McLaren MP4-12C GT3 Endurance Racer Coming in 2012

Twelve years after the last six McLaren F1 GTR “Longtails” hit the tarmac at Le Mans, the British supercar maker and CRS Racing have begun work on an MP4-12C-based GT3 racecar. According to the plan that was revealed today, the MP4-12C GT3 will be available in limited numbers starting from 2012.

The McLaren F1 GTR was a very successful racecar, taking the checkered flag at the 24 Hours of Le Mans on its debut, so the bar has been set pretty high for the new car. Nevertheless, featuring an advanced one-piece carbon fiber chassis and finely tuned aerodynamic body, the MP4-12C should provide an excellent starting point for the development of the race version.

“The 12C’s architecture and design was always aimed at high-performance and ease of maintenance - two key criteria for potential customers. Combine that with the vast amount of racing experience in our automotive team, and CRS Racing’s specialist development experience, and the 12C GT3 should be an exciting proposition for the top teams planning to race in GT3 from 2012”, said Martin Whitmarsh, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes Team Principal.

As part of the development process, McLaren and CRS Racing will enter 12C GT3 prototypes in select European GT races next year. Further details about the racing program are also going to be announced in 2011. Potential clients can register their interest at "www.mclarengt.com."

By Csaba Daradics

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McLaren MP4-12C Priced from €200,000 in Europe and at £168,500 and in the UK

McLaren Automotive has announced pricing for its upcoming and much hyped new supercar, the MP4-12C, which goes on sale in the UK and Europe in spring 2011. In Britain, on-the-road prices will start at £168,500, while the supercar will cost €200,000 in Germany, €201,000 in France and Monaco, €201,680 in Italy and €203,360 in Belgium, with all prices including country-specific tax. Pricing in other countries will be released at a later date.

The company claims the pricing in Europe and the UK is groundbreaking for a carbon chassis-based supercar. Antony Sheriff, Managing Director of McLaren Automotive said:

"With a unique carbon chassis as the foundation, and a powerful, but highly efficient McLaren engine at its heart, the 12C offers staggering value: no other carbon-based car can compete at this price-point, or with the 12C's technology and performance."

The 12C will be offered with a choice of 17 exterior paint finishes including a 'McLaren Orange' that harks back to the firm's 1960s and 1970s race cars, as well as 14 interior trims. Available performance upgrades will include a sports exhaust system, carbon ceramic brake discs, polished-finish callipers and two lightweight forged wheel options.

All MP4-12Cs will be powered by a mid-mounted 3.8 liter twin-turbocharged V8 with 600HP and 443 lb-ft, developed in-house by McLaren. According to the British company, According to the McLaren, the supercar is capable of reaching 100km/h (62mph) in less than 3,0 seconds and 200 km/h (124mph) in under 10 seconds while completing the quarter mile in around 11 seconds and reaching a top speed in excess of 200mph or 322km.

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IED and McLaren collaborate on a 2020 McLaren SAV

Working with world-renowned supercar manufacturer McLaren, Turin's Istituto Europeo di Design [IED] has created a variety of concepts representing the potential future of the British marque's lineup. Each has been designed with the following requirements in mind: a hybrid, mid-engined four-wheel drive sport-utility riding on a McLaren chassis with space for two travelers.

After getting some one-on-one face time with McLaren at its Woking, UK facility, the IED students developed thirty-three concepts. After that, the number of proposals was whittled down to eleven cars deemed worthy of "further development" and students were put into teams to battle it out and earn a position on the short list.

The three winning vehicles approved for 1:4 scale model production are called the HOLON, the TOROK, and the BIO RENOVATIO, and can be viewed below along with some of the other concepts.

César Mendoza, IED Turin's director, says, "The Istituto Europeo di Design was very keen to collaborate again with McLaren Automotive....[It] has certainly contributed to raising the students' professional outlook, as it required that each team clearly defined the position of each specific feature within the project as a whole. McLaren is known for its attention to design detail: everything is for a reason and that is what we wanted our teams to understand. Then, in order to heighten the quality of the final works presented, we chose virtual presentation, including animation, that enables us even to test the movements of the parts."

Have a peek at the vids and pics and let us know what you think in the comments below.

By Phil Alex

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McLaren MP4-12C Cop Car? Only in Need For Speed Hot Pursuit

While everyone's waiting for the new Gran Turismo, Need for Speed hopes to satiate your digital racing needs with a new Hot Pursuit game. Check out the screen shots below for some copped-out speed machines. Dare you view the Viper and forever live in fear of what could one day be lurking on an interstate? Hey, cops impound craziness all the time.

Seeing as how everyone from Techart and Brabus to Ford and the holy Lamborghini have created awesome police concepts or actual cars, how about McLaren spends a little of its hard-earned cash and builds an MP4-12C patrol car. Can we say crowd-pleaser?

By Phil Alex

Source: NFS

McLaren F1 Celebrates the Big 2-0

McLaren's F1 is 20 years old this year (18 if you consider its 1992 debut date, so it's still legal) and to celebrate, McLaren invited owners out to Woking for a dinner at its Technology Center. The highlight of the get-together has to have been the 21-car F1 roundup, featuring the largest collection of F1s ever seen together.

McLaren chairman (and anti-Bugatti spokesman) Ron Dennis was on-hand to express his own feelings about owning and driving the car: "The F1 is a technological tour-de-force and a real triumph in terms of packaging and design."

"Whether endurance racing or on road, it is supremely fast, agile and yet comfortable. Its styling is enduring and will never fade. I enjoy driving mine more today than ever before because I find its technical purity highly satisfying; the F1 remains one of McLaren's proudest achievements."

Over its twenty years on Earth, the F1 has spawned 72 road cars (64 F1s, 5 F1 LMs, and 3 F1 GTs), 28 racers (F1 GTRs), and 6 other prototypes. The F1 GTR took just three months to develop, and the 28 examples McLaren built were big time winners: the 1995 GT1 Championship and the 1995 24 Hours of Le Mans (1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 13th places), both its debut seasons.

The five cars that finished at Le Mans were the inspiration for the five Papaya Orange F1 LMs, which get a "de-restricted engine" putting out 680 horsepower.

Lastly, the "Longtail" GT came out in '97 in order to meet homologation standards for the new GTR.

If McLaren's F1 weren't a household name after its impressive race history, it sure was once it became the world's fastest car (it's still the fastest naturally-aspirated car). After a 106-car production run, Mclaren decided to call it a day with the F1. After a brief hiatus working with Mercedes to create the avian SLR, the Woking wonders are back with their own purebred 911 hunter: the MP4-12C.

Still interested in an F1? The last we heard, there was a Longtail GTR for sale in the Land of the Rising Sun.

By Phil Alex

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