Plan B Forum

Scooter wrote:What do you do with a car like that, other than spend days at a time polishing it? I think I would cry at the slightest scratch or stone chip it might get from driving it.

MajGenl.Meade wrote:You can after Earl Scheib is finished with it

Official details pertaining to the P1’s mechanical package remain scarce ahead of its debut at the end of September. However, sources close to McLaren suggest it will pack up to 720kW with the help of a Formula One style kinetic energy recovery system (KERS) using pair of flywheels mated to a modified version of the twin-turbocharged 3.8-litre V8 engine used by the MP4-12C.

In standard road going mode the hi-tech petrol-electric driveline is said to push out some 600kW at a dizzying 9100rpm. This will be boosted by a further 120kW in track mode though the addition of KERS, which is likely to be activated via a steering wheel mounted switch. The engine, developed in co-operation with Ricardo which will also produce it at a plant in Shoreham, England, is mounted longitudinally in a low position behind the two-seat cabin, with drive sent to the rear wheels via a seven-speed double clutch gearbox.

Yet despite the new McLaren P1's high power output, a reported curb weight of less than 1300kg and what these first official pictures portray as a race grade active aerodynamic package that includes a giant rear wing that appears to be retracted into the rear bodywork, McLaren is keen to ensure the P1 is not measured on its top speed alone, suggesting it should not be compared to the current holder of the world’s fastest car title, the Bugatti EB16.4 Veyron SuperSport.

“Our aim is not necessarily to be the fastest in absolute top speed but to be the quickest and most rewarding series production road car on a circuit”, says McLaren managing director, Antony Sheriff.

"It is the true test of a supercar’s all round ability and a much more important technical statement. It will be the most exciting, most capable, most technologically advanced and most dynamically accomplished supercar ever made.”

Sporting a highly contemporary design penned by Frank Stephenson, formerly with Mini, Ferrari and Alfa Romeo, the P1 is far more individual in appearance than the MP4-12C. Its overall shape has been heavily dictated by extensive work carried out in McLaren’s wind tunnel and the need to provide sufficient cooling air to the engine compartment at the rear.

The curvy headlamp graphic has clearly been inspired by McLaren’s corporate logo and is expected to appear on a facelifted version of the MP4-12C. Stephenson has also paid homage to the F1 in the shape of the air scoop atop the roof.