McLaren P15: A different shade of grey?
Newly released snippet about the upcoming P15, slotted between the 650S and P1

"McLaren CEO Mike Flewitt has been talking about the entry-level P13 for months but a McLaren spokesperson has just confirmed the company is also working on another supercar.

Speaking to Automotive News Europe, the spokesman said the new model will be launched in 2016 and be positioned between the 650S and the P1. Little else is known about the car but previous reports have indicated it have a carbon fiber monocoque chassis and a "heavily revised version" of the company's twin-turbo 3.8-liter V8 engine.

The car could cost approximately £400,000 ($673,400 / €490,624) but nothing is official as of yet."

Source [WCF}

Surprise, surprise, another variant of the same Ricardo sourced 3.8L Twin Turbo V8. This must be the best engine on planet Earth. I understand they are a small company, but color me uninspired. How 'bout something radical McLaren? I'm warming up to you. But don't be just another car maker with a "power unit" that really isn't something special to behold. The engine is the heart of every supercar. Make it special. Make it a work of art. Like the mechanicals of a million dollar watch, but built like a tank. Something over-engineered and built heavy duty like an aircraft engine but radical in design like Honda did with their Oval-piston 8 valve NR750 engine, or something else...

Discuss. Flame suit on.

 

I see your point. Here's a four model range, all powered by essentially the same engine, just more boost (overly simplified but works for the purpose of the argument), and the top one add a hybrid component. It just seems a little uninspired.

The buyer of the seven figure P1 knows his car is powered by essentially the same engine as the base model. And the buyer of the base model knows he's getting shorted of what his engine is really capable of, if he weren't so cheap (or poor).

On the other hand, McLaren's road car operation is a small company. They've got to do what they've got to do to spread development costs. No one's immune from platform sharing anymore.

 

It's real. But it is going to be called McLaren GTR, not P15. Next February or summer.

 

Yep. And to oversimplify it even more...

The way I think about it is like this: They already have some idea where they want to fit it into their product range. Built with a price range of $500K-750K.

I figure, they see what they can put togther for about $600K, that includes an upgraded/downgraded version of the current 3.8TT V8 & chassis/carbon tub. They then go to their engine supplier, Ricardo, and say "Give us a new NA petrol engine that has these attributes, A-Z" and Ricardo comes back to them and says, "Sure, we can do that. But it'll cost you $180,000 per unit instead of the $60,000 per unit of the current engine."

McLaren adds 10%-ish. Marks up the MSRP by $200K. P15 starts at $800K base. Now they have something unique, special, a never been done before hypercar ready for LeMans and anything else any owner can throw at it. Done.

Then they can choose to do a new hypercar (P1 replacement) every decade to challenge Ferrari & Porsche or continue to "upgrade" the P15 every few years to take on all challengers more efficiently.

Oversimplified, of course.

 

That sounds about right!!
or if they can dream bigger, they would start Porsche's SUV division

 

McLaren is redefining scaleability. Everyone focusses on the power-plant. Porsche has been passing a version of their 6 cylinder for nearly 50 years. I know that there have been oil cooled and water cooled and a bunch of other alternatives and questioning Porsche is like cursing the pope in the vatican. The difference with McLaren is a wider approach in the execution. Materials, aerodynamics, handling and so on. The proof is in the performance. Who really cares if the the power source is cut from the same cloth as a small number of other super cars as it goes flying by?