Category: McLaren

McLaren’s entry-level P13 model will be launched at next year’s Geneva Motor Show, according to Autocar. When it does go on sale it won’t be badged as the P13, although it’s final model name isn’t known just yet.

Priced from £120,000—around 30% less than the price of a 12C—the P13 will use a detuned version of the 3.8 litre V8 twin-turbo found in the 12C. Peak power should be in the 335–372kW (450–500bhp) range.

The P13 will target the Porsche 911 and as such will carry a few different models in its range. For example, in addition to the standard coupé there’s likely to be a Spider and also a stripped out high-performance variant similar to the 911 GT3.

McLaren Automotive CEO, Mike Flewitt, says the P13 will be a “pure driver’s car”.

Annual production is hoped to as high as 2500 cars per annum, by which time McLaren should be making more than 4000 cars each year. Autocar also reports of a McLaren P15, priced at £400K, which will bridge the gap between the 12C and the more extreme P1.

[Source: Autocar]

Steve Sutcliffe from Autocar has just filed his review of the fearsome McLaren P1. It’s fair to say he was impressed by the experience, albeit with an underwhelming start as these selected paragraphs show:

On the road, the first impressions are of a car that feels remarkably like a McLaren 12C. Which is either a good thing if you’ve never driven a 12C before or, initially, a mild anti-climax if you have.

…

The P1 is not ultimately a car to be driven slowly, however, even if its electric power source does provide it with a hit of throttle response that a straight turbocharged car couldn’t hope to replicate. Instead it’s about going fast – really, really fast – and this something it can do with varying degrees of madness depending which mode you choose to drive it in. Which probably sounds a little bit digital but which is, in practice, anything but.

…

And, best (or worst) of all depending on how brave you’re feeling, it will also allow big hits of opposite lock before the ESP or TC systems intervene. You feel a lot more on your own in the P1 than you do in, say, a Porsche 918 on a track. More than any other characterstic, perhaps, this is what separates their personalities.

Follow the source link for the full review.

UPDATE: A teaser video has been added below, the full clip later this week apparently. Chris Harris promises his review isn’t too far away either. Happy days!

[Source: Autocar]

Those clever clogs in labcoats at McLaren have been busy developing windscreen that will make traditional wipers obsolete according to a report in The Sunday Times. Apparently the special screen will use high-frequency soundwaves to repel water, bugs and other debris.

Expect to see the technology on McLaren’s road cars in 2015, or thereabouts.

All very clever stuff, of course, but do the humble windscreen wipers really place such a demand on a car’s electrical systems to warrant such a measure?

[Source: The Verge]

It’s only a few weeks since we reported the McLaren P1 had sold out. With only 375 to be made that may not seem like a tough ask, but at a final buy price of around £1 million that means there’s a lot of spare cash floating around.

If you’re lucky enough to have plenty of notes in your pocket and thought you’d missed out on getting yourself a P1 you’re in luck! Go to Dubai, now, and you can put your name on this bright yellow P1 from Al Ain Class Motors.

Listed as having 0km on the clock and being “Limited edition 1 out of 375” this P1 is sure to gather some interest. Reported to have a sticker price of almost £1.3 million (AU$2.34 million) it’s something of an oddity to be up for sale so soon after rolling off the Woking production line.

Exclusive hypercars such as this often include a clause in the sale contract which prevents the original purchaser from selling the car so quickly.

The basic list price for a P1 is a shade over £865,000 but McLaren says almost three quarters of buyers add bespoke touches taking the sale price beyond seven figures.

Should the worst happen, and you arrive in Dubai and the P1 has a sold sticker on the windscreen there’s other exotic machinery to tempt you, such as an Aston Marin One-77, a Koenigsegg Agera or a Pagani Huayra.

[Source: Autocar]

McLaren has released a teaser video informing us the P1 has broken the 7-minute barrier around the Nordschleife. But they still haven’t put their neck on the line by declaring an exact time. The video itself is very well produced and should we ever get a full lap it looks like it will be one of the best Nürburgring videos we’re likely to see.

Now, back to the lap time. Rumours have been around for a couple of months that the P1 lapped the Ring in 6 minutes 47 seconds but it has never been confirmed. Facebook is the source of the latest suggestions that the P1 has usurped the Porsche 918’s 6:57 lap by 10 seconds while running street tyres. It’s also been suggested that McLaren ran some laps on slick tyres and with the grippier rubber the P1 lapped the Ring in 6 minutes 33 seconds.

The belief is McLaren isn’t likely to have the courage to put its balls on the line until Ferrari publishes a Nürburgring time for the LaFerrari. The theory being McLaren will launch another assault on the Green Hell should the LaFezza beat its time.

The Nordschleife is currently undergoing track maintenance during the winter months so we’re going to have to wait a few more months before Ferrari can get busy.

So, once again we’re left with a publicity shy McLaren lacking the guts to stand behind its product. Even this teaser video isn’t publicly listed! Clearly, the P1 is a rip snorting car which seems to manage the balance of brutality and finesse with extraordinary success.

[Source: Bridge to Gantry]