this article is from the wall street journal, sat. march 15, 2014 Rumble Seat McLaren: The Greatest Car You'll Never Drive The British auto maker promises to build no more than 375 surpassingly brilliant, end-times P1 road machines and it has already promised them all for $1.2 million By Dan Neil March 14, 2014 1:13 p.m. ET McLaren P1 McLaren Automotive Odds are you're never going to own the greatest sports car ever made, the new McLaren P1. Or drive it. Or even see it in the flesh. The British auto maker promises to build no more than 375 surpassingly brilliant, end-times road machines, more noble than erotic, and it has already promised them all for $1.2 million or thereabouts. In due course, most of these cars will be loaded onto jitneys and shipped to Russia, China and the Middle East, there to fill the coffers of some lovely people, I'm sure. The McLaren P1 has been clocked at top speeds of 217 mph, and with only 375 copies made, it will be a sought-after masterpiece. Some few buyers will use these canopied thunderbolts as actual transportation. Among the P1's superlatives are an average fuel consumption of 34 mpg combined and an all-electric range of 6 miles. I actually saw a P1 on the street in Geneva two weeks ago. Even fewer will exercise theirs on a track, or race their friends between emirates. But many, if not most, of these technically profound, intellectually beautiful, absolutely nutter street machines will disappear into storage of serious collectors and won't be heard from again until they sell for millions at Pebble Beach. That actually makes me a little sad. They should take these cars round to elementary schools to inspire kids to study science and engineering. Mommy, I want to study computational fluid dynamics. No, not the people who make baby strollers (That's Maclaren). McLaren Automotive is the mighty Formula One racing constructor and global-technology company. In 2011, McLaren dove back into the road-car business with its midengine berlinetta, the MP4-12C. The new P1"pole position," if you didn't get itis heir to McLaren's visionary F1 sports car (1992-1998) that held the production-car speed record (243 mph) until the Bugatti Veyron arrived and is even now among the fastest and most dynamics sports cars in history. They should take these cars round to schools to inspire kids to study science and engineering. If you can believe it, if you can bear to hear it, the P1 leaves the F1 for dead. Example: The F1powered by its rapturous 6.0-liter, 627-hp V12 BMW engine surrounded by gold foil heat shieldingcould accelerate from a standing start to 124 mph (200 km/h) in an outrageous, nearly indescribable 9.4 seconds. Think of that! Wonders to behold! I wet my pants! The P1, powered by a twin-turbo flat-crank 3.8-liter V8 and integrated electric motor totaling 903 hp, can do the deed in 6.8 seconds, which is right on top of the 1,200-hp, all-wheel-drive Bugatti Veyron Super Sport. My friends at Motor Trend inform me the P1 is probably the quickest production car they have ever tested. They logged a quarter-mile pass of 9.8 seconds at nearly 150 mph in the P1, better than a Veyron and quick enough to shave the tail of a Suzuki Hayabusa. From there it is one big parametric pole vault to the car's electronically limited 217 mph top speed, at which point it is still accelerating like a diving falcon. Here I invite you to consider the meaning of this data point: 0 to 186 mph in 16.5 seconds. That is 5 full seconds faster than an F1. If anyone builds a quicker sports car, they're welcome to it. I'll be at the apothecary buying Dramamine. Brakingprovided first by four staggeringly large carbon-ceramic discs with aerospace silicon carbide surfacing (Akebono) and second by the hydraulic rear wing's robotic air-brake functionis equally epic. From 124 mph, the P1 can resume a rest position in a mere 4.5 seconds. Adding to the P1's general rarity going forward will be, I predict, attrition. Not all of these cars will survive their owners, and vice versa. As I learned in my much-too-brief test drive on the Dunsfold circuit last week, when you mat the P1's gas pedal while pressing the IPAS (Instant Power and Assist) button on the steering wheel, the red mist darkens considerably. The acceleration lunges through your very skeleton, crunching you into the padded leather seat shell; and at the track, the entire frame of experience is drawn into a hectic blur. Distances contract like snapped