[TFord]

After long anticipation and five years of development, it is ready: the new McLaren supercar. In early 2011, the MP4-12C will enter the global market, priced at the equivalent of $206,300-$288,775.

One reason for the five-year gestation was that McLaren believes 2011 will mark the end of the global recession and is intentionally waiting to bring out its new model until then.

A second reason is the revolutionary new manufacturing process McLaren is using. The MP4-12C has a carbon-fiber chassis, which McLaren calls MonoCell. It is produced as one single piece. This is a first for a road-going car. McLaren says its new manufacturing method will revolutionize the way cars are produced in the future. More in the jump!

The chassis of the MP4-12C is said to be very, very stiff — "a new standard," McLaren says. Some parts of it are hollow, and as a result it weighs only 176 pounds.

The name MP4 bears a family resemblance to McLaren's Formula 1 cars, but in this case the name means McLaren - Project 4. The 12 has nothing to do with the number of cylinders (it has a V8) but signifies the position of the new car on a performance index on which McLaren puts its own cars and those of the competition. The "C" stands for carbon fiber.

The MP4-12C is a midengine, rear-wheel-drive two-seater. The engine is a twin-turbocharged V8 that makes 592 horsepower and 443 pound-feet of torque, of which 80 percent is available at 2,000 rpm. The rev counter is redlined at 8,500 rpm. The engine has dry-sump lubrication and a flat crankshaft, which leads to the prediction that it will have a soundtrack similar to that of the Ferrari F430 (and probably the forthcoming 458 Italia). The inlet trajectory of the engine and the camshaft covers are made of carbon fiber.

The V8 is not derived from a Mercedes power plant. McLaren calls its M838T engine "unique for this car." It was reportedly developed by Cosworth, a company that is owned by piston-maker Mahle, which produces parts for Mercedes and is located close to Stuttgart.

McLaren has released no performance figures, but the car can be expected to have 0-60-mph numbers in the 3.5-second range. According to McLaren, it will be able to reach 220 mph and will be very stable at that speed, thanks to its excellent aerodynamics.

McLaren released a specific power output for the engine of 155 horsepower for every liter of displacement, which would mean an overall displacement of 3.8 liters. According to McLaren, the V8 has the best relation between horsepower and CO2 emissions of any series-produced engine. Emissions numbers will probably be around 300 g/km.

The engine is coupled to a twin-clutch seven-speed gearbox with steering-wheel-mounted "flippers" that turn with the wheel and are not fixed to the steering column, contrary to Ferrari practice. The box has a special function called Pre-Cog. When you touch one of the flippers lightly, the electronics interprets this as an upcoming shift action — and knows if you are going to shift up or down — and puts the mechanicals and electronics of the gearbox into the correct full alert position.

The front section of the car has no cooling radiators; they are all behind the passengers, in the engine bay, in part as a weight-saving device to avoid a network of tubes leading to radiators in the front of the car. Two large openings in each side of the car, resembling the McLaren logo, are there to feed air to the coolers.

The same straightforward design is evident in back, where the exhaust has no labyrinth of twisted pipes but points straight rearward, like the barrels of a shotgun. The effort to create a clean look has also done away with spoilers. The bottom of the MP4-12C is closed and totally flat, with a diffuser to generate the necessary downforce.

Road-holding can be expected to be exemplary. The wheels are placed on the outer corners of the car, the chassis is ultra-stiff, all the weight is in the middle of the car and the suspension consists of double wishbones. McLaren uses a hydraulic damping system with dampers that are interconnected and make stabilization bars unnecessary because the hydraulics take over their anti-body-roll function.

Wheels are 19 inches in front and 20 inches at the rear, and Pirelli has developed special rubber for the new car. The brake discs are made of steel, but they have aluminium centers to cut weight. Ceramic brake discs are an option.

The driver can choose among three modes for the suspension and the engine, transmission and throttle reponse: Normal, Sport and Track. The transmission has launch control, a fully automatic mode and a winter mode. All modern guardian angels are on board, including ABS, ESP, traction control, electronic brakeforce distribution and hill holder.

McLaren also speaks of a function called BrakeSteer. In corners, the brake of the inner rear wheel will be activated as soon as understeer threatens. That is not different from what an ordinary or conventional ESP system does, so we wil have to wait until McLaren explains what makes BrakeSteer more special than ESP. The MP4-12C also has no limited-slip differential, because BrakeSteer should be able to perform the same task.

Open the winglike doors and you will see an utterly simple interior, although customers will be given many opportunities to personalize their cars. The expected features are all there: air-conditioning, a large family of airbags, a good audio system, cruise control and memory seats. There's a large monitor for the navigation system, the telephone, the sound system and all other multimedia equipment. A large rev counter dominates the instrument console, and electronic displays communicate speed, temperature and other technical data to the driver. The driver and passenger seats are placed very close because McLaren did not want the car to be unnecessarily wide. The brake and throttle pedal are next to the front wheel and are placed slightly toward the center of the car.

McLaren says it expects to sell 1,100 cars in the first year. Of the buyers, a quarter should come from the U.K. and another quarter from the United States. McLaren boss Ron Dennis says the company's goal is to develop into a manufacturer that produces 4,000 cars a year.

-Car Magazine

[68 Z/28]

Sweet

[manimsoblack]

everywhere. When we get some performance specs for this thing I may have a new favorite car.

[All-Or-Nothing]

So many Supercars, not enough money.