2013 McLaren F1 – more details emerge

A render of the 2013 McLaren F1 / 799 (click for full size photo)

It’s more than two years since we revealed that McLaren are planning on building a McLaren F1 road car for the 21st century. Planned to bring game-changing performance to the hypercar market, it will be McLaren’s halo car, sitting above the 458 Italia-bashing MP4-12C, and the yet-to-come McLaren which is aimed at the Porsche 911 and Audi R8.

What exactly McLaren are planning with the new F1 – which may be called the McLaren 799 – is still hidden deep in the minds and computers of McLaren’s elite. But Autocar say they’ve had a heads-up from reliable sources, so their musings on this are probably worth repeating.

Unlike the 1990s F1 which cost £640,000 (around £1 million today) the new F1 is expected to cost under £400,000. Which is a bit of a surprise, especially with cars like the Pagani Huayra costing almost £1 million (and very much not worth it) and the Veyron costing more than £1 million (and probably justified).

So it seems – if we’re to believe Autocar – that the new F1 will cost less than the Enzo replacement (the Ferrari F70 will probably be well over £500k), despite potentially offering more.

That ‘more’ includes active aerodynamics and rear air brake, a 799bhp 5.0 litre V8, carbon fibre Monocell (like the MP4-12C), aluminium pushrod suspension, ceramic brakes and plenty of electronic gizmos like Brake Steer and Brake Force Distribution and even software that lets you turn off all the driver aids – but only on a track.

All that should add up to a car that can take the fight to anything currently built. The 0-60mph is 2.8 seconds, 0-100mph in 5.5 seconds and 0-200mph in 20 seconds. And if the handling of the MP4-12C is anything to go by, the 799 will run rings round any of the other contenders for world’s fastest/best car.

The plan is to build up to 500 McLaren 799 (if indeed that’s the name) at the rate of a couple a week over a five year period starting in 2013.

Which all sounds extremely appealing.

By Cars UK