Baby McLaren Moves Closer

[zx4000]

2th, June by Evo


Early development work is well under way on the 'baby' McLaren, with plans to sell as many as 2000 cars a year to rival the likes of the Ferrari 360 Modena and Lamborghini Gallardo.

Although McLaren engineers are remaining tight-lipped about the project, evo has learnt that feasibility studies are currently being carried out on the car; directors of the company gathered during May to spend a day testing the two Italian supercars on track.

McLaren is hoping to use carbonfibre construction for the new car, although there are doubts about the economic viability of using the material for a car with a projected price tag of about £110,000. One insider suggested that the composite monocoque would have to come in at £3000, factory cost. 'Very, very challenging,' he added.

Sources wouldn't be budged on whether the new car, thought to be codenamed P8, will have a three-seat arrangement similar to that of the F1, but equally our source doggedly refused to confirm the new car as a conventional two-seater. One possibility is that the third seat would be mounted centrally towards the rear, the reverse of the F1's layout. It will be mid-engined though, partly to make it distinct from the front-engined Mercedes SLR McLaren.

Another source told evo that if the car does go ahead, it will probably have to be built by Mercedes, as McLaren's new Woking factory is tied up producing the SLR and doesn't have the spare capacity. HM The Queen officially opened the Norman Foster-designed McLaren Technology Centre last month.

evo has uncovered some of the background to the SLR project. It seems that the SLR, the brainchild of Ron Dennis, was originally designed to be the definitive GT car. Ferrari's 550 Maranello was the original target car for the project but it became clear that the SLR would be in a different league when the first projected performance figures were calculated using the higher- than-expected output from the supercharged Mercedes V8.

Using a combination of a carbonfibre body and front-mounted engine required some interesting design solutions. Running a super-hot exhaust system along the car's underside was impossible as carbon bodies don't like intense heat, so the unusual side-exit exhausts were designed. Packaging the huge silencers around the engine was a significant challenge. The gullwing door design is also a consequence of the layout, as it was necessary to keep the hinges away from the exhaust.

McLaren says that the crash performance of the carbon structure is particularly good. Only the boot's outer lid is made in glassfibre - to enable the antenna and GPS to get a signal. The body is laminated in Portsmouth and sent to Woking where it takes eight days and 200 hours to finish and paint the surface panels. (This is an indication of the expense that could be involved in building the P8 in carbonfibre. The paint costs of the McLaren F1 were also said to be very high.)

Assembling the SLR from a painted shell takes another 80 hours, or around five days on the 80-metre-long assembly line. Around 140 employees will make up to 500 SLRs each year for its planned seven-year life-cycle.

Production of the SLR takes up just 4000sq m of the 22,500sq m plant. The remainder of the space is given over to the F1 team, McLaren Electronic Systems, McLaren Marketing and McLaren Applied Technologies.

[onerom]

Can't wait to see what they come up with!

[karbon]

Originally Posted by zx4000

One possibility is that the third seat would be mounted centrally towards the rear, the reverse of the F1's layout. It will be mid-engined though, partly to make it distinct from the front-engined Mercedes SLR McLaren.

how will the third person get into the seat? it sounds like it will be even more difficult than getting into the f1's driver's seat. then with the third seat set rearward, will there be enough room for the engine without making the wheelbase too long and won't the passengers heads block the views to the side?

this article makes the car sound overly complex to package and build and still retail it to compete with the 360 and gallardo.

[Newton22]

This better be good or it may turn out disappointing.

[Thorst13]

Originally Posted by Newton22

This better be good or it may turn out disappointing.

It would not surprise me if McLaren F¤¤¤ this up.
Just look at their formula 1 season...they can barely finish a race and getting pissed on by their rivals.
I have faith that McLaren will raise again, but I think the problem is mainly Mercedes.
I love the SLR, but I can't picture a three seater baby Mac which is capable at competing with the 360 & Gallardo!

