New McLaren F1 Reportedly in Testing

In most cases, any news coming from McLaren about a new model is usually good news.

In this case, it may be considered great news.

According to UK-based AutoCar, McLaren has begun testing on a new iteration of the revered F1 with the goal of having it ready for release in 2014.

The story from AutoCar (http://www.autocar.co.uk/News/NewsArticle/AllCars/259591/):



http://cdn.images.autocar.co.uk/612x408FFFFFFF/Car/McLaren/McLaren-1051111455312261600x1060.jpg
Photo Credit: AutoCar.co.uk

New McLaren F1 Starts Tests

Official testing of McLaren Automotive’s new hypercar is now under way ahead of its 2014 launch. The spiritual successor to the iconic McLaren F1 aims to have the performance to eclipse every other hypercar, including the Bugatti Veyron, the upcoming Porsche 918 Spyder and the successor to the Ferrari Enzo.

McLaren insiders have confirmed that the first test of the ‘mega-Mac’ (it will get an MP4-12C-style alpha-numeric name in production) took place in Spain last month on closed roads before shifting to Germany for its development. Hot-weather testing has also taken place, most likely in Bahrain.

Earlier estimates of a price of around £400,000 now appear to be wide of the mark. Instead, a figure approaching £1 million seems a more likely estimate for each of the 500 units planned for the production run.

The original F1 was priced at £540,000 when Autocar road tested it in 1994, which equates to about £810,000 in 2011.

Powering the mega-Mac is a new 799bhp 5.0-litre V8 engine (160bhp per litre) that McLaren is developing in conjunction with Ricardo. It will be mated to a seven-speed Graziano dual-clutch gearbox to send power to the rear wheels. Peak power arrives at 7500rpm, with peak torque of 590lb ft available between 3500rpm and 6800rpm.

Autocar understands that the car will be able to crack 0-60mph in just 2.8sec, 0-100mph in 5.5sec and 0-200mph in 20.0sec.
The mega-Mac is based around a lightweight carbonfibre monocell that is similar to the one used in the MP4-12C. Aluminium pushrod suspension will also feature, alongside hydraulic anti-roll control, adaptive dampers and a five-stage traction control system.

Brembo carbon-ceramic brakes will be standard, complete with brake steer and electronic brake force functions. The ability to switch off the ABS system on race tracks is also likely to be offered.

McLaren insiders have described the styling of the mega-Mac as “bigger, angrier and more functional looking” than the MP4-12C, although styling cues from both the MP4-12C and the original F1 will be carried over. Active aerodynamics will also feature.

Luxuries will be kept to a minimum in the interior, which is claimed to offer impressive all-round visibility. However, features such as an on-board data logger and a video camera to film circuit laps will be offered by McLaren.

Production will take place at the McLaren Technology Centre (not at the MP4-12C production site) at a rate of two to three per week over a four-year production cycle.

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Considering the goals of this car to best all of its competition, this is exciting news for fans of McLaren Automotive - both young and old. While I'm sure some people felt the MP4-12C was a nice treat after not having a supercar from the company for several years, a spiritual successor to the original F1 is sure to please the more devout followers of the company.

Still, given the great community of McLaren enthusiasts we have here on AF, I'm interested to know what YOU think.

I hope it won't look that way

I hope it won't look that way

Yeah, I'm not too keen on it either.

Still, I'd like to think that with three years before release, there will be changes in the final design.

That drawing of theirs is already two to three years old - not sure why they continue to share it.

I know from talking with Frank Stephenson in Monterey that it won't look like that and while he wasn't sharing too much info, he did confirm the design, in fact the whole car, is set to blow us away.

>8^)
ER

It's like when they make a re-hash of a great movie. I'm sure as a super car it will be terrific. However, every time someone creates a new car the only thing it does for me and perhaps many others is continue to reinforce how superior the F1 is in many way's. As Jay Leno once said "the F1 is the more proper sports car."

The new February 2012 issue of CAR Magazine leads on our exclusive inside story on the new McLaren P12 - Woking's spiritual successor to the F1.

We'll see the new hypercar within the next 12 months, but CAR has compiled a scoop dossier on the P12. Buy the new February issue to see the full set of three artist's impressions, compiled with the help of sources within McLaren who have seen the clay styling buck.

McLaren P12: the artist's impressions

The P12 looks 'like something out of iRobot,' according to our insider – way more dramatic than the supercar-by-numbers MP4-12C.

This is McLaren design chief Frank Stephenson's first clean-sheet design; he could only influence minor details on the 12C, like the front bumper. Hence the double-bubble roof and a canopy-style glasshouse which is said to dominate the front of the P12.

The tech powering the 800bhp McLaren P12

Our eight-page magazine feature reveals plenty of detail about the new McLaren supercar, codenamed P12. It follows in the footsteps of the P11, the project codename which begat the MP4-12C (and also comprehensively scooped by CAR Magazine – four years before it went on sale!).

