The best car or the best driving experience?

The two can be poles apart

Earlier this year I got to drive my dream car the epic McLaren MP4-12C it truly is phenomenal, it looks amazing, it is comfortable, super quick and the ride is sublime. Just imagine the most comfortable you have ever felt, maybe laying on a memory foam mattress surrounded by pillows, this is not as comfortable as the ride in a 12C at 116mph, believe me it is simply astonishing. 

Out of all the sports and hyper car battles past and present; Porsche 959 versus Ferrari F40, Lamborghini Countach versus Ferrari Testarossa, McLaren P1 versus Ferrari Laferrari, the 12C versus 458 is the battle I love the most. This is mainly because I love these two cars equally although in many different ways, so it was only natural to want to drive them both. Therefore to complete the dream I have booked a drive in the Ferrari 458, same track, same distance early in the new year (2015). 

The 12C and the 458 are a few years old now so they have both been reviewed by all the major automotive magazines so I have a good idea of what I will expect from driving the 458 and I will probably confirm that the 458 is the car to buy if you have the money (I would still buy the 12C spider), but why? This is the question that has led me to write this article and it all stems from what the car delivers or what the manufacturers have set out to do. McLaren have obviously set out to design and build the best car and Ferrari have set out to design and build the best driving experience, two completely separate definitions one aimed at pure performance the other at the experience. 

This is such a simple thing to understand but is a concept that sports car manufacturers need to digest in their pursuit of the ultimate performance car. In any business you can never under estimate the power of what the customer wants and the experience he/she expects especially with something as emotional as the car. It seems ironic that in pursuit of perfection some auto manufacturers could actually produce a product that is perfect but not epic. Take Mr. Hammond's point-of-view when testing the Aventador, it is undeniably a much better car than its predecessors but did the Hamster have an earth shaking experience from driving the Aventador, did he feel like Chuck Jaeger?

This year has been dominated by the Mclaren P1, LaFerrari and the Porsche 918 with a focus on performance measures, but what is important is the experience of driving one of these magnificent cars and the thrill you get, does it get your pulse racing, the adrenaline flowing around your body? There is no doubt that the power that these three cars deliver is in no way going to put you in a coma but a great experience is more than that it is a combination of sounds, sights, feelings and emotions. 

Put it this way my M2 Focus ST delivers 250+ BHP with a DS re-calibration and when I nail the accelerator in 3rd the turbo kicks-in between 2500-3000 and the engine delivers a deep burble with the addition of a bit of torque steer but that just adds to the experience because it engages me into controlling the car and the resulting satisfaction of when I do control the car it makes me feel like a matador controlling a bull by grabbing its horns. This is all personal to me but a great driving experience might mean something different to someone else. However, I love my ST not because Ford have made the best car but they have made an epic driving experience. 

With all this in mind I expect that my drive in the 458 will undoubtedly prove that the Ferrari is the better experience and that is the main reason why the Ferrari edges the 12C in all the reviews? 

The experience is so important a worthy lesson to all sports car manufacturers, firstly you need to ask what do you want to achieve the best car or the best experience?