R3800 RWD Maserati MC12 review

Car: Maserati MC12
Class: R3 RWD
Racing Style: All rounder
Created by: Awareofnow
Price: not in SF will most likely be put into the club garage for use

PI
Speed: 8.1
Handling: 8.0
Acceleration: 9.5
Launch: 8.6
Braking: 8.3
HP: 700hp
Torque: 512 lbs. ft.
Weight: 2,602
Drivetrain: RWD
Power RPM: 8000
Torque RPM: 5800
Redline RPM: 9000
No of gears: 6
Front weight: 42%



Well for today’s tune review I was requested by Awareofnow to take a look at his tuned MC12 in R3. I’ve reviewed cars from him before which I believe was a radical in FM3 which was capable of very nice times with only minor flaws so I couldn’t resist the offer to review it as the MC12 is very uncommon in comparison to other Italian R3s.

Real Life info

The MC12 is two seater sports car produced by Maserati in 2004 to enable Maserati to enter a racing variant in the FIA GT Championship. It was also made to signal Maserati’s Return to racing after a long 37 year break. A total of 55 were produced with 50 of those available to customers. The car was designed on the chassis of the Ferrari Enzo with the final car being wider, taller with smoother curves.

How does it perform?

So Starting with power the MC12 at a glance looks pretty good with a ferocious V12 producing 700 horses makes it fairly powerful in its class though far from the best with the Veyron and Ultimate Aero running about. Statwise it continues to impress with a decent 9.5 acceleration though its 8.0 speed can be somewhat troublesome for longer tracks especially since most road going R3s are capable of 9.0 +. When comparing its performance to other R3s in a dragrace, I found the MC12 to make quick work of most of the racecars. Against road going handling focused R3s including LB cars like the Mosler I found the MC12 to hold its own pretty nicely due to its nice launch and good acceleration but will struggle on longer straights where its lower speed comes into play. It will go from 0-60mph within 3.2 seconds, 0-100 in 6.1 and a top speed of 191.8 mph

How does it cope on the turns?

Well for the turns it’s a mixed bag I found for the MC12. Statwise it looks very nice with a solid healthy 8.0 handling and on the track its grips very nicely and absorbs bumps without a fuss. You can say goodbye to TCS with this tune even with the simulation handling on it is very rare for this thing to break into a slide. The main issue I found with the tune which is fortunately an easy one to tune out was the tunes tendency to understeer when accelerating out of turns which made the MC12 a bit of a handful on shorter tracks as you had to time it right to get the most out of each turn. While I’m not a brilliant tuner I did look at the settings and noticed rebound stiffness at the front is very stiff in comparison which could be the main culprit for the tunes occasional understeer. Lowering the ride could also help but at the cost of the tunes very solid resistance to the bumps and curbs. Besides that the tune copes very well on the turns and works beautifully on nurburgring where strong resistance to bottoming out and stability is essential for fast times only thing really letting the car down was the MC12’s low top speed.



MC12 lap times

Bernice Alps festival circuit - #788 – 01:36.555 – It good accel and decent handling works well here though it can go wide out of many of the turns

Hockenhien Ring Full - #411 – 01:39.990 – one of its better tracks where its understeer doesn’t come into play as much. Managed to hit a 01:39.4 or so but was uncertified due to the car going wide on the last turn which is the hardest bit for it

Indianapolis full - #629 – 01:22.645 – again copes well here due to the sizes of the roads going wide doesn’t bother this car to much

Nurburgring full - #241 – 07:18.444 – This is where I found the tune to shine due to its resistance to bumps and strong stability. I found its turn in to work almost perfectly with its main mishaps being its lack of top speed for the long straights

Nur stage D - #89 – 02:05.993 – fastest MC12

nur stage B - #67 - 01:44.555 - fastest MC12 again

Road Atlanta - #288 – 01:18.747 – Found it solid round here a bit wide on the first half but very easy to drive

Final Verdict

So overall though it does have a noticeable but easy to fix flaw I think the tune is overall quite solid and definitely a sleeper when compared to the Mosler or Joss JT1 as the tune is capable of very nice times on almost any track making it a suitable choice for lobby racing. I look forward to seeing what it can do once its loosened up a bit as I reckon it could became quite a LB slayer especially on the short tracks where it’s nice handling and high accel can scare even LB cars like the mosler. Overall a very nice car that easy to pick and play about with but also fast enough to be an eye opener.

Thanks for reading

The next review will probably take its time like next weekend as I’m planning on doing several cars

I needn't comment, top notch review as always

nice job as norm soul good to see the old maserati get a run .

I really appreciate the specific feedback—I'll be working on the identified flaws and post the car to the team garage.

im glad to see the car and tune working so well great writeup and cant wait to give this a testdrive

Updated and uploaded

P.S.: I have no idea how you put in such a good time on Hockenheim with the original tune I sent you . . . I used Hockenheim to update the tune and it is now way more responsive in tight/high-speed corners.

Following some further input from Snipp, I updated the tune yesterday evening to improve the "turning radius like a limo"

I must say, after driving this car a few times, it is a real pleasure to drive. Also nice that you take the time and interest in improving it. Great example of how it should be done. Maybe time to add it to the painters' to-do list?

haha, i really can't word things very well can i, i'll give it another go tonight hopefully

Great review

For those who may be interested, I've made a further update to the suspension settings on this car and posted it to the garage.

Wonderful car, probably my favorite R3 now, and that says much. If it ever gets removed from the garage I'll nag you for a copy.