McLaren Introduces More Affordable McLaren GT Option…For Kids

by Gabrielle DeSantis

McLaren has announced the addition of a new vehicle in their lineup, but it isn’t what you think. On its own, the newest offering by the brand is more affordable than almost anything that the manufacturer has produced so far — probably because this one is designed specifically for children. That’s right, the new 2021 McLaren GT now has a more affordable option: a ride-on miniature that is perfect for any future car enthusiast.

McLaren badge | Chris J Ratcliffe, WPA Pool, Getty Images

McLaren has produced several miniature versions of its cars as ride-on toys

New McLaren GT ride-on toy
New McLaren GT ride-on toy | McLaren

The 2021 McLaren GT is a beautiful piece of machinery that will run you upwards of around $200,000 — not a price most consumers are looking to bite into. The GT ride-on is the newest addition to the brand’s miniature edition of children’s toys which are just miniature and more affordable versions of the full-sized street-legal vehicle. While the final price of the toy hasn’t been released yet, it is safe to assume that it will be one of the more affordable options in the brand’s lineup. But, it is the perfect birthday or holiday present to order ahead for the future automotive enthusiasts and supercar fanatics in your life.

More than just a basic ride-on toy

McLaren GT ride-on car
McLaren GT ride-on car | McLaren

While it will only cost a few hundred dollars at most, this McLaren GT ride-on toy offers quite a bit of feature and functions. In fact, the toy offers a rather authentic experience for children, with a key that starts the small electric car and produces realistic engine noises, it’s almost like driving a real miniature McLaren — well, not quite. It features the design of the full-scale 2021 McLaren GT and doesn’t skimp on the finer details, giving the toy car working dihedral doors for extra flare. Besides that, it also has a dashboard with working controls for a truly authentic experience. According to McLaren, however, the car is designed for children between the ages of 3 and 6, so adults will have to pony up the six-figure MSRP to get an experience of their own.

As an electric car, this ride-on has a working accelerator that provides the user with authentic engine noises, working brake lights, meaning kids can enjoy this in the same way many of us grew up with small Barbie Jeeps and Tonka ride-on cars, but this little GT upgrades the experience with a working infotainment system that even plays music.

The future of automotive enthusiasts

The ride-on toy is based on the new 2021 McLaren GT isn’t the first mini supercar that the brand has made for the enjoyment of future car enthusiasts, joining the ranks of the ride-on P1, 720S, and Senna. While this cute addition to your garage is perfect for any McLaren enthusiasts, the brand has announced that it serves more of a purpose than just standing out on the playground.

“At McLaren Automotive, we aim to inspire the future generation of supercar enthusiasts. The new GT Ride-On allows even the smallest of fans to discover the magic of our pioneering supercars. We’re proud to develop and encourage younger minds and seek to create the next generation of drivers, engineers, and automotive designers“

Hayley Robinson, Merchandise, Licensing & Partnerships Manager, McLaren Automotive

The new McLaren ride-on toy might be the more affordable option in the brand’s lineup against that of high-performance supercars, but it was designed to be an investment in the future of automotive engineers, scientists, collectors, and enthusiasts, and that’s something you can’t put a price on.

RELATED: What Ever Happened to Paris Hilton’s Famous McLaren SLR?

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Why Do Convertible Car Owners Buy Hardtops?

by Gabrielle DeSantis

Owning a convertible car is a lot of fun for drivers that like to be one with the environment around them. Driving with the top down is a freeing experience that you can’t really replicate with an open moonroof and rolled-down windows in other cars. However, many convertible car owners often buy hardtops for their cars, but why?

Aesthetics is one of the more prominent reasons to buy a hardtop

2008 Honda S2000 with the top down | Joe Santos/MotorBiscuit

When I purchased my 2008 Honda S2000 back in 2017, I couldn’t get over the thought of buying a hardtop for it. If you have ever seen an S2000 with an OEM hardtop, you would understand. It completely changes the look of the car. That being, the car’s aesthetics is a popular reason why owners put hardtops on their convertibles.

Autotrader noted that a hardtop makes the car look “much more seamless and can often not be detected as a convertible.” Take a gander at any soft-top convertible and you’ll notice the stark contrast between the convertible roof and the rest of the car. Sure, it might not look that bad, but having a uniform look throughout the car most often looks a lot better.

2008 Honda S2000 with the OEM hardtop
2008 Honda S2000 with the OEM hardtop | Joe Santos/MotorBiscuit

Safety and noise reduction are two advantages

Marna Wood loves her new 2007 Mazda Miata MX–5 hardtop convertible.
Marna Wood loves her new 2007 Mazda Miata MX–5 hardtop convertible. | Getty Images

Aesthetics aside, two of the more important reasons that convertible owners buy hardtops are for safety and noise reduction. Since soft-tops are often made of canvas, twill, or other soft-cloth materials, it’s easy for thieves to cut into them and steal personal items from the car or even the car itself. But with a hardtop, it’s harder to gain access to the car’s cabin.

