Preview: Third Time Isn’t The Charm With McLaren’s W1

A new McLaren “hypercar” should be a major event. The McLaren F1 wasn’t just the fastest car in history, but is widely considered the greatest drivers car of all time, with an average resale price of more than $20 million.Its late follow-up, the McLaren P1, didn’t quite live up to that record, but how could it; and despite now being more than 10 years old, it looks as if it could have been released just this year. The rear — combining open elements, a massive rear diffuser, swoopy pop-up spoiler, and an iconic, distinct light signature — is a masterpiece in modern supercar design. And it had the performance to match the looks. Its hybrid-V8 system produced instant torque everywhere in the rev range, yet it was light enough for the whole car to remain lithe and savage. Jeremy Clarkson, the star of “Top Gear,” fittingly donned it “The Widowmaker,” and it’s one of the only modern McLaren’s with strong resale values.McLaren F1, P1, and W1. Courtesy of McLarenThe long and short of it then is that, when McLaren releases a car with ‘1’ in the name, as they’ve only done twice before, it should be a big deal. However, with their new W1, that just isn’t so.McLaren W1. Courtesy of McLarenFrom a technical perspective, it ticks all the boxes. Like the P1, it runs a hybrid V8 drivetrain, powered all through the rear wheels, and weighs about the same, at just under 3,100 pounds. However, it has a far higher power-to-weight ratio than its predecessor, at 899 horsepower per tonne, courtesy of its new max power output of 1,258 horsepower. That combination makes the W1 McLaren’s fastest roadcar ever, going zero to 62 miles per hour in 2.7 seconds; up to 124 miles per hour in 5.8 seconds; and hitting 186 miles per hour in under 13 seconds.The aerodynamic tech is where McLaren pushes its technical excellent the hardest, with a range of new details. All of it is built around a massive, sculpted under-belly, exploiting “ground effect” forces to suck the car to the road, and this only goes further in the “race” mode, where an additional splitter lowers at the front, and the rear spoiler pulls far out beyond the end of the car, producing a “Long Tail” effect. Altogether, it means the W1 can pull G-forces like a racecar.McLaren W1. Courtesy of McLarenAnd then there’s the design which is… fine. McLaren internally hyped up this design, as a new direction for the brand, escaping from the design language they’ve been stuck with since the P1, but this is just rather bland. The headlights have no character; the back has no great design signature; and overall, it just looks like the average of a bunch of other modern McLaren designs. There’s a bit of P1 here, a bit of the limited edition Sabre there, but it has no identity of its own. The visual split of a complex, slashed lower element in carbon, and smoother, painted surfaces could have worked, but it’s just not that well done, and even the addition of gullwing doors can’t stop it from feeling like a Grand Theft Auto rip-off of McLaren.McLaren W1. Courtesy of McLarenBeyond the design, that’s the fundamental problem with the W1: it doesn’t feel special. It just isn’t a radically new or different car. It feels more like a technical evolution from the P1, rather than its own thing, and though it supposedly has a completely new engine, it’s very similar to the same one that McLaren has been using in every car it makes since it started making series production supercars in 2011.That original M838T engine was a 3.8 liter, twin-turbo 90-degree flat-plane crank V8. The W1’s “all new” MHP-8 engine is a 4 liter, twin-turbo 90-degree flat-plane crank V8. In the initial clips, it also sounds pretty muted, particularly compared to the savage P1.It is fast; but in an era of electric cars — where even a $75,000 performance Tesla is blisteringly fast — just being fast isn’t enough. And despite being very fast, the progress over the P1 isn’t that impressive. The W1 is only 0.1 seconds faster to 62 miles an hour; only a second faster to 124 miles per hour; and only four seconds faster to 186 miles per hour. Those are meaningful improvements, but not when they took ten years to get there.McLaren Speedtail. Courtesy of McLarenUltimately, McLaren has been their own worst enemy here as they already have made a spiritual successor to the P1 and F1: 2020’s McLaren Speedtail. Built around ultimate aerodynamic slipperiness, it was fast and technically advanced; but more importantly, it was a special car.And despite its $2.1 million price tag, and limited 399 production run — all of which have supposedly been sold out — the W1 is not.

Preview: Third Time Isn’t The Charm With McLaren’s W1

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