rubber bands. The P1's full-throttle 2-3 upshiftcelebrated with a gout of propane-blue flame from the centrally mounted exhaust port and a supersonic crack like a rifle shotis the most physical rolling acceleration I've ever felt in a car, the most weak in the knees, the most breathless and saucer-eyed. The P1 accelerates like a top-class endurance prototype. The P1's miracle, morph-able aerodynamics makes a Daytona Prototype look like Cugnot's steam engine. And then, when you do lift off the throttle in the P1, the turbo waste gates erupt in a shimmering crash like orchestra cymbals or the opening of biblical seals. Bwwashhh! Bwawasssh! And verily, God spoke to him saying, in the voice of the Marine drill sergeant from "Full Metal Jacket": Outstanding! McLaren P1 Price: $1.2 million (sold out) Powertrain: Hybrid gas electric, with longitudinally mid-mounted twin turbocharged and intercooled 3.8-liter, 32-valve, flat-crank V8 with variable valve timing and dry-sump lubrication; integrated AC synchronous electric traction motor (177 hp); seven-speed sequential dual-clutch transaxle; rear-wheel drive with torque vectoring brake steer. Horsepower/torque: 903 hp/664 foot-pounds (system net) Length/weight: 180.6 inches/3,200 pounds (est.) Wheelbase: 105.1 inches 0-60 mph: 2.6 seconds 0-124 mph: 6.8 seconds 0-186 mph: 21.5 seconds EPA fuel economy: 34 mpg combined (est) Cargo capacity: 4 cubic feet Anyway, I'm not sure this mental state contributes to good decision-making. I hear you saying, "How can cars go so fast?" and "Who cares?" The answers are related. The McLaren is actually one of a trio of hybrid supercars of the modern age that echo the ramifications of Formula One's green initiatives with KERS (kinetic energy recovery system). Hybrids, in other words. The first, arriving promptly on Sept. 18, 2013, was Porsche's 918, with race-bred 4.6-liter V8 gas engine (608 hp) in the middle and two ferocious electric motors, one on each axle, making it effectively an all-wheel drive with 887 hp. The Porsche 918 set the production car lap record at the Nurburgring test track with a once-unthinkable pass of 6.57. The lastarriving not at all promptlyis the LaFerrari, due any day now, with a nominal 950-hp horsepower hybrid powertrain and a curb weight, I judge, to be around 3,050 pounds. Everyone expects that car to be lively as well. As a class, these cars transcend performance limits that seemed absolute a few years ago not despite being low-emission hybrids but because of it. The e-motors' inherent high torque at low rpm effectively compensates for the monster motors' moments of sluggishness. McLaren calls it "torque fill," summoning videogame responsiveness and push-to-pass boost while waiting for the two leafblower-sized turbos to spool up to 34.8 psi Another enabling technology: active aerodynamics. Like the Veyron and Porsche 918, the P1's aero presence shape-shifts dramatically depending on its speed, wing and chassis settings. Around town, or in EV mode, the McLaren's formidable rear wing is concealed beneath its bodywork, and the P1 looks just like any other car that burns liquid oxygen. At higher speeds, the car's sinuous bi-wing rises on hydraulic struts, automatically pivoting to a high attack angle for more down force and leveling out to lower drag at high speeds. In the Race chassis setting, the P1's ride height is hydraulically lowered 2 inches, bringing into play its fearsome, scythe-like front splitter and active underbody flaps. At 161 mph, the P1 generates a staggering 1,363 pounds of downforce. It's a streetcar with full ground effects, a creature of air and land, a terrabat. Which brings me to what I judge to be the P1's third, transformational technology and the unsung hero in this drama: tires. The McLaren's custom-built Pirelli P Zero Corsa (45/35ZR19 front/315/30ZR20 rear) must endure lateral acceleration (2Gs), top speed, heat and downforce comparable to a race car, but also be reasonably road-able. This is astonishing rubber. For me the "P" will always stand for Pirelli. It is a shame more people won't have the opportunity to drive a P1. It is even more of a shame I got just a handful of damp laps at DunsfoldTop Gear's famously miserable test trackas opposed to, say, a week at Paul Ricard with a transporter full of tires and technicians at my disposal. A damn shame. In any event, at least I can say I've driven it: The greatest sports car in the world. Kind of has a ring to it.
