The F1’s successor: The McLaren MP4 12C
11th September 2009
If you lined up all the petrolheads in the world, and asked them that if they could have any car in the world, what would it be, at least 50% of them would reply “McLaren F1″. Built in the early ’90s, it was the supercar to end all supercars. The technology used to build it was at least 10 years ahead of time. There was only one front seat, located centrally, to give the driver perfect peripheral vision whilst driving. And two seats in the back so you could terrify your friends or family. The engine was the heart of it. Despite the early ’90s technology, the engine produced so much power that the engine bay was lined with solid gold, as gold is the best reflector of heat. No car before or since has been able to match the F1, let alone beat it. However, because of this it was far too expensive. £1,000,000 a pop. And if you want one now, it’ll cost you at least double that as so few were made, so many were wrecked by people with more money than brains, and it’s fame and reputation precedes it.
This is why this is such a landmark moment. The first all new McLaren. Forget the SLR; that was literally a Mercedes SL65 tuned up by McLaren. This new car is theirs and theirs alone, built from ground up by McLaren themselves. The McLaren MP4 12C.
The McLaren MP4 12C. Nothing else matters anymore.
Firstly just to get it out of the way, no, it’s not quite as fast as the F1 was (but close enough!). However it is just as groundbreaking. McLaren has explained that this car is the first of many from their new retail-focused company and they wanted it to symbolise what the new McLaren company stands for: performance and technology. And boy does it have those in spades. Let’s start with the technology.
The chassis is the heart of the car. McLaren has said that the technology to build it simply didn’t exist, even in this day an age. So they spent years creating it. It’s the only car in the world to incorporate the ’survival shell’ used in Formula 1 cars. Before now it wasn’t possible as the cockpit in a road car is too big for a survival shell to work (which works using the same physics that prevent an egg from being crushed lengthways). But McLaren has bridged that problem, creating an entire spaceframe chassis made from just a single piece of carbon fibre, for maximum strength. It’s designed so the bodywork will crumple around the cabin in a crash, without intruding past the shell and causing significant injury to the occupants. This is a lot of geek speak and you’re very bored, I know, but it’s a world’s first, and could well be implemented into other high performance sports cars in the future.
The survival shell, built into the chassis. Basically a tub that stops mangled bodywork from getting anywhere near you.
The groundbreaking technology doesn’t stop there either. This is the ‘greenest’ car ever made. No really, i’m serious. Not only does it produce the least CO2 emissions of any supercar, but it also produces less CO2/km per horsepower of any car on the market at all. Yep, that means that Hybrid-engined Toyota Prius you’ve been smugly driving is a planet-killing Range Rover compared to this. Greenpeace activists everywhere are lost for words. Although I should point out that the statistic is the lowest CO2/km per horsepower. And this car has just over 600bhp. But shhh!
The car is also styled following function in all aspects. The bodywork is extremely aerodynamically efficient. So efficient in fact that it doesn’t even have any door handles, as that spoils the efficiency. To get in and out, you slide your hand under a touch-sensitive panel on the door (look at the first picture and you’ll see where I mean). And to stop people stealing your car, the panel will only activate if your wireless keycard is in range (so if you lose it, you’re stuffed), so thieves can’t break in. The wingmirrors are almost like antennae to give optimum aerodynamic efficiency. Most of the back bumper is one big radiator grille to allow the engine (mounted in the middle of the car for - you guessed it - efficiency) to get rid of hot air, whilst two huge intake gills flank the sides of the car elegantly, sucking in cool air into the engine as you drive along.
The interior is not what you’d expect. You were expecting lots of colour and vibrance and “look at me!” stuff, weren’t you? No. That’s just not McLaren’s style. It’s attractive enough and very stylish, but in the cleanest and most professional way possible. Not sure about the signature red tick on the steering wheel though. Someone might mistake the car for a giant Nike trainer.
Sports seats and laden with computer technology, yet all very clean and stylish.
And lastly, performance? Well the engine defies belief. It’s much smaller than you’d expect - a 3.8L twin-turbo V8. But it produces 600bhp and a meaty 443lb/ft of torque. But what makes this car so fast is that nearly all of the total power is available from just 2,000rpm, rather than 5 or 6 thousand like most supercars, making it alarmingly fast. The speed is also helped by the car’s weight (or rather, lack of it). It’ll weigh just under 1,400kg. To give you an idea, a Peugeot 206 GTi weighs just under 1,100kg.
The actual performance figures aren’t out yet, but they’ve coyly hinted at 0-60mph in around 3 seconds and a top speed of 200mph+. I doubt the official figures will stray too far from that either. It’s a McLaren after all.
Best bit? Price. It’s not going to be a million quid like the F1. Far from it. Just £150,000. The same as a bog-standard Ferrari F430. And if this price tag stays, Ferrari will have a lot to worry about. They don’t have a single car under £200,000 that is anywhere near as good as this.
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