New Mclaren Finally Revealed: To Be Called The MP4-12C
September 10, 2009
It’s finally here, after waiting nearly two decades, Mclaren has finally released it’s all-new and all-Mclaren roadcar – the 2011 MP4-12C. The car features modern styling that was designed to be timeless and relevant for years to come. And while the car may look generic and like every other Ferrari, Lotus or whatever you can come up with, Mclaren points out that virtually every aspect was designed to be fully functional. The new car also carries traditional Mclaren cues, but that’s mostly limited to the F1-inspired dihedral doors and air scoops that resemble the Mclaren logo. At the rear, the car features LED taillights and center-mounted dual exhaust tips.
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Inside things are rather different than the original F1, the MP4-12C comes with a luxurious cabin with a slim center console, and a 7-inch touch screen. Other design features include a low cowl for improved visibility, a button-less sports steering wheel, and door-mounted climate control knobs.
The MP4-12C is powered by a mid-mounted 3.8-liter twin-turbo V8 engine which produces around 600bhp and 600Nm of torque. And thanks to a dry sump and a flat plane crankshaft, the engine can be effectively placed extremely low in the chassis for a low center of gravity which naturally improves handling. And putting all that power to the tarmac is a seven-speed “Seamless Shift” dual clutch gearbox (with the usual normal, sport and high performance modes).
Till now Mclaren has not released any performance data but they did state that they focused on “useable measures such as in-gear acceleration times, braking performance, the efficiency of power delivery, and achieving the lowest possible fuel consumption and CO2 emissions.”
As you would expect, McLaren drew heavily on their racing knowledge when developing the MP4-12C. For example, the car rides on an 80 kg (176 lbs) one-piece carbon fiber chassis – dubbed the Carbon MonoCell – which was specially designed to be lightweight, strong, and durable. The supercar also features an advanced Brake Steer system, which helps to cancel out understeer when entering corners as well as providing improved traction on the way out. Other performance features include forged aluminum brake hubs, an Airbrake system and a Pre-Cog transmission function that “primes” the gearbox for the next shift.
More information on the MP4-12C as it approaches its 2011 launch date.
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Nice update keshy.. been following your updates for sometime already.. good job =) love reading your post.
looks like the smiley car theme is popular nowadays….
so are those high mounted exhaust exits.
Thanks MetalHead.. Appreciate the support..
well , tis maybe the ultimate supercar, has good power – 600hp , small displacement engine 3800cc compared to other supercars. As a mclaen handling is going to be superb and its very very light body frame weighs ony 80kg which is gona make tis car fast. One of the key ideas to produe tis car was having good fuel consumption in mind , well thats a first for supercars currently porsche has the record with 10km/liter so lets see how well tis does.
Overall with that price tag tis car is gona be selling fast and there are posibilities it may come to malaysia and singapore. Estimated base price in Malaysia should be around RM 1.5 million and this is much better then the ferrari california and ferrari 599gtb which retails above RM 1.8 million.
Well just have to see wad happens when this baby hits the road, wonder wads its top end , im guesinng 200mph hopefully , Nissan R35 GTR already does 193 mph so this car has more hp.
It is said that the price tag of this car will be higher than the F458 and LP5650-4 due to the extensive usage of CFRP, especially the body frame.
Ravingill, how can you speculate/ estimate the price based on a proto car? Also just because there is a name McLaren does not mean it would be the best handling supercar out there. Mind you their old Mc F1 is a mid seater car. Everything is almost balanced to a +. This one you sit on let of right depend on market. That would affect the handling too. Don’t get too excited about it. Even the designer say this would not replace the original. And he damn well knows why.
Also with the current economy. Supercar sales are dropping like flies everywhere. You can say people will line up to buy it. But later you can see cancellations. And then this car would probably be McLarens downfall. I presume, this car would go with market flow, rather than watchers & admirers market.
80kg is only the bare chassis! Not the whole car! You can only calculate the power to weight with nett weight of the car.
Don’t be blinded by McLaren badge so easily. Especially when nowdays its so modern and there are so many supercars with better packages coming out.
I think they are right to price above 458 Italia, LP560-4 etc. None of the MP4-12C’s rivals can boast a carbon cockpit. Even the next higher segment cars – 599GTB, LP640 don’t feature it. Only the top most segment feature it – ENZO, CarreraGT, Zonda etc
McLaren is also not pinning it’s hopes on this car to fulfill expectations created by the Mc F1. They have made it clear which market this car is intended for. Polishing the McLaren brand will be done by another model intended to go against the ENZOs, Zondas etc.. That would be the exciting one. In that context, this MP4-12C is already an impressive product even though outward styling is a little conservative. The looks don’t do justice to what’s underneath
3 points on the design,
1. Is that particular design the most efficient and effective as a car that goes really quick?
2. Did the Lotus design ppl get lousy paychecks and move to another town and join Mclaren instead?
3. Are the Mclaren design ppl worse than the Porsche’s, i.e. copy from other people instead of copy from your predecessors?