Mclaren may use Honda engines again..

I think that's good news. right now there are only 4 engine makers in F1, I'd like to see a few (Honda, of course, and BMW, or Ford) get back into it.

hopefully they learned their lesson on trying to be constructors

 

As McLaren and Honda fan, this is my ultimate dream. Though the 2014 V6 turbo should be pretty relevant to road cars and be good appeal for oem's to come back as engine mfr's I just can't see Honda doing it. They're a very different company to the one even 10 years ago. This is the same that pulled out of F1 with a WDC/WCC car in hand and stopped production on the NSX just as it was to begin after many years of development. Honda is an appliance company now.

McLaren BMW would be just as good for me.

 

McLaren with BMW Power made a nice little road car back in the day.

 

Nice car indeed. BMW was second choice for that though, only after McLaren practically begged Honda and got turned down. Whatever the case, I do prefer McLaren BMW going forward. Honda is close to dead to me now.

 

Just listen to classic Honda F1 + Senna!

http://youtu.be/UvQ8qYN4AHQ

and some nostalgia! LMAO @ the Smooth Jazz music but watch it!!

What an Engine!

Oscar

 

That because Honda refused to make the V12, although Gordon Murray tried as hard as he could ,,, he was left with no option.

Oscar

 

Steve, even with all their success, I can't help but remember the Arrows debacle....

 

I don't think TWR was involved (but I could easily be wrong..). Season was 91, I don't believe Porsche lasted out the year, the team had a miserable time qualifying and I'm sure they had high expectations based on the TAG success.
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+1

 

The only thing he was a fan of was himself..... The slimy underbelly of motor sport right there IMO.

I haven't checked, but IIRC he was involved with quite a few F1 teams over the years and it nearly always ended in tears..... The Shadow & Arrows split, buying into Benetton then backing out and others.

Cheers,
Ian

 

I can see some of the thinking behind this, if it's true.

Honda have got a great reputation when it comes to turbo race engines which could easily give McLaren a big advantage.

Also, I've always had the impression that during the entire McLaren/Mercedes partnership there has been a feeling that Mercedes were taking a lot more credit for the success of the team than McLaren really wanted.

It always used to be Norbert Haug of Mercedes doing the press interviews and being at the forefront of any winning celebrations, and it was always about the efforts that Mercedes made in order to achieve the result, rarely McLaren.

I know that at the time they were more than just mere engine suppliers and put a lot of money into the team but I've always got the feeling that it jarred with McLaren how much credit Mercedes took.

When Mercedes decided to drop their interest in McLaren and became just an engine supplier, there was almost a visible sigh of relief at McLaren that the team was there own again.

 

Great news for everyone. Especially Honda. Good chance to help boost their car sales.

 

Slight correction - maybe it is semantics - but Honda was willing to build an engine for the McLaren F1 road car it just wasn't to the exact specification that Gordon Murray was looking for.

I've heard a different rumor about the future power plant that will be found in McLaren's Formula One cars. I'd be fine with either of the two suggested here in Honda or BMW but would be thrilled to see the third option come to fruition.

>8^)
ER

 

Thank god, hopefully they can recapture a bit of the magic from the 80's. Let's not forget that Honda provided the engines for what were arguably McLarens best years.

 

McLaren engine?

I don´t see Honda or BMW coming back so soon after their quite ignominious departure. Besides that, these are hard times and spending lots of money in a comeback after spending lots of money in a F1 team wich they had left stranded just a few years ago doesn´t make sense from a financial point of view.

I think that McLaren will stick to Mercedes engines for a few years more. Those engines are very good, and they can pay 8 millions per year. And Mercedes own team still sucks, so they will be interested in supplying engines to McLaren too.

 

True, but bear in mind...Honda's planning to comeback as a supplier...not as a team. That would be a huge difference in costs. You mentioned BMW...a comeback for them on the cards as well?

 

Thanks for the correction. I never knew that. Reading Gordon Murray's article again, I see how those words could have been misinterpreted. Can I assume Honda wouldn't give McLaren anything more than a V6? I'm glad McLaren didn't feel attached enough to them to put in a V6 TT or even V8 TT. It wouldn't have been as great a car with anything other than a NA V10 or V12.

 

I would have to look back in the text of "Driving Ambition" to fully confirm, but from what I recall Honda were interested in building a streetable version of the 3.5L V12 engine they were providing McLaren in Formula One at the time. Gordon knew that wasn't what he wanted hence the search for another supplier.

Interestingly, Isuzu were keen to build the engine Gordon wanted but he knew that they lacked the credibility as a performance engine supplier that would be required for the project so no-go there either.

>8^)
ER

 

Do you have a source for for Honda's keenness to build a 3.5L V12? That seems very unlikely considering how restrained they were with the NSX, and the fact that they still haven't put anything more than a V6 to production. Here's the quote from the article regarding the engine:

https://docs.google.com/View?docid=dggtsppm_6cgtnscht

 

Peloton25's version is how I remember it being. Gordan wanted a large displacement V12, and Honda didn't think they could pull it off, they'd go as far as a small displacement based of the F1 engine, but didn't feel like stepping into new/bigger territory.

 

I'll add whatever info "Driving Ambition" contains on the subject later on this evening.

There is a thread in the British section here on FChat that has 4 YouTube clips that show the entire program.

>8^)
ER