Come Wednesday the 9th of September McLaren Automotive will unveil one of the most anticipated supercars of the year, if not this decade. Following months of many spy shots and some official details, the MP4-12C will be presented.

 

That looks really clean. I can't wait to see better photos.

 

Autocar article:

McLaren MP4-12C supercar named

McLaren's new supercar will be called the MP4-12C.

The car, which as previously known by its codename, P11, will be unveiled this Wednesday, but company boss Ron Dennis revealed the name in an interview with the Sunday Times newspaper.

Dennis also outlined McLaren's plans to build three new models over the next six years, eventually churning out 4000 cars a year.

“We’re building more than one car; we’re building a brand,” he said.

The McLaren MP4-12C name that echoes the company’s history in Formula One racing, according to Dennis.

Dennis also revealed some technical details of the car, stressing that it was a supercar that could be used everyday. To this end, it has self-adjusting suspension that varies the damper settings according to conditions. Power comes from a V8 engine, controlled via a seven-speed gearbox.

Inside, the sat-nav system has a wi-fi connection, allowing owners to download maps and music to the car’s onboard computer, while a floating centre console similar to the one found in some Volvos is reported to give the interior a futuristic feel.

The McLaren MP4-12C will cost £150,000 and McLaren hopes to sell 1000 in the first year. The mooted on-sale date is currently at some point in 2011.

It will be followed by two more as yet unnamed sports cars bearing the McLaren badge by 2015.

The first will be an entry-level model to rival the standard Porsche 911, which costs from £60,000; the second, a model to fill the gap left by the discontinued Carrera GT, which cost £330,000 in 2004.

Autocar - McLaren MP4-12C supercar named

 

I don't like the design one bit. It looks like a dull chinese copy of a Noble M14.
Seriously, at least give the car some curves. If this is the final design there are no words for how dissapointed I am.

 

 

+1.

 

No matter what they introduce at this point, it'll be a disappointment. Nothing can ever compare to the F1 and trying to eke out some heritage out of the McLaren name just to sell this uninspired, overweight, cookie-cutter, wannabe super car is a travesty.

 

Is that really the final name? It couldn't have been more lame.. Other than that, it's got to be one heck of a car!

 

I somewhat agree, but the problem with trying to compete at that level would be that whatever they come up with would need to trump not only the F1, but the Veyron as well. Not so easy to do these days, with the safety requirements. There's a reason the Veyron is so much heavier than an F1.

So, what's the market for another $1MM+ hypercar, versus the (relatively) thriving F4XX/Gallardo market segment? I can't fault their business reasoning.

Besides, taking the long view, the supercar market is reaching a point these days where rear-wheel drive cars are reaching performance limits dictated by tire adhesion more than anything else. 500HP+ in a light car is hard to deploy effectively (see the Koenigsegg v whatever videos - it's not until the thing hooks up that it starts to move away from the competitor). So, now we're seeing all the AWD supercars (Lambos, Veyron, 997TT, Audi R8, etc.). In order to keep up in a straight line, these cars are sacrificing driving pleasure, nimbleness, hang-out-the-tail-ability. For McLaren to build a viable Veyron-beater, it would essentially *have* to AWD, which would spoil other areas of the driving experience.

This is of course a generalization. Ferrari seem to do just fine with RWD, but their focus has never been on being the *absolute* fastest machine out there (not that they're slow, by any means), and no-one's arguing that a GT2 isn't quicker than a TT in every metric, but more and more, choosing a hypercar is about trading off ultimate driver enjoyment against ultimate bragging rights.

 

Very good point, PMac.

With all of the safety and technology that is required in every modern vehicle to be approved by the NHTSA and DOT, it'd be almost impossible to build anything as pure and focused as the McLaren F1 is/was. I think that you are absolutely right about the tires though. For instance, both the Veyron and the Koenigsegg run similar Michelin Pilot Sport 2's. With AWD, the Veyron gets far more off the line traction compared to the 'Segg. Even if a tire was developed that could offer better traction than anything currently available without being so soft that the tread simply disintegrates with all of the rotational forces applied to it at 250 MPH, it would still be better suited to an AWD platform simply because delivering the power to 4 wheels is more effective than delivering the same amount of power to just 2 wheels.

Additionally, many of these modern safety features don't just add weight to the vehicle but dictate the shape as well. A higher hood line is required on modern vehicles to help protect pedestrians in low speed impacts but this certainly hurts aerodynamics.

As you also mentioned, there is a far larger market for mid level supercars in line with the F430, LP560, et al than there is for multi-million dollar flagship hypercars. It's a shame to see McLaren is tapping into this market instead of doing what they do best with building the absolute epitome of automotive engineering, but hey, if it'll help them sell all of their cars, then so be it.