Posts Tagged ‘McLaren’
McLaren releases montage of MP4-12C lapping ‘Ring in 7 min, 28 sec
It’s finally happened. The good people at McLaren have taken their latest wonder child, the MP4-12C, out for a bit of abuse around the Nürburgring to see how the supercar would perform on one of the world’s greatest road courses. With Horst von Saurma-Jeltsch, Editor In Chief of Sport Auto, behind the wheel, the Mclaren MP4-12C was able to clip around the ‘Ring in seven minutes and 28 seconds. That puts the carbon-fiber creation just ahead of vehicles like the Porsche 911 GT3 and Pagani Zonda F and four seconds behind metal like the Gumpert Apollo Sport.
Report: McLaren Automotive to introduce a new product every year
Introducing a new vehicle every year is perfectly normal for a Formula 1 team like McLaren, which brings a new grand prix racer to the grid for every championship. Less so for an automaker that offers only one model range, but according to reports, McLaren Automotive plans to bring a new product to market each year moving forward.
Following up on past offerings like the legendary McLaren F1 and the SLR jointly developed with Mercedes-Benz, the new MP4-12C is the first offering from the new McLaren Automotive. But it won’t be the last. It’s already introduced a GT3 racing variant of the MP4, and is reportedly in the process of developing a roadster variant, as well. Beyond that, reports have linked McLaren with a 911-fighter to slot in below the MP4, and a stratospheric hyper-car to slot in above. With three core ranges in store, that could give McLaren enough space to launch variants of each for years to come.
While the key to its meeting ever-restricting environmental regulations rests in its lightweight construction, the British racing-team-turned-automaker is also said to be working on bringing battery-assisted propulsion – similar, we’d suspect, to the KERS regenerative braking system found in its latest Formula 1 racers – to the street, reportedly already managing to extract a single horsepower out of a lithium-ion fuel cell no larger than a AA battery.
Autocar pits McLaren F1 against MP4-12C
Awesome. Guttural. Vicious. Even though the youngest of the 100 McLaren F1 models produced was built 13 years ago, the machine still conjures some of the very best words the English language has to offer polite society. It was only a matter of time before someone lined up the old king of the roost against the new McLaren MP4-12C to find out which is the better weapon for assaulting track records. Autocar has done exactly that, and it’s been so kind as to work up an excellent video of the experience.
McLaren MP4-12C GT3
McLaren has just unveiled the racing version of its all-new street-fighting MP4-12C. The McLaren MP4-12C GT3 has been out running England’s Silverstone circuit with new test driver Álvaro Parente at the wheel. The race-version of McLaren’s new coupe is nearly four inches wider than the street version. It also features completely reworked suspension, which was first tested on McLaren’s in-house simulator.
Power is provided by the same 3.8-liter twin-turbo V8 found in the standard MP4-12C. However, in GT3 guise, the setup has been tuned for the track. A paddle-shifted Ricardo-designed transmission takes the place of the seven-speed unit found in the street car. Upgraded brakes have also been fitted to this race-prepped McLaren. Video after the break
Could this happen?

Heavy rumors have been circulating the F1 paddock area in recent times about the deteriorating relationship between the McLaren F1 team and Mercedes. This was most probably sparked by the cheating scandal which saw McLaren lose the 2007 Championship with Ferrari claiming the title; Mercedes never quite forgave them for that one. To add fuel to the fire, it has recently been said that Mercedes is possibly considering a large stake purchase in the Brawn F1 team, who is already an F1 engine customer of the German manufacturer.
Now, another piece of interesting news has popped up: McLaren F1 are seeking to purchase the departing BMW F1 team’s engine production operation. Is it a rumor? No one knows as of yet.

What could be fantastic about this piece of news? Well, many car lovers all over the world will remember that the last time McLaren and BMW shacked up, they gave birth to a legend: the McLaren F1 road car. Could we see another supercar come to life in the near future? I’ll leave you to dream up your thoughts.
Stay tuned! Pun intended.
elwehbi@brakebanzeen
This post was written by guest blogger, El Wehbi, from the automotive blog Brake Banzeen! To read more of his work, visit http://brakebanzeen.wordpress.com.