Hardtops also provide protection from the outside elements. For example, I live in Colorado and it snows in the wintertime. Fortunately, my car’s hardtop can handle a lot of snow piled on top of it and it even keeps the cabin a little warmer in the colder months. In contrast, a soft-top will typically let a lot of that cold in. The same goes for the added heat in the summertime.

Additionally, adding a hardtop to a convertible can muffle a lot of the outside noise. Most hardtops that are offered as accessories by the manufacturer will have insulation and a headliner. They’re also typically constructed of sheet metal, just like the rest of the car, for added strength. As you can imagine, adding a hardtop to a convertible can make it feel, look, and even sound like a regular car inside and out.

Disadvantages to buying a hardtop for your convertible

Lexus SC 430, a hardtop convertible, where the top folds into the trunk.
Lexus SC 430, a hardtop convertible, where the top folds into the trunk. | (Photo By BRUCE BISPING/Star Tribune via Getty Images)

Whether you’re planning on purchasing a hardtop convertible — like a Mazda MX-5 RF – or you’re planning to stick a hardtop on your older convertible, there are some disadvantages. As Autotrader reports, one disadvantage to buying a hardtop convertible is the added mechanical components and mechanisms that could potentially break over time. Also, in some hardtop convertible cars, the hardtop retracts into the trunk, which eats up a lot of the cargo room.

However, if you’re like me and you own a convertible that you want to add a hardtop to, then consider the added cost and hardware you’ll need to do so. Adding a hardtop is a little more than buying the top in most cases, especially if you’re buying a used one, so think about everything you’ll need to complete the project and see if it’s worth it.

For example, I had to source mounts and seals to make my car’s hardtop work perfectly, you might have to do so as well. Also, consider the time it takes to remove and install the hardtop in case you want to enjoy the soft top on sunny days.

Hard or soft, there’s nothing like it

Ultimately, convertible owners add hardtops to their cars for security, safety, and aesthetic reasons. Of course, there’s no more of a freeing feeling than driving with the top down, but sometimes, a hardtop can come in handy.

RELATED: What’s it Like to Daily Drive a Honda S2000?

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Things Look Dire For the Queen Mary Attraction: Cheapest Option is Sink It

by Gabrielle DeSantis

The City of Long Beach is facing some major cash expenditures in the hundreds of millions of dollars over what to do with the Queen Mary attraction. From refurbishing it to patching it up or just sinking it, the costs are simply astronomical. Some believe it best to scrap or sink it, while others want the luxury liner preserved because it is the only ship that exists from the golden age of ocean liners. 

The three options that confront the Queen Mary

Queen Mary ocean liner | Getty

We covered the city getting control away from the bankrupt leaseholder earlier. Now it has paid for a marine engineering firm to assess what the ship needs and how much it will cost. The Moffatt & Nichol firm has given the city three options.

It says repairs will last 25 years at a cost of $150 million to $175 million. To preserve it for at least 100 years means drydock costing $200 million to $500 million. Scraping or sinking the ship is the third option. That will cost between $105 million and $190 million. 

Repairing the Queen Mary could end up like the USS Texas

View from the Queen Mary ocean liner
View from the Queen Mary ocean liner | Getty

Anything left in the ocean needs costly upkeep that the Queen Mary has not seen in years. It has taken a toll that has become critical. You may remember the museum ship USS Texas? It was massively overhauled yet 30 years later almost sank when a hole in the hull developed. 

That is what the Queen Mary is facing so something needs to happen quickly. Yanking it out of the water into drydock would be the best way to preserve it. But at a projected $500 million it is the costliest. And most projected costs tend to inflate, so could drydock and repair hit $1 billion? It’s possible. 

Many have wondered if turning it into a casino would generate more income, but it is a moot point. California only allows gambling on Indian reservations. Changing the law has come up many times before only to fail. 

Why does it cost so much to sink or scrap a ship?

View from the Queen Mary ocean liner and Scorpion submarine
Scorpion, a former Soviet submarine that became a Los Angeles-area tourist attraction is seen next to the Queen Mary in Long Beach | Brittany Murray/MediaNews Group/Long Beach Press-Telegram via Getty Images

A costly repair while keeping it in the drink means continually spending millions of dollars in perpetuity to keep it there. And that won’t necessarily keep it from needing more money spent to keep chemistry from eating it alive. Then there’s the cost to sink it.

One would think that sinking a ship would not cost much. They would be wrong. The channel it is in isn’t deep enough to get it out to sea. Then, everything that would contaminate the ocean needs to be hauled out of it first. Plus there are other obstacles too numerous to either scrap or sink it that drive up costs. And, again, the cost projections might be on the low side. 

Yearly, Long Beach gets roughly $3.3 million in tax revenue from hotel costs and events. That hardly covers the assessment for what to do with it. So the tradeoff just doesn’t make a lot of sense. Then there is the saga of the Russian sub docked next to the Queen Mary. 

What to do with the Russian submarine docked next to the Queen?

The convoluted ownership and maintenance breakdown of the tourist submarine Scorpion is crazy. It opened for tours in the mid-1990s, but it was closed in 2015. Since then it has become infested with raccoons and rust. The 2,000-ton sub awaits its fate, which has also become the city’s problem. Look for it to be quietly sunk in the near future at great expense. 

