Motoring

The applied science of McLaren and their road cars

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It’s over 50 years that McLaren was founded by the legendary Bruce McLaren with the idea and intention to race in Formula 1. Since these humble beginnings McLaren have gone from strength to strength in the racing world and now they’ve ventured into the production road car world and have achieved similar successes.

Over the last few years they have applied the technical knowledge and know how from Formula One and applied it to sciences and technology, which is now part of the McLaren group.

So how has the production road car division of McLaren achieved the recent successes? Simply put, their 2 flagship cars are incredibly well built, eco friendly and extremely fast and agile. Lets take a look at these two cars and what make them so special:

MP4-12C

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This car was designed under the eye of Antony Sheriff at McLaren Automotive and the car looks and drives like the supercar it presents itself as. With a carbon fibre chassis and seven-speed gearbox, the lightweight car goes from 0-60 in a staggering 2.8 seconds.

This performance is matched with the agility and handling of the car as its tires seem to stick to the road through slow and fast corners, something that has been learnt through McLaren’s time in Formula One. The sleek design was created to give it a very modern and efficient look whilst staying relevant to modern car production.

P1

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A brand new car after the MP4-12C, the P1 simply takes the level up another notch. The design is stunning and the cars performance is unbelievable. The 0-60 time is the same as the 12C but the handling and the feel of the car is a massive improvement.

The braking on the car is brutal and the electric motor in the car helps for seamless gearshifts and helps the car to be more eco friendly. Only a select few will ever own this car as production is limited, however, it’s totally worth the money it costs. The McLaren P1 is probably the best production supercar ever produced and it won’t be beaten anytime soon that’s for sure.

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The Checkered Flag was set up in August 2009 and is dedicated to providing independent daily news and features from around the world of motorsport.
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