McLaren Speedtail unveiled – 1,050 PS, 403 km/h top speed, 0-300 km/h in 12.8 seconds, limited to 106 units

We’ve been waiting for the McLaren Speedtail for what seems like an eternity (the company only announced it last year, but still), and now’s finally the time for the covers to come off this insane top-drawer hypercar. And this time, the design is as outlandish as the numbers being quoted by Woking.

Drawing inspiration from the sensational F1 road car, McLaren seems to have leant heavily on the “tail” part of the name, because this car’s rear end is vast. At 5,137 mm long, the Speedtail is more than half a metre longer than its direct predecessor, the P1, despite being narrower – a clear nod to the F1 GTR “Longtail”, and a feature that smoothens out the flow of air going over and under the car, reducing turbulence.

If you couldn’t already tell from the jaw-dropping teardrop-shaped body – deemed to be the fastest shape in nature – the Speedtail is all about maximising aerodynamic efficiency to hit its stratospheric headline targets, which we’ll come to in a minute. The streamlined carbon fibre body panels are enhanced by the static aero wheel covers, which bear a striking resemblance to the ones the Formula 1 team ran in the late-Noughties.

Like the new Audi e-tron and Lexus ES, the Speedtail features outer side-view cameras to replace traditional wing mirrors, and these ones are retractable to make the car even slipperier. At the back, the hidden ailerons on the trailing edge of the tail are formed in flexible carbon fibre together with the rear clamshell – these reduce visual clutter and aerodynamic drag by only extending if required.

The various intakes and vents around the car carefully shape the air to meet aerodynamic and cooling requirements. The slim LED headlights allow air to pass under it and into the low-temperature radiators, while another pair of intakes higher up direct air through the body and around the front wheel arches. Vents on the lower part of the doors and within the massive rear diffuser cut turbulence inside the wheel arches.

Hidden within the upper surface of the double-skinned dihedral doors are intakes to the high-temperature radiators for the petrol-electric hybrid powertrain, itself fed by a smooth top-mounted air “snorkel”, split by the vertical brake light running along the spine of the car.

Speaking of the powertrain, we’ve now come to the meat and potatoes of the car. McLaren declined to give technical specifications just yet, though it likely uses the 4.0 litre version of the company’s twin-turbocharged V8 – like you’d find in the 720S and Senna – paired to a newly developed electric powertrain system.

One figure that has been revealed is power, and it’s a whopping 1,050 PS. Together with the dry weight of 1,430 kg, the colossal firepower should translate to scorching acceleration figures – although McLaren again has yet to provide the all-important zero-to-100 km/h time, it’s given us the far more impressive 12.8 seconds the Speedtail takes to reach triple that speed, 300 km/h. To put that into perspective, that’s 3.7 seconds faster than the P1, which wasn’t exactly a slouch to begin with.

Keep the accelerator pinned, and McLaren says you’ll hit a top speed of 403 km/h, the highest of any McLaren production car. To do that, the Speedtail has a special Velocity drive mode that optimises the hybrid powertrain and the rear ailerons for high-speed running, and lowers the car by 35 mm. It also allows the outside cameras to be retracted.

Under the skin, the Speedtail features a bespoke Monocage carbon fibre structure and sits on aluminium suspension with McLaren’s Active Chassis Control. The two-tone alloy wheels measure 20 inches at the front and 21 inches at the rear, and are shod in Pirelli P Zero tyres developed specifically for the Speedtail’s extreme top speed. They hide lightweight carbon ceramic brakes with Speedtail Silver callipers.

The interior is another area where the Speedtail takes after the F1, as it also features a centre driving position with two passenger seats slightly further behind. The carbon fibre driver’s seat is upholstered in a directional leather finish that allows the driver to slide into the seat easier, yet keeps them in place once ensconced. A glazed cockpit surrounds the cabin with portholes above the cabin and large rear windows; the portholes and the top of the front windscreen feature electrochromic technology to replace sun visors and blinds.

Because the Speedtail puts the driver in the centre of the car, the controls have to be redesigned, with twin touchscreens flanking a central digital instrument display. The starter button, window switches and controls for the Active Dynamics Panel and Velocity mode are situated above the driver.

McLaren posits this car as a “Hyper-GT”, and to that end it has used unique and expensive materials to line the interior. The driver’s seat is lined in a mix of lightweight aniline and semi-aniline leather from Bridge of Weir, extending to the storage covers underneath the seats, while the dashboard and seats are upholstered in Scandinavian aniline leather.

This attention to detail extends to the carbon fibre, with McLaren infusing titanium weave to create a material called Titanium Deposition Carbon Fibre, found on the front splitter, diffuser and side skirts. The titanium can be anodised to any colour without losing strength or visual clarity, as is the case with traditional methods.

Inside, Thin-Ply Technology Carbon Fibre (TPT), developed in partnership with Swiss watchmaker Richard Mille, is utilised. This technique layers ultra-thin carbon fibres, milled to expose a water-like finish. The finish is also used on the McLaren badge, which features polished 18-carat white gold – the same material found on the Speedtail badge.

Just 106 units of the Speedtail, the third in McLaren’s Ultimate Series range of hypercars, will be built – mirroring the production run of the F1. It goes without saying that every single unit has been spoken for, at the low, low price of £1.75 million (RM9.35 million) before taxes, and each one will be customised to the owners’ individual specifications.

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