefully last) time to be rectified.
Y1 total, circa £10k spent all-in excluding depreciation, or £1/mile. [NB: Depreciation is hard to judge and a guess at best - one for the end of the road when I look back and calculate TCO.] Honestly, I don't think I can put a value on how much I enjoy it so I don't feel like that is a particularly relevant number for me, just providing numbers for interested readers
Boring reality stuff out the way, what's it really like? Does it meet the requirements I set out to fulfil at the start?
Overall I think it is absolutely superb.
Speaking openly, it is probably better than I thought it would be in some ways and not quite as good in others. When I set out to buy a car, I wanted something that could cope with ~2 weeks of luggage for two, get me across continents comfortably and yet still be amazing fun when out for a drive in Wales or the Alps or wherever the road takes me. The 2 week luggage thing is the Achilles heel of most supercars, or at least it is when one of the two people wants to take a hairdryer, straighteners and who knows what else. The GT has a lot of luggage room - more than enough for a pair of cabin sized bags at the front and then even more storage at the rear. The rear space is a weird shape but also bigger than it looks, which means you can put way more back there than you think... However, it is mostly open to the cabin aside from a section right at the very back which is big enough to take one large or two smaller backpacks - so without adequate strapping it is probably going to hurt if you have to stop in a hurry. The practical reality is that a one week trip is totally fine (and would have been totally fine in a 720S...) but 2 weeks takes some planning and is maybe slightly more compromised than ideal but a compromise I am happy with. Certainly weighted against the alternative in something like a DB11, this is still the right call for my personal blend of wants but it isn't quite as good at accommodating luggage in the real world as I thought it would be.
From a performance perspective it remains about where I thought it would be - more than fast enough, excellent chassis, steering is telepathic and the feedback is really great. I think it fair to say that when at the upper reaches of the performance envelope you can start to feel the GT-ness of the setup vs 720S. Not a criticism, not a bad thing but it isn't quite as on its toes as the "sportier" cars feel when really "on it". All relative of course, you couldn't make a Bentley do the things that this car does in sportiness terms and nor do I think the 720S would be quite as good as the GT long distance. That's about what I thought it was after my first ever drive and I still hold that view today with a lot more experience behind the wheel.
When I first got mine, I'd almost never see another one anywhere. At most big meets I would be the only GT there and there are hardly any owners on the owners club groups etc. That's starting to change a little bit as the market starts to understand the GT a bit more. I've noticed a couple out and about and started to even see others at shows and things. I was in NYC last week and one with an identical spec to mine drove past which is something I never thought I would see.
I'm looking forward to 2023 with the GT - plans include attending an F1 race in Europe, another European long drive adventure, a few UK-based road trips and more besides!
Soldato
- Joined
- 14 Apr 2014
- Posts
- 7,344
- Location
- Hampshire
Love the update - the game sound sampling sounds super cool. How did you get into it? Were you contacted by them?
How's your mum doing?
How's your mum doing?
I was asked by someone who does this sort of thing, usually for films/tv/music videos. Might be a one-off, who knows.
My mum is still here and is as comfortable as possible, which is all we can ask for really
Soldato
- Joined
- 14 Apr 2014
- Posts
- 7,344
- Location
- Hampshire
My mum is still here and is as comfortable as possible, which is all we can ask for really
Good, as you say it sounds like the best of the worst. Wishing you both all the best