In the past couple of years, Malaysia has seen many premium brands setting up shop in Kuala Lumpur to accommodate for the growing market in our beloved country. Ferrari and Porsche are amongst the strongest premium automotive brands in the country and not forgetting Lamborghini and Bentley who has captured the lucky few in the country who are able to afford these million bucks vehicles. However, there is one brand that has taken the world by storm but has yet to take a pit-stop to Malaysia and set-up shop until now. We’re talking about McLaren.
After being away from production cars for almost 20 years; McLaren has slipped into the game and beating the best in the business in a short period of time. The McLaren MP4-12C has been with us now for almost 3 years and it is about time it reach our shores to amaze the niche market in Malaysia.
Ahead of their boutique showroom launch late next month, Sime Darby Auto Britannia conducted a private preview for their flagship model – the MP4-12c Coupe and Spider. Held in anticipation of the 12C being available in Malaysia soon, the iconic British brand will be the newest brand in our niche automotive market.
“The 12C and 12C Spider are unique vehicles as these “pure” driver-focused sports cars offer both high performance and everyday drivability. All McLaren vehicles have and will continue to set new standards of performance while maintaining excellence in drivability, comfort and efficiency,” explained Mirko Bordiga, McLaren Automotive Regional Director for Asia Pacific.
Designed and built like no other sports car, the 12C was derived from McLaren’s world championship-winning Formula 1 heritage. A team of world-class designers and engineers with hands-on Grand Prix experience were brought together to develop a car that is totally focused around the driver, offering an all round performance.
Powered by a 3.8-litre twin-turbo V8 – the McLaren 12C produces a mind boggling 616bhp and 600nm of torque at the disposal of the right foot. Mated with the seven-speed SSG transmission, the 12C will accelerate from Zerotohundred in 3 seconds (3.1 seconds for the Spider) and will continue its speed all the way to a high point of 333km/h.
The bodyshell is famously known for its carbon fibre MonoCell chassis that sets for greater strength and lower weight, boasting a competitive advantage against its competitors. Bringing McLaren’s F1 technology and ‘know-how’ to their production cars; the 12C is flourished with F1 gizmos like Brake Steer and ‘active’ aerodynamic system that will push the car to its limits and tickle the funny bone of the driver with enjoyment at the same time.
Elaborating on McLaren Kuala Lumpur’s soon-to-open sales gallary, Bordiga said, “Our new flagship gallery in Kuala Lumpur is in line with our plans to aggressively expand in the Asia region in order to tap the fast growing number of high net worth potential buyers in robust economies like Malaysia”
According to the head of sales for McLaren Asia, “Asia is McLaren’s largest market by sales and is expected to continue to grow rapidly as sports car enthusiasts have developed a more sophisticated appreciation over the recent years”
We look forward to McLaren’s opening in Kuala Lumpur as it will set pace to the increasing number of supercars on Malaysian roads and as always, we’d love to see more of these fast machines attacking Sepang, especially at our very own TIMETOATTACK event. Afterall, the fastest car from our last TIMETOATTACK in May was a McLaren MP4-12C.
