P1 [Official] McLaren P1 Supercar

[Gianclaudio]

Sunny: Damm, checkmate, I concede

Klier: Sure, like last time the Enzo blew the Zonda or the FXX the Zonda R

 

[Monster]

From their face book page.

 

[HighestOfHigh]

Lol...Amazing! I hated the look of the F1, yet everyone else loved it. Now that I love this P1 everyone else hates it's looks. Priceless!

 

[PanterroR]

Huayra over P1? No, definitely not. With all due respect to Pagani. 918 over P1? Nope, just because it doesn't look "hyper" like McLaren. Enzo? Hmmm, must wait to see how it looks like, but if it turns again to look like it's made of Lego's, i'll puke on it's looks just like i've been doing it on current Enzo.

One thing is for sure - that will be one helluva battle between them, so - bring it on... ASAP!

 

[Guibo]

"The most distinguishing feature, however, is the large retractable rear spoiler seen in the patent sketch. This adjustable wing will likely serve as an air brake once the car’s driver mashes the brake pedal at high speeds. "
The concept pictures show that it has a retractable spoiler, so I don't know what they're talking about.

Wing angle is adjustable, like the Veyron's.

Klier: Sure, like last time the Enzo blew the Zonda or the FXX the Zonda R

Zonda of the time of the Enzo was the C12S, which I'm sure was slower than the Enzo.

...But one must also consider the circumstance the F1 was developed....Gordon Murray, et al. had pretty much free reign to do what they liked and pick and choose from components that existed or were custom built. Now that McLaren is a full-fledged yet, in some ways, a fledgling automotive company, they are somewhat limited at what they have at their disposal in order to get the bean-counters' approval to get this project going in a fiscally responsible manner.

Agreed. It will not have to duplicate the achievement of the F1. At the time, the supercar marketplace was much less crowded. Nowadays, a car has to be incredibly (almost unrealisticly) accomplished to do what the F1 did, relative to its peers.

I'm sure it will look better in real-life pictures. In that color, the MP4-12C always appeared a little anti-septic in press photos and under fluorescent car show lighting IMO, but when viewed with the right real sunlight, the subtle details just pop and the color itself looks better. Just a more vibrant feel overall when seen naturally and outside of an artificial setting. And these are just photos.

Some info from Autocar's Paris coverage:

The new McLaren P1 ‘ultimate supercar’ will have a power-to-weight ratio of over 600bhp per tonne when it goes on sale in late 2013, suggesting, if the P1 is lighter than the MP4-12C, a total output of around 720bhp.
The company will not release any information about the drivetrain, interior or specific performance, but it the engine is expected to receive some kind of hybrid assistance.
Making its public debut today at the Paris Motor Show, the company says the P1 takes its ‘technological and spiritual inspiration’ from the company’s Racing division and has "one simple goal….to be the best driver’s car in the world on road and track." The concept P1 shown at Paris has no interior, but the exterior is described as "more than 95 percent" of the the final production car.
It is claimed the P1 can generate 600kg of downforce at a pace "well below" the car’s maximum speed, a figure that is around five time more than the is generated by the current 12C road car and around the same as the 12C GT3 car. Programme director Paul Mackenzie says that the P1 was designed to feel like a "proper racing car" at the push of a button, which could then be driven home in "great comfort and refinement."
Autocar has learnt the P1 will have three different ride-height modes, with the lowest for track work. This latter track mode ensures that the car’s side skirts and rear diffuser work properly but also mean that the diffuser’s carbon fibre strakes are just a couple of inches above the track surface.
The P1 uses a different core carbon fibre structure - dubbed Mono-Cage - to the 12C, which incorporates a carbon roll-bar over the cabin. The roll-bar is exposed on the outside of the vehicle and also incorporates an air scoop which feeds 'clean' (aerodynamically unruffled) air into the engine bay.
The car’s basic 'jellymould' engineering package was generated primarily by aerodynamic concerns and the desire the shrink the exterior to an absolute minimum. This package was used as the basis for three design proposals, from which this final design was chosen.
The final shape is described as more of a joint engineering/design production than a styling exercise, but Frank Stephenson says that the P1 was intended to look like a "Le Mans racer...with a long, low body, long rear deck and open mesh styling to put the mechanicals on view on help cooling" .
The car’s external appearance is driven by two main requirements: the need to get air in and around the car and the need to get heat out. The most striking thing about the P1 is the huge air intakes that have been accommodated in the doors. As well as the large intake cut into the door skin, there is second intake cut into the top of the door skin, that channels air into the rear radiators through the door structure itself.
The are three 'low temperature' radiators in the nose and much of the front-end sculpting is dedicated to directing smooth airflow into the car’s intakes. Sources say the airflow into the rear of the 12C is not as aerodynamically clean as it could be because of turbulence created by the car’s front wheel. Channeling air into the P1’s engine bay over the top of the front wing and into the door’s upper intake solves this problem.
Interestingly, the rear wing intakes close to the wheels are called 'clutch' scoops, raising the possibility that they might be used to cool some kind of KERS-type flywheel system.
The P1’s huge - double element - rear wing can automatically adjust by up to 300mm rearwards on a racetrack and by up to 120mm on the road. The pitch of the wing can increase by up to 29 degrees. It also works in the same way as F1 Drag Reduction Systems, by changing angle to allow greater straight line speeds.
Under the front of the car, ahead of the front wheels, are two flaps that operate through a 0-60 degree range and are designed to "boost downforce and aero efficiency…increasing speed and driver comfort". The flaps and rear wing work in conjunction with one another.
The extreme temperatures generated by the engine is partly expelled by a 'chimney' which exits behind the cockpit. Most heat is expelled from the tail area, which is exposed as hexagonal mesh. To maximise the surface area, the tail lights have been reduced to thin LED strips which, says design director Frank Stephenson, are legal and will appear on the production car. The final car will also get a conventional windscreen wiper, but might feature a new type of rain-repellent glass the means the wiper is rarely needed at higher speeds.
The car’s skin is made from "extraordinarily thin" carbon-fibre panels which are moulded in large sections. The whole of the rear and the whole of the front of the car are made up of one single carbon fibre moulding.
The car will be offered in left-hand drive only, scotching rumours that is could resurrect the central driving position. It is likely to carry a price tag of between £700k and £800k. The final car - and the full technical details - will be released next spring.

