McLaren P1 - Lean Green Race Machine!

In 2011 McLaren made a comeback as a performance car manufacturer with the MP4-12C road car. The first mass-production McLaren-only car ever! Essentially a comfy road car that took a few motorsport inspired parts; such as the carbon tub, to transform it into a fantastic supercar. It was and still is a hugely successful car, claiming a host of awards and putting McLaren firmly back on the motoring map!

Not wanting to rest on their laurels, McLaren have come back again now and brought us the brief for the McLaren P1 road car. Not intended to be as mass produced as the 12C (only 375 units will be produced) they could spend more and cram it with even more racing technology. They really didn't hold back. 

Perhaps the most important element of the P1 is the fact it is officially a hybrid. Hybrid cars are becoming more and more popular, however this is probably one of the first times electric power has been used in such a racey road car. The 'old fashioned' gas-guzzling engine is a 3.8 litre twin turbo petrol, once you add the electric motor into the mix the P1 has an official power figure of 903hp! Electric or not you really can't argue with that kind of horsepower. As any electrician will tell you, power from electricity is instantaneous, which is why the P1 has a gross amount of torque no matter where you are in the rev range - giving it a key advantage over its class rivals. The wave of boost and electricity will see the P1 and its lucky driver up to a governed top speed of 217mph, fast enough to beat the 12C, not as fast as the old record setting F1. That's the only area where the P1 is outdone by the F1 though, the stopwatch shows the P1 hitting 300km/h (186mph) in an astonishing 17seconds. Lets put that in context:

• McLaren F1 - 22seconds
• Ferrari Enzo - 26 seconds
• Audi R8 Le-Mans Racecar - 17seconds

That's right, this road legal "eco-car" will run to nearly 190mph as fast as an official LeMans race car. If that doesn't make you take electric motors seriously - we don't know what will!

Another truly staggering part of the P1 is its monocage structure, which is mainly carbon fibre with trace elements of kevlar and is five times the strength of titanium...despite weighing a mere 90kg, which for some people is a light lunch.

The body is littered in aerodynamic aids, key of which is the adjustable rear wing that can adjust its distance from the body and tilt angle dependent on conditions and speeds to provide maximum downforce and traction. The suspension is also fully adjustable and can raise/lower but crucially, stiffen. Testing has shown with the suspension in Race mode the P1 can generate a ridiculous 2G in the corners. 

As with most supercars these days there are a good number of acronyms thrown into the spec-list, thankfully those used with the P1 are all masculine-sounding and derived from McLarens F1 developments. IPAS (Instant Power Assist System) is a direct development of the KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System) used in F1 - which provides additional power 'at the touch of a button' Who wouldn't want that?!

The P1's good looks are almost totally by chance, the car has been designed from the ground up to have one of the lowest drag coefficients of any road going production vehicle (a goal it has achieved!) and to provide extreme levels of downforce for optimum handling and traction (600kg at 161mph by the way, which is a fair bit to say the least) - McLaren firmly believe in function over form. We can't help but admire the way this thing sits though, all squat and jet-fighter like, really the mental angles and smooth lines would seem more at home on a Lamborghini than a British engineering marvel. 

Inside the P1 is adorned with the usual trappings of carbon fibre and alcantara; perhaps the two most traditional "race road car" materials, however you also get a nice touch screen display and a bunch of kit you expect on a Grand Tourer more than this ultra-light weight tech-fest racecar, satellite navigation, TFT displays for the driver information displays and a Meridian surround sound system! That's right the same blokes who kit out Range Rovers audio needs. 

The tricky bit for the majority is of course the price tag; full carbon monocages and Meridian stereos don't come cheap, hence the £866,000 OTR price. Yeah we feel faint too. Not that it matters, since production is strictly limited to 375 units...and we hear they're all sold. 

Words Andy Pilcher      Images McLaren Automotive