VIDEO: THE MCLAREN SENNA – CHANNELLING THE LEGEND HIMSELF
Whoever would have thought that McLaren could out beat their P1. I guess it was just a matter of time, and yes, they excelled at it!
The McLaren Senna is the personification of McLaren’s DNA at its most extreme, creating the purest connection between car and driver. It is the most track-focused road car they have ever built, and it will set the fastest lap times of any McLaren to date. That is what has driven them to build a track car that is unashamedly without compromise. One that is legalised for road use, but not sanitised to suit it. Nothing else matters but to deliver the most intense driving experience around a circuit.
Inspired by one of McLaren’s greatest racing drivers, the McLaren Senna is utterly dedicated to allowing the driver to be the best they can possibly be.
In December 2017, McLaren whipped the wraps off its new Senna two-seater, billing it as “the ultimate McLaren track-concentrated car for the road”. Now, the Woking-based brand has released key technical information, including performance figures, for the already-sold-out model.
Set to make its official public debut at the Geneva International Motor Show next month, the new McLaren Senna will sprint from zero to 100 km/h in a claimed 2,8 seconds. The British automaker furthermore claims that its Senna will reach 200 km/h in just 6,8 seconds, before topping out at 340 km/h. And the standing quarter-mile? A mere 9,9 seconds…
We already knew that McLaren’s mid-mounted 4,0-litre twin-turbocharged V8 (codenamed M840TR) would deliver 588 kW and 800 N.m to the rear wheels via a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission, but now the brand has revealed that some 700 N.m will be on tap from 3 000 r/min, with the full peak torque figure available between 5 500-6 700 r/min. Peak power, meanwhile, will announce itself at 7 250 r/min.
McLaren says the new Senna’s body design, rear wing and active aero generating a total of 800 kg of downforce at 250 km/h.
Interestingly enough, the driver’s seat moves on rails while the foot pedals are fixed, and the door release mechanisms and window switches have been situated in the centre of the vehicle in a roof-mounted panel. The three-spoke steering wheel is devoid of buttons and sits ahead of extended gear-shift paddles fashioned from satin-finish carbon-fibre.
The price for one of the 500 examples set to be built? Some £750 000 (that translates to about R12,5-million, by our maths). Although, as we’ve pointed out, each one has already been sold.
Sorry for us then.