I saw it this morning at Long Island Sports and it is impressive! Joe Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Not quite! Mc Laren even disconnected the battery so the Dealer wouldn't start it. The car is a prototype and is headed to China next week. An interesting note. The car used to be orange and they repainted it for the Chinese. Joe
The greatest sports car ever made? I guess the Porsche and Ferrari don't count....hmmmm maybe a comparison test would sort things out.....
How does McLaren make ANY money on this thing, if they are truly only going to build 375 examples? 375 cars x $1.2 million = $450 million GROSS. McLaren isn't getting $450 million (obviously), so how in the world did they even pay the R&D bill for such a car? Jimmy
There's is a lot of MP4-12C in that car. Same monocell, I suspect a lot of suspension similarities, same basic engine architecture, and I suspect quite a bit more. So that has to reduce development costs, since they did not start with a clean sheet of paper
The car is based on the 12C. If it costs them $500,000 each with R&D, they are doing ok. The Press is helping them with their other cars. Joe
jimmy: i think the point of these "super cars" is to get car fanatics like us to notice the brand and enter the dealership. presumably the p1 will have a halo effect.
I think you're right. Unfortunately for McLaren, guys like me find the MP4-12C (do I have the silly sequence of numbers and letters correct?) as boring as the P1 (great name) is exciting.
They've dropped the MP4 portion of that car's name. Go try the 650S when you get a chance - less boredom, more wow factor in every way they could. >8^) ER
Did you drive one? What did you think was boring? I wound up with a 458, but I wouldn't call the McLaren boring at all.
Dropping MP4 is a bit of a shame IMO. I had the pleasure of meeting Bruce McLaren's sister in Auckland at the Bruce McLaren Trust and she told me that the MP4 designation has an interesting bit of trivia attached to it. In the mid 1970's, several years after Bruce's death, the Bruce McLaren Motor Racing Team was faced with Phillip Morris' announcement that it would no longer sponsor 2 teams. The other was Ron Dennis "Project Four" and Marlboro actually suggested the 2 teams merge. Be that true or not, the merger of McLaren and Project Four was consummated in 1980. Hence the "MP4" moniker going forward for McLaren cars. Note that in the 1970s, McLaren cars were all "Mxx", like the mighty M8D, and M23 driven by Hulme, Fittipaldi and Hunt. In the 1908s, the cars became MP4-xxs. To me, McLaren harkens back to Bruce much more than Ron Dennis and I find Bruce much more inspiring than Enzo. Bruce was a designer, constructor and driver at the highest level in sports car and formula car racing who died doing what was then so incredibly dangerous. Enzo was a bit of a dilettante driver who transitioned into the business and management side - successful to be sure, but indirectly so. Then again, Enzo was smart enough to parlay some initial personal success into Alfa factory support and a scuderia of drivers.
Certainly your opinion,but others disagree I believe he's the only writer to win a Pulitzer Prize for Automotive Criticism: from Wikipedia: In 1999, Neil received the International Motor Press Association's Ken Purdy Award for automotive journalism,[3] and in 2004 Neil won the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism,[4] presented annually to a newspaper writer who has demonstrated 'distinguished criticism,' for his LA Times column Rumble Seat. In awarding Mr. Neil, the Pulitzer board noted his "one-of-a-kind reviews of automobiles, blending technical expertise with offbeat humor and astute cultural criticism."[4] Noted journalist Brooke Gladstone called Neil "the Oscar Wilde of auto reviewers."[5]
I certainly know the history and I don't think it was a shame at all. The car was regularly criticized for its confusing name - often equated to the model number of a fax machine which is a fair assessment. Without thorough explanation it wasn't even clear to most what the '12' portion meant. Short of looking it up I would bet that most here couldn't answer that and while many would want to assume it implies the car's engine has 12 cylinders, of course we know it doesn't. Car names should never be that complicated. >8^) ER
