An audiophile and petrolhead's musings: in the hi-fidelity, first class, traveling set - Page 100

Okay, I'm calm again.

Today the above ground fuel tanks were installed! Up to 250 gallons of Sunoco 260GT and E85R, on tap. I'm going to get my old Texaco pump setup outside the garage and get a matching white pump to go with it.





Oh, and best Ferrari replica ever!

I would say it's like a Ferrari, but designed by folks who aren't accustomed to feeling excitement. In stock tune, it's a little underwhelming but very solid.

Yes, I am going to hook up the lights on the pumps, I'm going to try and run down a vintage window squeegee station and air pump too. I want it to all sort of look like this:





I'm not too crazy about the LFA, the performance numbers are kind of dismal compared to others in its class. For the price, you'd think it would compete with the MP4 and 458, but it really doesn't. In a vacuum I'm sure it's amazing, it just doesn't hold up well in competition.

We live not 100 miles from Oak Ridge, so that's not even funny.


I didn't go below ground because of the regulations and difficulty with approvals. It would end up costing twice as much and didn't really seem to be much of a benefit. At first I was going with a single tank, but the combo was similarly priced and offered more fuel flexibility. I'm still not sure exactly what fuels I'm going to store in them. 260GT is a must, but I also bought 100 gallons of Sunoco E85 to test. It's pretty inexpensive in quantity, about what stations charge for 89 mid-range around here, so hopefully that will work out.

Oh, it's posh, no denying that, but it's just really heavy. 3500lbs, 6.3:1 W/BHP, compared to the 12C which is 5.1:1, or the 458 at 5.5:1. It's also limited by relatively low torque numbers compared to its rivals, and the grunt isn't available until midway up in the powerband. Of course, I never thought it would have ever been on my watch list back when it first started making the rounds as a concept, and now that I can theoretically buy one, the truths of LFA performance leave me cold and disinterested. To me it feels more like a science experiment or tech showcase, not a brute that can reduce your bowels to water or make you hoot with joy. It isn't amazing, but it isn't awful either, it's merely "eh", and that may be the worst thing anyone could say about a supercar. Lexus claimed they'd already sold all 500, but they've only delivered 1/4 of them and are now running the test mules like mad on tracks all over the world, apparently trying to stir interest. Word is that many buyers have pulled out, and Toyota's actions seem to indicate there's truth in that rumor.

I have no idea, it was posted by the Top Gear Twitter guys. I think it's from Ukraine. Some crazy Ferrari fans out there.

Lexus tried to one-up the NSX, and fell on their faces, IMO. It's not about the technical prowess, it's about the drive and the feel. Tuned in right, the 12C will leave you slack-jawed with the things it does, and still scare the bejezus out of you. I believe that's the problem with most reviews, they didn't get enough time to spend with it, so they didn't have enough time to explore. The 458 is obvious in its appeal, the Mac is more... complicated, but they're both equally awesome.

I filled up the Brit w/ 100 octane (260GT) and we ran some numbers, no tuning:

655bhp/572whp (factory claims 625PS)
476 lb/ft torque
0-60mph w/ LC: 2.82s, w/o LC: 3.25s (using MP4's chrono, average of 3 attempts)
1/4mi: 10.5s (140mph)

Two factors here; one, McLaren's numbers are conservative (as usual). Two, if you're burning 93 super in one you're leaving some power on the table. That's not surprising, since it is running at 12:1 compression at max boost. Yeah, yeah, they claim 8.7:1, but that's at idle. The system in the 12C is constantly variable, and frankly will even run on 85 octane crap, not that you should. In other words, it does scale with better fuel. This is big boy tech, and very impressive.