Well. not at this point anyway.....

[drPhibes]

the reason why everything has gone to hell in f1 this season is the fact that Ilmor engineering don't make engines that last through the practicing rounds, qualifying and the race.

[Thorst13]

Originally Posted by drPhibes

the reason why everything has gone to hell in f1 this season is the fact that Ilmor engineering don't make engines that last through the practicing rounds, qualifying and the race.

Yeah, I agree, but Mercedes has a responsibility there also don't you think??

[McLaren F1 Guy]

I'll bet Mercedes screws it up somehow. It looks like a Gallardo with Dodge Stratus rear lights.

[jcsaleen]

lol Some how I wouldn't doubt it.

[onerom]

Unless I read this story from other reputable sources I'll take it with a pinch of salt. I get the feeling Evo sometimes likes to over-sensationalize stuff like this and just plain make stuff up.

[cabrio92]

Hello,

this post is interesting but it would be better in the section "others" of the McLaren forum.

Ciao
Phil

[andybee]

its a sketch done by a European magazine, not McLaren and not Mercedes

[murraydeschot]

From England's Autocar magazine ...

Mercedes-Benz and its partner McLaren are planning to land another giant blow on their supercar rivals. Their new mid-engined coupé and convertible duo will tackle the Ferrari 360 Modena and Lamborghini Gallardo head on.

Revealed here exclusively for the first time, the new rear-wheel-drive Anglo-German supercar will be built alongside the SLR at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking from late 2007. Before then, however, Mercedes and McLaren board members must give the new car, known internally as P8, a unanimous nod of approval.

Rather than plumping for another front-engined, rear-drive supercar like the SLR for the second stage of their partnership, Merc and McLaren have settled on a smaller, lighter mid-engined model to slot between the SL55 AMG and the SLR.

The P8 is officially still a concept – which means styling, engineering, logistic, production and cost proposals for the two-seater exist. But it is already clear that both Merc and McLaren managements are desperate to put it into production. ‘Yes, we are looking at a mid-engined road car,’ Mercedes boss Jürgen Hubbert told Autocar last week. ‘But there is no decision on production.’

Spurring Mercedes on is the knowledge that homeland rival Audi is already at an advanced stage with plans to create its own mid-engined supercar using the Lamborghini Gallardo as a starting point: the Le Mans. Merc and McLaren are also desperate to show Ferrari that they are as much a force on the road as on the race track by building a car to compete directly against the 360 Modena.

The appearance of the P8 will be dictated largely by the wind tunnel. The need to cleave air efficiently, feed large quantities of it to components and provide enough downforce to keep the new car earthbound at speeds of up to 320km/h (198mph) all point to classic mid-engine supercar proportions.

Autocar has obtained top-secret details of the P8’s powerplant. Codenamed M156, it is a V8 engine that will prove significant because it is also destined to power future AMG versions of the E, CLS, S, CL and SL.

The V8 lump has a capacity of 6.3 litres and is an all-new design. It is being developed under AMG engine chief Rolf Zimmermann – who developed the mid-engined V12 for the Pagani – and sources claim it is already developing 500bhp. It is naturally aspirated and insiders claim that in future all AMG models will ditch forced induction in preference of extra cubic centimetres for effortless performance.

And the price? Again, nothing is set in concrete, but the new two-seater will clearly be positioned between the £92,370 SL55 AMG and the £313,465 SLR. Industry analysts contacted by Autocar last week predicted a price tag of around £150,000 – a cool £47,000 more than the 360 Modena and £23,000 more than the Lamborghini Gallardo. Still, that’s a fraction of the £600k a McLaren F1
cost back in 1994.

[DinanM3_S2]

God if BMW would only make the engine... Damn Merc

[murraydeschot]

Originally Posted by DinanM3_S2

God if BMW would only make the engine... Damn Merc

I think, given the Mclaren Formula One team's engine performance so far this season, that's a thought shared by Ron Dennis too!