The P12 will use a similar carbon Monocell structure as the MP4-12C, but with less budgetary restraint – the P12 will cost a reputed €750,000 – there is even more carbon in the bodyshell and structure, to trim weight to the absolute minimum.

The MP4-12C's 3.8-litre twin-turbo V8 will be used in the P12, but it will be paired with a KERS energy storage system to provide bursts of electric power for overtaking. Our story reveals how early styling mock-ups of the P12's cabin had F1-style pistol grip steering wheels with big red boost buttons to deploy the KERS overtaking boost.

Unlike the original F1, the P12 will have a two-seat cabin, this time; McLaren Automotive managing director Anthony Sherrif told CAR they experimented with a three-seat layout like before, but it messed with the dimensions too much.

http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/upload/27550/images/mclarenmp412c.jpg

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Woo what a scoop ! A little strange to see a sketech and in interview in the same article.

And incredible to already have pics of the 12C spider. A drawback, it looks like a 458 Spider...

That new Mac looks superb! Just that V8 bothers me; I would love to see there a big capacity V12.
But let's see what they brings up.

The 'new F1' looks great and everything, but I can't help but be reminded of what Peter Stevens said about the MP4-12C - it looks like it was designed in CAD.

(Obviously every car these days has a CAD stage, but this looks like it started life in CAD not on paper)

After a couple of decades of seeing this play out, I tend not to put too much stock in these early renderings. They hardly ever hit the mark.

Case in point, this was what CAR Magazine suggested the 12C was going to look like and clearly the overall shape is similar but there's a wide gap on the details.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v482/Peloton25/MP4-12C/10546366_190813.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v482/Peloton25/MP4-12C/10546367_929107.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v482/Peloton25/MP4-12C/10546364_971996.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v482/Peloton25/MP4-12C/10546365_722913.jpg

>8^)
ER

Erik; I think this could be even better than the production model is. Like the rear end specialty.

I gonna have to start buying more lottery tickets.

Reclaiming title of world’s fastest car isn’t on the agenda for Britain’s supercar brand.

McLaren boss Ron Dennis has revealed the company’s new supercar won’t be as quick as its legendary F1 from the 1990s – at least in terms of top speed.

Speaking at the opening of the new Trivett McLaren dealership in Sydney last night, Dennis revealed more details about the spiritual successor to the F1, including a May unveiling. He says trying to beat the F1’s top speed of 391km/h, or the new record holding Bugatti Veyron, isn’t a goal.

“[The MP4-12C] will go around any circuit in the world faster than an F1,” Dennis says. “Don’t get fixated by top speed. That’s the first thing you have to discard in today’s society.”


Instead, he promises to reveal the world’s most technologically advanced supercar to take on rivals from Ferrari, Porsche and Lamborghini.

“What you’ve got to have is a complete package of performance,” he says. “You’ve got to embrace technologies that are out there that are accepted, and some that don’t even exist. I can tell you our next car has many things on it that don’t exist at the moment.”

“It will be a relatively low volume, between 300 and 500, car that will be more expensive and we hope will be hailed as the most innovative, creative supercar of its time,” he adds. “A big quantum leap and very different to this car [the 12C].”

He confirmed that the carbon fibre central structure of the 12C, dubbed monocell by the company, will be used on both the supercar and a new, cheaper model to sit underneath the 12C.

The McLaren-designed 3.8-litre twin turbo V8 engine will also be carried over, albeit with more performance; and possibly more capacity. It is likely to be coupled with a hybrid system to boost performance and cut fuel consumption.

But one thing that will be radically different to the 12C will be the styling. Dennis admits the 12C is deliberately conservative and says the new hero car of the range won’t be a shrinking violet.

“A level of aggressivity in the styling which is just now accepted as a need,” he says. “Trust me, it will look entirely different.”

The new car will also be more liveable than the F1, including using a conventional two-seater layout instead of the F1’s three-seater set-up. But he says what it lacks in purity it will make up for with more technology.

“There is so much legislation that ... making another F1 is extremely challenging,” he says. “You just couldn’t make it. To get it to be compliant [with the road rules] you’d never get it to that weight."

"So you’ve got to look at a completely different direction. You’ve got to embrace a lot of new technologies. If you’ve a supercar buyer now there are a range of must-haves now that you could never have in the F1.

“That’s just not accepted now. It’s too raw, too firm, too aggressive. The way to the future, and expectations from the customers, is a far greater level of sophistication.”

He did joke that given the money the F1 still demands from customers, he was tempted to build more.

“I was very tempted, I’ve got all the old tooling, why don’t I just knock out a few more! Now you’d get screams from the existing owners, but I thought ‘if I make 100...’”