McLaren's new baby

By Samuel Ee

MCLAREN Automotive has unveiled the McLaren MP4-12C, the first in a series of high-performance sports cars to be produced by the car manufacturing division of the F1 outfit.

The specifications are indeed drool-worthy. Drawing on its expertise and experience gleaned from Formula One racing, the two-seater mid-engined 12C features an unusual one-piece carbon fibre chassis structure.

The power is provided by a bespoke McLaren 3.8-litre turbocharged V8 packing a whopping 600 hp and mated to a McLaren seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox.

It will boast F1 technology like Brake Steer, which McLaren pioneered in 1997 and which dials out understeer on entry into a corner and improves traction on the way out.

The company that has produced iconic autos like the McLaren F1 supercar of the 1990s and the Mercedes- Benz SLR McLaren luxury sports car earlier this decade, says its latest model will be launched in 2011 - when economic conditions are expected "to be much improved".

Only 1,000 units will be produced in its first year and the MP4-12C will cost about £125,000. It will target the £125,000 to £175,000 segment currently occupied by competitors such as the Ferrari 458, Lamborghini Gallardo, Porsche 911 Turbo, Bentley Continental GT and Aston Martin DB9.

In Singapore, these cars - except for the 458 which isn't here yet - are approximately priced between S$600,000 and S$800,000.

McLaren Automotive will distribute the 12C and future models through a brand new retail network in all global markets, adding that it "plans to go on sale in Singapore in 2011, but has not yet selected a retailer".

The 12C is said to offer performance and technology that "exceeds that of the world's most expensive and sophisticated supercars, while competing in a much more accessible market segment".

All its parts are bespoke and unique to the car. In other words, it is pure McLaren. And extremely lightweight.

Driver and passenger sit close to each other to allow a narrower, lighter body. The brakes with forged aluminium hubs weigh less than optional carbon ceramic brakes, while the small, compact downsized engine coupled to compact transmission minimises vehicle length, weight and polar moment of inertia.

Significant weight was pared off the alloy wheels through intensive Finite Element Analysis of wall thicknesses and the engine cooling radiators were rear-mounted to be as close to the engine as possible, thus reducing the pipework and the fluids contained within.

McLaren says there is a reason for everything, from the design to the name - MP4-12C. MP4 stands for McLaren Project 4 and has been the chassis designation for all McLaren Formula 1 cars since 1981.

The 12 refers to McLaren's internal Vehicle Performance Index for key performance criteria, while C is for carbon and represents the car's revolutionary Carbon MonoCell.

samuelee@sph.com.sg

 

This article was first published in The Business Times.