This very tasty looking McLaren P1 was seen in testing at the Nürburgring recently. It looks like any old P1, but was carrying discrete XP2R badging. A more extreme version of the already extreme 908hp petrol-electric hybrid P1 perhaps?
No, apparently it’s just a bog standard P1 prototype. McLaren employs a strict lettering system for its test vehicles:
- XP: Experimental prototype
- VP: Validation prototype
- PP: Pre-production protoype
Accordingly XP2R means the car pictured is an early prototype, the 2 means it’s the second XP model and the R denotes it is a revised spec.
That’s the official word from McLaren at least. Given some details of the P1 hypercar have already been released, including predicted performance figures, isn’t it a bit late to still be trundling around in an experimental test car so close to its expected launch?
What if that R actually meant something more? The niche sportscar maker wouldn’t like that its claimed performance numbers for the P1 are down on the equally impressive 963hp LaFerrari. So could the R indicate a new range-topping model to sit above the P1? If this is the case McLaren is unlikely to confirm as much when asked by inquisitive journos.