McLaren News

With more than 673kW, a top speed of 350km/h, and active aerodynamics, the McLaren P1 was, quite literally, built for speed and lap times. It appears the designers' goals may have been met, with rumours of a new record lap time of the Nürburgring Nordschleife.If the time proves to be the real deal, McLaren won't have simply shaved a few tenths off of the previous lap record, held by the Radical SR8 (a barely disguised, technically road-legal sports racer). It will have completely reset the world's frame of reference for what a road-legal supercar can do.The time? According to an image credited to Autohome.com.cn, and published by Jalopnik, the McLaren P1 lapped the 'Ring in just 6:33.26. That's about 15 seconds faster than the current record, and just 22 seconds off Stefan Bellof's record 6:11.13 run in a Porsche 956 race car during a qualifying session in 1983.www.motorauthority.com 

Honda is heading back to Formula One racing, and the automaker is doing so with former motorsports partner McLaren. This is big news for F1 fans, as it reminds many of a truly glorious era of Formula One racing.Interestingly, McLaren has a made a bit of news as of late on the street-legal side of the road. The MP4-12C is, by all accounts, a supremely super supercar and the new P1 should prove to be even wilder. Now comes talk that McLaren wants to build a car to take on the Porsche 911.Motor Trend seems to think this might mean that Honda and McLaren are cozying up even more tightly than it would appear.Honda is showing their desire to get back into the sports car world, both on and off the track. The NSX is (hopefully) just around the model-year corner, and teaming up with McLaren for F1 could bring about exciting bits of engine technology.Perhaps this merger could lead to a McLaren designed vehicle with Honda internals. If that thought doesn't tickle your enthusiast fancy, you need to go back and watch clips of Ayrton Senna using his loafers to heel-toe an Acura NSX around the track.www.motorauthority.com 

Luxury car buyers in Australia are paying too much, according to a British exotic brand that has just slashed a massive $100,000 from its local pricetags.

McLaren has sharpened the pricing pencil to slice massive amounts off the price of the 12C and 12C Spider, in what may be the biggest price cuts in car history.The hardtop 12C now carries an RRP of $398,000 (from $493,100), and the Spider drops to $441,780 (from $543,900), with the 19 per cent cut arriving exactly 12 months after the model’s local debut.Effective from today, McLaren says the new pricing brings transparency to the 12C’s segment, which it says is prone to premium-pricing policies, with vehicles being sold discretely beneath their advertised prices.The 12C’s nearest rival, Ferrari’s 458 Italia carries an RRP of $526,950 in hardtop guise, making the 12C somewhat of a value leader in the mid-engined V8 supercar echelon.The 460kW twin-turbo V8 12C and 12C Spider are the first road cars to be developed by the legendary British racing brand since the hallowed F1 of the 90s, and will be joined internationally by the 673kW hybrid P1 flagship by the end of the year.“McLaren (is) leading the way in the super luxury sports car segment by benchmarking its pricing against competitive international markets,” said Ian Gorsuch, Regional Director Asia Pacific at McLaren Automotive.Whilst subject to different tax structures, the new 12C and 12C Spider Australian prices are still over $150,000 greater than their US pricing, despite near parity between currencies.McLaren has sold a total of 30 12C models (to April 30) in Australia since it went on sale in May last year, with seven sold in the first four months of 2013.  But existing 12C owners won’t necessarily be short changed, with McLaren pledging to offer an unspecified ‘special trade-in allowance’ if they trade-up to a new McLaren in future.The new pricing applies to any new MP4-12C ordered from today, and includes all existing Australian stock.

A fortnight ago, we brought you news that McLaren was about to launch an online interactive experience centering on its new P1 supercar. Featuring the heading Designed By Air, the interactive experience has just gone live and is ready to be pricked and prodded by P1 fans as well as those with a general interest in supercar design and development. The new interactive experience offers a detailed insight as to how the P1 is born from raw metallic and carbon elements and then crafted by airflow. The journey evolves to unveil the car within the wind tunnel, highlighting the aerodynamic focus of the design. There is also a 3D model with information about the finely honed aerodynamic features, along with simulations of the P1’s aerodynamics working in various locations including urban, highway, alpine and race track environments. What separates the P1 from most other high-powered cars is its aerodynamics, which McLaren concedes is the key to the car’s performance. Leveraging decades of Formula One know-how, McLaren engineers looked at managing air flow in and around the P1’s bodywork and optimised the aerodynamics in order to reach the performance targets for the car. This had the added benefited of creating a highly unique and emotive shape. Designed by Air is the first of a two part series telling the extraordinary story behind the P1’s design. We’ll bring you an update as soon as the second part is launched. But enough time wasting, click here to access Designed By Air. http://designedbyair.com/ www.motorauthority.com  

McLaren’s new P1 is out in the open, though the promotional efforts surrounding the new supercar are far from over. The latest out of Woking is news of an upcoming “online interactive experience” that will involve the P1.What exactly McLaren has planned remains a secret, although a teaser video released by the company provides some clues. It focuses on the aerodynamics of the car and the Formula One technology behind it. A statement in the video also reads, “Discovers how we achieve new levels of performance.”We’re guessing McLaren is about to launch a new P1 microsite that will allow users to highlight certain sections of the car and discover its exact purpose. It’s possible the site will also feature some kind of 3D tour. McLaren will reveal all next month, so stay tuned.The new P1 is billed as the spiritual successor to the legendary McLaren F1 launched more than two decades ago. The car features a plug-in hybrid drivetrain that combines a V-8 engine with an electric motor and provides a combined output of 664 kilowatts and 899 Newton metres of torque.This is enough for 0-60 mph (0 to 97 km/h) acceleration in under 3.0 seconds and a top speed limited--for an undisclosed reason --to 350km/h. Only 375 examples of the P1 will be built, with pricing in the U.S. starting at $1.15 million.www.motorauthority.com 

If you’ve ever driven Colorado’s highway 6 across Loveland Pass, you know it can be a bit intimidating in the best of weather. With a maximum elevation of 11,990 feet, the road bears the distinction of being the highest mountain pass in the world to remain open year-round. Though the scenery is spectacular, the switchback corners and steep drops are more than a bit puckering for those unaccustomed to mountain driving. In short, it’s not a place to make an error behind the wheel, regardless of what you’re driving or when you’re driving it. When you add an icy road surface into the mix and want to film a race down the pass, pitting professional snowboarder (and Winter X Games medalist) Chanelle Sladics against the McLaren MP4-12C Spider, it’s best to hand the keys to someone with plenty of experience in mountain driving. Someone like Pikes Peak record holder Rhys Millen. For his part, Millen calls it "an honor" to drive the MP4-12C Spider in the video, especially in light of McLaren's 50th anniversary in 2013. Like the company's founder, the late Bruce McLaren, Rhys Millen is a native New Zealander with plenty of experience in hill climb competition. The stunt was filmed to promote the start of McLaren MP4-12C Spider deliveries in the United States. It also highlights the 12C Spider’s unique power-retractable hard top and superb handling balance, though we’d guess that Millen opted not to use the 12C Spider’s “Winter” driving mode for optimized traction on slippery surfaces. Even with all the electro-nannies turned on and winter tires mounted, piloting a mid-engine, rear-drive sports car with 616 horsepower on tap down an icy mountain pass requires a fair amount of skill and the driver’s complete attention. We'd have loved to give it a try, but our run wouldn't have been nearly as impressive as Millen's on video. www.motorauthority.com  

Europe’s annual motoring event, the Geneva motor show, opened this week with a rich list of debuts from elite brands topped by the opening rounds in a performance showdown between Ferrari and McLaren