http://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/mclaren-p1/paris-motor-show-mclaren-p1-full-details-revealed

Cool!
A mistake??

 

[Monster]

Live from EVO.

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

 

[Mr. M]

I like that it looks so ridiculous.

 

[martinbo]

LHD only?!? For a British car? You gotta be kidding me.

 

[Giannis]

LHD only?!? For a British car? You gotta be kidding me.

They need to learn to drive in the correct side of the road

 

[Centurion]

Finally an F1 invention that makes it to a road car. The adjustable pitch of the rear wing mimics the different rear wings Mclaren's F1 team bring to tracks depending on aerodynamic needs. So rather than being tuned for the Nurburgring, the wing makes the car flexible for Monza or Susuka. I presume it also functions as an air brake.

 

[Sunny]

P1 sort of reminds me of Jag XJR15 - of course way more outlandish. Which is probably not too surprising given Peter Stevens designed it before he went in to design the F1.

OT - Sad how XJR15 is little mentioned in the annals of supercar history - I always thought it was way better looking than the XJ220 and of course it had a proper NA V12 unlike the latter. Would have been a proper rival to F40 and 959 if they had built more than just 50.

 

[Gianclaudio]

I didn't know about the existence of that car, in fact. Thanks sunny.

 

[hoffmeister_fan]

NACA vents, or in this case, NACA-like vents will always be bad-ass. Now that's a scientific fact.

 

[Monster]

LHD only?!? For a British car? You gotta be kidding me.

I also find this very surprising. If a small company like Pagini can build LHD and RHD versions of their limited production Zonda and Huayra then surely Mclaren, Ferrari and Porsche can too.

Anyway the car looks quite spectacular in those real life photos.

 

[Soup]

Thanks Guibo

 

[martinbo]

Holy cow. I just love this utterly spectacular looking little thing. If I was a billionaire my order would be in.

Just the one thing is irking me is that McLaren - now with its fancy bespoke special projects division - can't build this car in RHD when the car it's based on is. Can't be right.

 

[Monteverdi]

P1 sort of reminds me of Jag XJR15 - of course way more outlandish. Which is probably not too surprising given Peter Stevens designed it before he went in to design the F1.

OT - Sad how XJR15 is little mentioned in the annals of supercar history - I always thought it was way better looking than the XJ220 and of course it had a proper NA V12 unlike the latter. Would have been a proper rival to F40 and 959 if they had built more than just 50.

XJR-15 is a bit forgotten now becouse it's sort of a bastard project for Jaguar, made mainly by the racing company TWR. Technically, it's like a road legal Le Mans Group C car. Drives like one and is noisy as hell on the inside. Definitely not a daily supercar. Two versions of this car were made at start: road legal and a race version (a lot of the latter were prepared to be road legal by owners as well). There were even the special racing series dedicated to this model only, but they were discontiniued after three rounds. Very underrated car, in addition the only video reviews of it avalible on the Youtube are Clarkson's and Needell's ones, both filmed on a wet (or sort of) Silverstone. That's how the myth about awful handling of this car (supposedly caused by the fact that the road legal version of this car has been based on a racing version and they had to lift the suspension to make it able to ride on the regular roads) began. Definitely a looker by all accounts.

 

[Monster]

Looks great from this angle.

Not so great from this angle, long front overhang.

 

[martinbo]

Long front overhangs are normal on mid-engined supercars.

 

[Levi68]

There will be blood. You don't mess with Pagani and get away with it.

Hahaha, so funny!


These pics are much better, so live it may be even better, but I'm not sure I like it more than the MP4-12C.