McLaren News

New vehicle market slips by almost 40,000 units in July as new financial year rolls in

Luxury SUV sales growth continues during first five months of 2016.

As the F1 machines thrill the fans trackside at Albert Park next weekend, the big-name marques will make tactical moves on potential buyers in the hospitality precinct.

Shane van Gisbergen has achieved his first triumph at Mount Panorama, steering McLaren's maiden win in the Bathurst 12 Hour yesterday.

Mix the Mountain with GT3 action — and a stellar show of exotics is lured to Bathurst.

If you thought house prices were going through the roof, there may be another way to make fast money.

Cops up the pace in McLaren V8

McLaren, the grand prix powerhouse, is aiming at Porsche as it cuts the starting price for its supercars in Australia.

Later this month Ferrari will show off its newest supercar, the 488 GTB, to Australian customers.First drive reviews suggest it's a more than worthy replacement for the fabulous 458. But if Italian supercars are not your style, brands from Germany, Japan, Britain and the US are lining up to tempt the supercar enthusiast.The second generation of Ingolstadt's supercar evolves the original design but is built around a new aluminium and carbon fibre space-frame. A 5.2-litre V10 engine sits behind the cabin and comes in two levels of tune: 397kW or 449kW, with the more powerful able to hit 100km/h in 3.2 seconds. A bright yellow example was on display at the MCG during the International Champions Cup at the weekend.Deliveries begin in the first quarter of 2016, with prices starting at about $370,000.The revived version of Honda's famous NSX from the 1990s will be a hybrid powered by a turbocharged 3.5-litre V6 engine in combination with three electric motors. One motor boosts engine output to the rear axle while the other two independently drive the front wheels. Where the original was all-aluminium, the new NSX will comprise a mix of carbon fibre, aluminium, steel and "other advanced materials". Deliveries begin next year, with prices expected to start around $250,000.The star of this year's Detroit motor show was designed by Australian Todd Willing, so it's a shame the GT is left-hand-drive only and cannot be road-registered here. That won't stop a few collectors signing up for the second revival of the famous Le Mans winning racer from the 1960s. Ford chose this year's event to announce it would use the new GT for another crack at the race next year.Road cars will be powered by a turbocharged V6 with about 450kW; overseas deliveries start next year.The British supercar specialist now has three strands to its model range, with the most accessible Sports Series comprising the recently unveiled 540C and 570S. The 570S is named for the output of its turbocharged 3.8-litre V8 in metric horsepower, equivalent to 419kW, and with a dry weight of just 1.3 tonnes it can reach 100km/h in 3.2 seconds. Australian deliveries begin next March, with prices at $408,000 (including NSW on-roads) for the 570S and $350,000 for the less powerful 540C.

McLaren has revealed its most affordable model yet at the Shanghai motor show in the form of the entry-level 540C.The second member of the McLaren Sports Series, the 540C is clearly based on the recently unveiled 570S model, but McLaren claim this latest car is less track-focused and more comfortable for daily use.It uses the same basic components as the 570S, but is less powerful while featuring a softer and more comfortable suspension setup.The 540C doesn’t differ much from the 570S visually, with redesigned 19-inch alloy wheels being the most obvious visual distinction.The 540C can accelerate from 0-100km/h in 3.5 seconds, 200km/h in 10.5 and flat out it’ll do 320km/h.Powering the 540C is McLaren’s 3.8-litre twin-turbo V8 engine, which also features in the 570S, 650S and P1 models in varying states of tune.Here it develops 397kW (540hp, hence the name) and 540Nm, compared to 419kW/600Nm in the 570.The basic engine is identical to that of the more powerful 570S which features 30 per cent new parts compared to the 650S unit, though a calibration change dials down the power.On the European cycle both the new 540C and 570S models average 11.1L/100km.The 540C can accelerate from 0-100km/h in 3.5 seconds, 200km/h in 10.5 and flat out it’ll do 320km/h (a whisker shy of the magic 200mph).The 540C shares its lightweight carbon fibre tub with the 570S, so you get narrower sills for easier entry and exit compared to the 650S and more interior space.Curb weight is almost identical to the 570S at 1311kg, which is significantly lighter than the 540C’s main rivals.The new car also does away with the complicated hydraulically controlled active anti-roll bars fitted to the 650S, P1 and now-discontinued 12C in the name of reducing costs.Instead of the active anti-roll bars, the 540C uses a conventional fixed setup with adaptive dampers that are tuned more towards comfort than in the 570S.Being a sports car at heart though, you can still dial up the suspension and powertrain from normal mode through to sport or track modes for sportier driving.