"Mega Mac" to be unveiled in May
#1
03-18-2012, 10:17 AM
"Mega Mac" to be unveiled in May McLaren won't chase world speed record
Reclaiming title of world’s fastest car isn’t on the agenda for Britain’s supercar brand.
McLaren boss Ron Dennis has revealed the company’s new supercar won’t be as quick as its legendary F1 from the 1990s – at least in terms of top speed.
Speaking at the opening of the new Trivett McLaren dealership in Sydney last night, Dennis revealed more details about the spiritual successor to the F1, including a May unveiling. He says trying to beat the F1’s top speed of 391km/h, or the new record holding Bugatti Veyron, isn’t a goal.
“[The MP4-12C] will go around any circuit in the world faster than an F1,” Dennis says. “Don’t get fixated by top speed. That’s the first thing you have to discard in today’s society.”
Instead, he promises to reveal the world’s most technologically advanced supercar to take on rivals from Ferrari, Porsche and Lamborghini.
“What you’ve got to have is a complete package of performance,” he says. “You’ve got to embrace technologies that are out there that are accepted, and some that don’t even exist. I can tell you our next car has many things on it that don’t exist at the moment.”
“It will be a relatively low volume, between 300 and 500, car that will be more expensive and we hope will be hailed as the most innovative, creative supercar of its time,” he adds. “A big quantum leap and very different to this car [the 12C].”
He confirmed that the carbon fibre central structure of the 12C, dubbed monocell by the company, will be used on both the supercar and a new, cheaper model to sit underneath the 12C.
The McLaren-designed 3.8-litre twin turbo V8 engine will also be carried over, albeit with more performance; and possibly more capacity. It is likely to be coupled with a hybrid system to boost performance and cut fuel consumption.
But one thing that will be radically different to the 12C will be the styling. Dennis admits the 12C is deliberately conservative and says the new hero car of the range won’t be a shrinking violet.
“A level of aggressivity in the styling which is just now accepted as a need,” he says. “Trust me, it will look entirely different.”
The new car will also be more liveable than the F1, including using a conventional two-seater layout instead of the F1’s three-seater set-up. But he says what it lacks in purity it will make up for with more technology.
“There is so much legislation that ... making another F1 is extremely challenging,” he says. “You just couldn’t make it. To get it to be compliant [with the road rules] you’d never get it to that weight."
"So you’ve got to look at a completely different direction. You’ve got to embrace a lot of new technologies. If you’ve a supercar buyer now there are a range of must-haves now that you could never have in the F1.
“That’s just not accepted now. It’s too raw, too firm, too aggressive. The way to the future, and expectations from the customers, is a far greater level of sophistication.”
He did joke that given the money the F1 still demands from customers, he was tempted to build more.
“I was very tempted, I’ve got all the old tooling, why don’t I just knock out a few more! Now you’d get screams from the existing owners, but I thought ‘if I make 100..."
McLaren boss Ron Dennis has revealed the company’s new supercar won’t be as quick as its legendary F1 from the 1990s – at least in terms of top speed.
Speaking at the opening of the new Trivett McLaren dealership in Sydney last night, Dennis revealed more details about the spiritual successor to the F1, including a May unveiling. He says trying to beat the F1’s top speed of 391km/h, or the new record holding Bugatti Veyron, isn’t a goal.
“[The MP4-12C] will go around any circuit in the world faster than an F1,” Dennis says. “Don’t get fixated by top speed. That’s the first thing you have to discard in today’s society.”
Instead, he promises to reveal the world’s most technologically advanced supercar to take on rivals from Ferrari, Porsche and Lamborghini.
“What you’ve got to have is a complete package of performance,” he says. “You’ve got to embrace technologies that are out there that are accepted, and some that don’t even exist. I can tell you our next car has many things on it that don’t exist at the moment.”
“It will be a relatively low volume, between 300 and 500, car that will be more expensive and we hope will be hailed as the most innovative, creative supercar of its time,” he adds. “A big quantum leap and very different to this car [the 12C].”
He confirmed that the carbon fibre central structure of the 12C, dubbed monocell by the company, will be used on both the supercar and a new, cheaper model to sit underneath the 12C.
The McLaren-designed 3.8-litre twin turbo V8 engine will also be carried over, albeit with more performance; and possibly more capacity. It is likely to be coupled with a hybrid system to boost performance and cut fuel consumption.
But one thing that will be radically different to the 12C will be the styling. Dennis admits the 12C is deliberately conservative and says the new hero car of the range won’t be a shrinking violet.
“A level of aggressivity in the styling which is just now accepted as a need,” he says. “Trust me, it will look entirely different.”
The new car will also be more liveable than the F1, including using a conventional two-seater layout instead of the F1’s three-seater set-up. But he says what it lacks in purity it will make up for with more technology.
“There is so much legislation that ... making another F1 is extremely challenging,” he says. “You just couldn’t make it. To get it to be compliant [with the road rules] you’d never get it to that weight."
"So you’ve got to look at a completely different direction. You’ve got to embrace a lot of new technologies. If you’ve a supercar buyer now there are a range of must-haves now that you could never have in the F1.
“That’s just not accepted now. It’s too raw, too firm, too aggressive. The way to the future, and expectations from the customers, is a far greater level of sophistication.”
He did joke that given the money the F1 still demands from customers, he was tempted to build more.
“I was very tempted, I’ve got all the old tooling, why don’t I just knock out a few more! Now you’d get screams from the existing owners, but I thought ‘if I make 100..."
#2
03-18-2012, 11:51 AM
Lame. Doesn't sound like a worthy successor at all. If they're not going for top speed, they're going to have to try awfully hard to just make a marked improvement over the 12C and most other supercars that will cost substantially less.
Yes, it'll have exclusivity on its side but I'm a little disappointed they aren't going for more.
Yes, it'll have exclusivity on its side but I'm a little disappointed they aren't going for more.
#5
03-18-2012, 02:16 PM
I agree. How can you call it a F1 successor if it isn't a 3 seater and isn't top speed orientated? They should just call it their Halo car instead.
#6
03-18-2012, 02:50 PM
I like the idea of a fresh approach. I always thought that the 3 seat thing was a bit gimmicky. I get the idea of the F1driver position but I would suggest that you have 1 passenger more often than 2. It's kind of weird to have someone looking over your shoulder by themselves. I think that it is natural to let the form evolve. Let's face it, it's been 20 years. It's not like a 911 all of a sudden going to a front engine design. As far as top speed is concern, it may be the most useless parameter for evaluating a car. It is nearly impossible even under track conditions to get to the top speed of any car. How the car manages the test circuits means more to me. I am very eager to see if this car can top the top ferraris and track bred cars. I wouldn't be surprised if it smokes everything in that regard.
#7
03-18-2012, 04:28 PM
Great points jay. Top speed is absolutely useless IMO. But there are other fundamental characteristics any f1 successor should retain.
