![]() McLaren GT, a new company combining the expertise of McLaren Group and CRS Racing, has unveiled the McLaren MP4-12C GT3 racer, marking the return of McLaren to GT racing since the Le Mans winning F1 GTR. The new GT3 racer is based on the standard MP4-12C road car, and comes equipped with the same twin turbo 3.8 litre V8 as the road car, but tuned to meet FIA GT3 race regulations. However, the seven-speed double-clutch transmission found in the road car is ditched in favour of a paddle shift race-spec unit developed by Ricardo. With nearly 600 hp and a quarter-mile time of 10.9 seconds, the MP4-12C looks set to give the Ferrari 458 Italia a good beating. Jenson Button gives EVO magazine's Chris Harris a fun high-speed ride. ![]() According to a report on Insideline's website, the McLaren MP4-12C is set to cost $231,400 when it goes on sale in the United States this summer. The pricing includes a $2,400 destination charge, but does not include a gas guzzler tax. The MP4-12C will be powered by a twin-turbo 3.8-litre V8 connected to a seven-speed double-clutch gearbox, with the unit being good for 592hp and 442lb ft of torque. The closest competitor will, without doubt, be the Ferrari 458 Italia, and in terms of performance the McLaren has 30hp more than the Ferrari, but at $227,325, the Ferrari is slightly cheaper. A comparison test is long overdue. Can't wait. Alex Kisiri McLaren have taken the opportunity of unveiling to the public the McLaren MP4-12C at the 2010 Goodwood festival of speed. F1 drivers and world champions, Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button, were given the task of displaying the capabilities of the MP4-12C. Apart from looking great to drive it sounds pretty good as well. The MP4-12C is expected to be available for purchase through its dealer networks sometime early next year. ![]() So what does the name of McLaren's latest offering stand for?, that would probably be one of many questions McLaren enthusiasts will ask about the new car. "MP4" is a designation that's been used by every F1 car built by McLaren ever since 1981, and has therefore been included to pay homage to the machines of years gone by. "12" represents the efficiency coefficient of the new car, where as "C" represents the carbon-fibre fits. The McLaren Mercedes Benz SLR was the last car to be built at McLaren's Woking factory. While the SLR was aggresively designed, great sounding, and fast but any standards, it arrived to the market in 2003 where it was met with plenty of scepticism. First of all, it had to fill in the void left by the legendary McLaren F1, a car considered by many to be the best performance car of the 1990s. Secondly, being a joint-venture with Mercedes-Benz, many feared it would end up feeling too much like a Mercedes saloon. Some of those fears were confirmed when the SLR only came with an automatic transmission, handling that wasn't as involving or responsive as the F1, and weighing some 600 kilos more than the F1. So with production of the SLR having ended, McLaren is now aiming to regain some of the glory the F1 had brought them with the MP4-12C.It must be said that the MP4-12C shares no parts at all with the outgoing SLR, but it must also be said that McLaren is aiming to steal potential customers of the Ferrari 458 Italia and Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4, rather than, say, the Bugatti Veyron. And with an expected price tag of between £125,000 and £175,000, McLaren is set to be very competitive especially when you consider the ingredients used to make the MP4-12C. Many people were expecting McLaren's new car to receive a reworked version of Mercedes-AMG's 6.2l V8 engine. The MP4-12C has an all new 3.8l twin-turbo V8 (codename M838T) developed by McLaren, capable of producing around 600hp and 600nm of torque (about 442 lb ft). The engine is dry-sumped and consists of a flat-plane crankshaft enabling the engine to be placed very low down the chassis. The new powerplant also has a key characteristic of low-displacement flat plane crank V8s, namely high revs, and in this case the unit will spin all the way to 8500rpm. The engine is connected to a seven speed dual-clutch transmission (called Seamless Shift dual clutch gearbox-SSG) channeling drive to the rear wheels. McLaren has yet to release any performance details, but they have stated that the MP4-12C will be available at dealer networks begining early 2011. With less involvement from Mercedes-Benz, it might be safe to say that McLaren will have shifted their focus back to creating one of the fastest point to point machines while keeping the driver constantly dialled in the process. The MP4-12C is certainly set to give Ferrari, Porsche and Lamborghini owners a run for their money, now all we have to see is if it will recapture some of the magic the F1 offered. Jay Leno has been extremely quick to get a first hand glimpse of what's to be expected. Check out the video below. ![]() The McLaren F1 to many still remains the ultimate supercar of all time. What with the Bugatti Veyron being tuned to feel like a very high speed saloon, as well as it having all wheel drive and weighing a whopping 810 kg more than the McLaren, it's easy to see why people would see the good old Macca as one of the purest supercars to have ever been built. When it was released in 1994, the F1 came with a 6.1l V12 engine built by BMW, producing an impressive 618 bhp, while torque was rated at 480 lb ft. Combine this impressive power output with a low kerb weight of only 1140kg, and an aerodynamic body shell, the McLaren F1 was able to achieve a mximum speed of over 240 mph. The top speed meant that it was the fastest road car in the world, a title it held onto for 12 years until the arrival of the Bugatti Veyron. So what about the upgrades? We'll begin with the engine. The engine gets a 0.4mm increase in bore, but still remains a 6.1l. The engine also gets lighter pistons, new conrods, modified cylinder heads, new intake and exhaust valves, a raised compression ratio of 12:0.1 from the previous 11:0.1, new camshafts, variable valve timing on both the intake and exhaust side, and a new ECU. This means that power has been raised to 691 bhp (700 PS), but while the increase of engine power might call for a modified gearbox, the one in the McLaren is plenty strong to handle the extra grunt. Another upgrade is the availablity of carbon ceramic brakes. The discs measure 380mm in diameter at the front with 6 pot calipers, while the rear discs measure 320mm with 4 pot calipers. The use of this material has enabled further reduction in unsprung weight by 40kg. Modifications to the chassis include a newly developed adaptive engine mount system which reduces vibrations coming out of the engine bay, and also helps contain the mass of the engine better during cornering. There is also a new adaptive damper system, as well as new 18 inch magnesium wheels and tyres, further reducing unsprung mass. The combination of these chassis modifications guarantee an increase in the cornering capabilites of the F1. Bodywork modifications come in the form of removing the automatic brake and balance aerofoil system, as well as the removal of the active underbody air management system. A total of 63 kilograms have been saved, thanks to all the weight saving measures bringing the total weight of the car down to 1077kg. All of the above mentioned modifications also means that the 0-60 mph time takes a lightning 2.9 secs, the quarter mile can be covered in 10.1 secs @ 144 mph, while top speed is estimated at a Bugatti Veyron-threatening 250 mph. |
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