It’s not an everyday occasion, or even an annual occasion that McLaren produces a road-going car. The Woking, UK based outfit are better known for their F1 racing team and their string of victories over the years than anything else. Yet McLaren has just shown us what will soon be one of the most exciting sports cars to go into production, and no, it won’t be produced in minute “limited edition” quantities. McLaren is going after the big boys with this machine, aiming to teach the likes of Ferrari, Lamborghini and Porsche a serious lesson.
The last time McLaren produced a road-going car it was the incredible but super-exclusive F1. Powered by what was essentially a V8 designed by BMW’s M division specifically for the F1 and had an awesome output of 627 bhp, making it one of the most powerful road-going cars of its time. The F1 was not only powerful, it was innovative, different and drop-dead gorgeous. The interior of the car placed the driver in the center, with two passenger seats to the right and left sides of the driver while features such as gold foil were needed to ensure that the engine’s immense heat was absorbed and diffused adequately. Only several hundred F1’s were produced and prices ranged anywhere from $750,000 to $2million. Such as the exclusivity of the car.
Fast forward about 15 years and McLaren is back. But this time, it’s not an uber-exclusive car they’re making, it’s the stunning MP4-12C which you see on these pages here. While the 12C bears some resemblance and a few styling cues evocative of the F1, it is by no means an evolution of the car. Built on an entirely new and extremely advanced carbon fiber chassis with a “monocell” tub, the type of which is only seen in F1 cars usually, the car is replete with the most advanced technology that you can come up with for something on four wheels.
Powered by a 3.8 liter twin turbo-charged V8 engine designed entirely in-house, dubbed the “M38T” with an output of 600 bhp. Make no mistake about it, McLaren was perfectly clear about the fact that this engine shares no parts with Mercedes-Benz, BMW, or any other manufacturer (In fact Mercedes-Benz and McLaren have gone their own separate ways since co-producing the McLaren Mercedes SLR). Every button, switch and other component was done in-house. But back to the engine, with its 8,500 RPM redline and 442 lb ft torque output available from only 2,000 RPM, the unit is hooked up to the McLaren seven-speed “Seamless Shift” dual clutch SSG gearbox which features several driving modes: Winter, sport, launch control, and full automatic.
The car’s suspension system is designed using McLaren’s extensive Formula 1 racing knowledge, as is the monocell compartment which allows for more aggressive tuning, beter crash safety and of course, a much lower production cost than its predecessor, the F1. The car still has front and rear extruded aluminium pieces to act as crumple zones in case of a crash.
On the inside, the 12C doesn’t come with the F1’s bizarre centre driver position, but it has been designed so that both passenger and driver sit a lot closer to the center of the car, allowing for much better handling, feel and the sensation that you are sitting where you should be to control the car better, rather than all the way to the side, by the door as with 99.9% of today’s cars. The center column and console are slender, allowing for the seats to be as close together as possible with an LCD screen at the top of the column and several futuristic looking controls adorning the remainder of the area.
So how can you buy one? Well, McLaren won’t start building the cars until 2010. Not only is McLaren developing a new car, but also a new factory, production line, dealer network and of course, planning for their all out assault on their competitors. In addition, McLaren has publicly announced that their line-up will include more models in the near future, possibly with smaller and/or larger engines and price-tags.
Early planning indicates that approximately 25% of sales will be for the UK, 25 percent in the USA and the remainder to the rest of the world, mostly to the Middle East and Mainland Europe.
For more information on the incredible new 12C, visit McLaren online at www.mclarenautomotive.com. |