- 4
:mclaren:
They should have a McLaren with a stage 4 turbo capable of
450 - 500 M.P.H
They should have a McLaren with a stage 4 turbo capable of
450 - 500 M.P.H
So, the road car was actually, in terms of top speed, faster than the race version of the McLaren F1 (LM)?. I noticed that the topspeed for both cars were obviously different, that the LM version (not the longtail) was slower than the road car.Originally posted by GilesGuthrie
That is the "longtail" car. I'm not sure if it ever received an official designation, but the LM car was short-tailed. Only 5 were ever produced - one for each of the five cars that finished in the top 10 at Le Mans in 1998 (date may be wrong).
Here is an F1 LM. They were all painted McLaren orange, to my knowledge.
The longtail was created as a response to the Porsche 911 GT1, the Nissan R390 and Toyota GT-One. It was because these cars, with their longer tails, were able to generate a smoother rear airflow, and more stable platform for the rear wing, which then enabled more downforce.
Interestingly, the McLaren F1 was never meant to race. In fact, when Ron Dennis first posited the idea to Gordon Murray, Murray made Dennis promise that he wouldn't ask for a racing version, because the desire was to create the ultimate road car, and this would forever compromise the racer.
Sadly, customer demand proved too strong, and a racing version was produced, which due to FIA GT Air Intake restrictors, was slower in a straight line than the standard car, losing some 50bhp due to the restriction. It turned out that Murray's worries were unfounded, and that the ultimate road car turned out to be fairly handy on the track too.