The city now awaits the results of the damage report currently being assembled. That should be done by the end of summer. The Queen Mary remains closed until at least 2022. Or maybe forever. 

RELATED: Can a Boat Really Be Made Unsinkable?

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The 2021 Toyota Tundra Is Way More Reliable Than the 2021 GMC Sierra 1500

by Gabrielle DeSantis

The 2021 Toyota Tundra and 2021 GMC Sierra 1500 are two best-selling trucks. How do you decide between them? Consumer Reports ratings are a great way to decide which truck is a better fit for you. One look at the reliability ratings can help you decide between the 2021 Toyota Tundra or 2021 GMC Sierra 1500. The Tundra’s reliability rating is much higher. Let’s look at why.

2021 Toyota Tundra | Toyota

The Sierra’s road test score is higher

Consumer Reports gives the 2021 GMC Sierra 1500 scores a 4/5 for its acceleration. It can reach 0 to 60 in 6.9 seconds. Braking is decent in the Sierra 1500, at a 4. The Sierra 1500 takes 136 feet to brake from 60 mph on dry pavement and 148 feet on wet pavement. The Sierra 1500’s headlights score a 4/5.

Consumer Reports gives the 2021 Toyota Tundra also scores a 4/5 for its acceleration. It can reach 0 to 60 in 6.7 seconds. However, braking is abdominal in the Tundra, at a 1. This is what really kills the Tundra’s road test score. The Tundra takes 153 feet to brake from 60 mph on dry pavement and 178 feet on wet pavement.

The Tundra has more standard safety equipment

Consumer Reports has a whole slew of advanced safety features that it recommends. The 2021 Toyota Tundra comes standard with nearly all of these features. The exceptions are blind-spot warning, rear cross traffic warning, and daytime running lights, which are optional. Unfortunately, lane-keeping assist isn’t available. 

The IIHS crash-tested the 2021 Toyota Tundra, and the results are mixed. The front moderate overlap, side crash, and rear crash test results are good. However, the roof crush score is only acceptable, and the front small overlap, driver side is marginal. The front small overlap, passenger side rating is poor. 

The NHTSA has crash-tested the 2021 Toyota Tundra and gave it four stars for its overall crash, overall frontal-crash, and overall frontal-crash on the driver and passenger side. The overall side crash, side-crash driver and rear passenger side, and side pole-crash all get five stars. The rollover rating for both the 4WD is four stars, but the 2WD score is only three stars.

The 2021 GMC Sierra 1500 doesn’t come standard with many of these features. It only has rear view camera, anti lock brakes, traction control, stability control, and daytime running lights. Forward collision warning, automatic emergency braking at city speeds, pedestrian detection, lane departure warning, lane keeping assist, blind spot warning, and rear cross traffic warning are optional. In addition, automatic emergency braking at highway speeds isn’t optional for the 2021 GMC Sierra 1500.

The IIHS crash-tested the 2021 GMC Sierra 1500, and the results are mostly good. The exception is the front small overlap, passenger side rating, which is marginal. 

The NHTSA has crash-tested the 2021 GMC Sierra 1500 and gave it four stars for its overall crash, overall frontal-crash, and overall frontal-crash on the driver and passenger side. The overall side crash, side-crash driver and rear passenger side, and side pole-crash all get five stars. The rollover rating for both the 4WD and 2WD is four stars.

The Toyota Tundra Smokes the GMC Sierra in reliability

Consumer Reports gives the 2021 Toyota Tundra a 4/5 for its predicted reliability. Reliability for the 2019 and 2020 Toyota Tundras is pretty good. The only score in the 2020 to be mediocre is paint and trim. In the 2019, the only problem area is body integrity.

Even though the safety ratings for the Tundra aren’t great, people love them. The owner satisfaction score is a 4/5. Most notably, the driving experience is an 81 and comfort is a 74. Styling receives a 74. Value, however, is a fairly high 51, as far as value scores go. 79% of Tundra owners would buy their truck again, which is the most in its class.

Consumer Reports gives the 2021 GMC Sierra 1500 a pretty terrible 1/5 for its predicted reliability. Both the 2019 and 2020 reliability for the GMC Sierra 1500 was poor. Major problem areas include the transmission minor, brakes, and in-car electronics. The power equipment and engine minor weren’t great, either.

Predicted owner satisfaction for the 2021 GMC Sierra 1500 is a 3/5. Most notably, the driving experience is an 84 and comfort is a 77. Styling receives an 86. Value is a 44. Only 69% of Sierra 1500 owners would buy their truck again, which is pretty low on the list.

If you’re shopping for safety, the 2021 GMC Sierra 1500 is probably a better choice. However, if reliability is your top priority, then the 2021 Toyota Tundra is the way to go. It has a much better reliability rating. Just don’t count on the brakes to stop if you need them.

RELATED: Is the 2021 GMC Sierra 1500 Safe? IIHS Crash Test Ratings

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