Gordon Murray on the Veyron

[kota]

Famous designer of the Mclaren F1 looks at the car that beat his record-breaking car by 12mph:

http://www.roadandtrack.com/article....5&print_page=y

"Weight saving should be by design and not a post process. Weight is the car designer's biggest enemy. It works against you in every single aspect of vehicle dynamics. Power-to-weight ratio is one of the most misunderstood figures in the auto-motive world. Achieving a good power-to-weight figure by applying huge horsepower to a heavy car is in no way the same thing as achieving the same ratio with a very light car. For all its 1001 hp, the Veyron falls short of a McLaren F1's power-to-weight."

Funny he should mention weight when the bloated SLR weighs in at 37xx lbs. I agree with him in theory and wish other car company's would put it into practice.

http://www.roadandtrack.com/article....8&print_page=y

[Gop-Dogg]

Originally Posted by kota

Funny he should mention weight when the bloated SLR weighs in at 37xx lbs. I agree with him in theory and wish other car company's would put it into practice.

But that was Merc's fault. They wanted fancy carpeting and cruise control and an automatic transmission, etc.

[Taipan]

Not so funny actually.. Gordon Murray always wanted the SLR to be middle engined and way lighter, but it was what M-B wanted.

[Ashok Arora]

There's a very interesting review of the Pagani Zonda F written by him in this month's EVO magazine - certainly more his kind of car (and mine ).

[erol]

Very, very interesting to read his thoughts. Must buy the Driving Ambition-book soon.

[Gustav]

Howeve he had to ate his hat regarding the Koenigsegg comment. Her thought the CCR never would reach those high speeds if Im not mistaken?

[stuart]

I don't like the way gordon murray reviews other cars. He was given carte blanche (now you know I cant spell that) to make a car that is in his eyes is perfection. I have seen his comments on other cars and he just can't ever see another car without comparing it back to his baby, thereby saying how his car is better blah blah blah blah blah.

The whole point is the veyron isn't meant to be a maclaren F1, it just isn't, comparing it back is apples and oranges if you ask me, he's like a broken record, but I appreciate his engineering.

/bad day at work

[Gustav]

This is what Murray said about Koenigsegg:


The creator of the McLaren F1 Gordon Murray told this in an interview a few years back:

JB: What about the Edonis and Koenigsegg?

GM: You almost can’t count cars like the Edonis and Koenigsegg. With the Zonda you have to take the car seriously – the quality’s not bad, he’s selling the cars, people are driving them and using them and liking them. When there are 50 Edonises driving around and people are saying ‘This is good’, I’ll consider it a proper motorcar.

JB: The Koenigsegg is aiming for 250mph, too.

GM: People never learn lesson one, which is ‘don’t shout your mouth off before you’ve built the car’. Before the 1989 world crash there was an article in Road & Track, ’24 supercars you can buy’ and I think the only ones that actually arrived were us, the Jag and the Bugatti – three out of 24. With the Koenigsegg they’re talking about a horsepower figure and top speed for which you need a Cd of about 0.17 or something. It doesn’t add up. You shouldn’t do that. We didn’t say anything about our motorcar – nobody knew it was going to be middle seat until the launch – we just shut up and built it and then let people drive it.

Production of the McLaren F1 drew to a close in May 1998, with a total production of 100 cars, made up as follows:

F1 F1 LM F1 GT

64 5 3

GTR 95 GTR 96 GTR 97

9 9

My article here

http://www.m6board.com/articles.php?id=29&page=3

[Val]

GM is a cool guy and all his comments are very valid.

[Gustav]

Not about the Koenigsegg

[Val]

Originally Posted by Gustav

Not about the Koenigsegg

why not?

it looks like Koenigseggg was bragging about top speed before the car achived it and also they thought it would achive it with less horsepower... not sure about this though!

so GM's rattle looks valid in this case...

who cares anyway both are great cars! ill take the zonda, thx bi!

[stuart]

He managed 5 sentances on the Keonsigisgissggg (sp?) before mentioning 'his car' - I /think/ thats a new record, I've never seen him last out that long, normally 3 sentances or so

This is my only (but fundamental) gripe about GM. Look at what he says. He is putting down the Keongnisggsgg (sp? once more, Why didnt they call it the Fiesta or something? I can spell that) becasue they released details of the car before having a working prototype. Well sorry GM, but not everyone has as much money behind them as you did, and they are going to rely on pre-purchase deposits etc.. I mean, what ON EARTH does McLaren holding back a central driving position have to do with the Keongning er, Fiesta?

It annoys me to the hilt. If he doesnt think the F1 can be improved upon in any guise he deliding himself. It is ALWAYS possible to improve on something like a car. As I say, broken record, and it's annoying. If I ever built a supercar purchasers would have to sign an agreement not letting GM anywhere near it

Stu

[Val]

ye