All-New McLaren W1 Debuts as F1, P1 Successor With 1,258 Horsepower
The legendary McLaren F1 and P1 now have a worthy successor. An even better one, actually. Meet the all-new W1, a plug-in hybrid hypercar with unprecedented power in the history of McLaren’s road-going cars.
We’ll start with the twin-turbocharged 4.0-litre V8 that uses a new design with a flat-plane crankshaft. This is an engine that produces 916 horsepower on its own and can rev up to 9,200 rpm. Pairing it with a 342-horsepower, radial-flux electric motor allowed McLaren engineers to extract a total of 1,258 horsepower and 988 lb-ft of torque.
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All that power is sent to the rear wheels only by way of an eight-speed dual-clutch transmission and electronically controlled differential. The W1 sprints from 0-100 km/h in just 2.7 seconds—a tenth of a second faster than the 740-horsepower 750S—and 0-200 km/h in 5.8 seconds. Top speed is electronically limited to 350 km/h.
The e-motor draws energy from a small 1.38kWh battery and is clearly designed to maximize performance, because pure EV range is around 2 km at best—just long enough to silently get out of the neighbourhood. McLaren says the on-board charger will bring the battery to 80 percent in 22 minutes.
In addition to being the fastest-accelerating road-legal McLaren ever, the W1 managed to better even the super-lightweight and track-focused Senna by an astonishing three seconds a lap at the automaker’s Nardo reference circuit. Powertrain options in Race mode are a ‘GP’ setting for consistency over a longer track session and ‘Sprint’ for maximum performance and motor deployment over one lap. But wait, two buttons on the steering wheel give the driver further options: ‘Boost’ instantly deploys full e-power available for overtaking on track or additional speed out of corners as desired, while ‘Aero’ reduces drag on-demand by adjusting the rear McLaren Active Long Tail wing.
Said wing can extend rearwards by up to 300 mm to assist in generating the 1,000 kg (2,205 lbs) of downforce available with the W1. As you can imagine, the entire body is made of carbon fibre, resulting in a dry weight of just 1,399 kg.
Meanwhile, the active suspension with McLaren Race Active Chassis Control III technology adjusts damping based on three modes—Comfort, Sport or Race. There are 390mm carbon-ceramic disc brakes at all corners and standard Pirelli P Zero R tires (or optional Trofeo RS tires) wrapping the 19-inch front and 20-inch rear wheels.
As for the cabin, the two seats are fully upholstered for optimal support and comfort and provide a driving position that is more reclined than usual, with a high level of thigh support. The pedals, steering wheel and primary controls all move for a more ergonomic driving position. A range of luxury and innovative materials are available, including the world-first use of McLaren InnoKnit, an infinitely flexible and super-lightweight material that can be tailored to multiple colours, textures and shapes.
Oh, and the 117 litres of cargo space behind the seats accommodate either two weekend bags or two crash helmets, according to the company.
Similar to the P1, the new McLaren W1 will be built in extremely limited numbers—399 units to be exact. All of them are already spoken for, unsurprisingly. Pricing starts at £2 million, or approximately $3.5 million CAD.