McLaren Speedtail Hits 250mph With Ease During Cape Canaveral Test Sessions

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homeforsummer
Hard to accuse them of lacking originality when they design and build their own engines in-house - not something many supercar builders do, Ferrari aside -
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Not to be nit-picky, but the Mclaren V8 can't really, fully be called 'in-house' as it's basically an evolution of the Nissan VRH35 (From the R390) that Ricardo and Mclaren co-developed. (And Ricardo builds the engines, to be clear).

But building/designing engines was never part of Mclaren's ethos, so I don't hold it against them.

Mclaren has always positioned themselves as a kind of ultra-scientific, clinical-precision car maker, which I can appreciate, but probably not really love. In some ways they are kind of the opposite of Pagani. I get the sense that Horacio develops a new car by first sketching one little detail that he thought of, whereas Mclaren probably starts with a list of objectives. The 720s alone proves that methodical approach produces some staggering results, but I've seen a few of them in person now and they just leave me a little cold. The one single Pagani I've seen in person (a burgandy colored Huayra) left me absolutely dumbfounded...it basically seared into my retinas despite the somber color. The Huayra could have 300hp and it wouldn't diminish it's appeal....but that's just my opinion.

[As an aside, Modern Ferraris leave me just as cold as Mclarens. There is this feeling I get with both companies that they are in the business of making money as a priority, and their product just happens to be high-end sports cars. Whereas Pagani is in the business of making high-end sports cars and they happen to make money. While I know this dichotomy can't possibly be so black and white, I do think there is some truth to it]
 
Disco_Volante
@Famine, I believe you nailed it with the "McLaren didn't bother beyond 250" bit. You said that with the F1, beign the fastest car in the world was just a happy accident. It'd make sense that since the Speedtail is the successor to the F1, then the speed is just a happy accident again, with McLaren focusing on acceleration and comfort.
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Except that's not what the F1 focused on
 
Eunos_Cosmo
Mclaren has always positioned themselves as a kind of ultra-scientific, clinical-precision car maker
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My point here is that McLaren isn't really like that. I mean it's obviously not as arm-flailingly Italian as Pagani, but that's possibly to be expected when you consider how many cars each company builds. Nobody levels the clinical/emotionless thing at Aston Martin or Lamborghini, but both are probably closer to the McLaren end of the spectrum than they are Pagani. They do occasionally level it at Porsche, but between the GT-series cars and middle-aged men jizzing themselves over older aircooled stuff Porsche doesn't get it as bad as McLaren does.

Basically, I don't think it's really a bad thing to not be building what amounts to wheeled jewellery - there's a place for that, but it doesn't make a company any more regimented or clinical not to be doing that.

I do think a lot of people would change their minds on McLaren if they ever spent time with one of their cars in any capacity - whether that's prodding around one at a show or having a ride/drive. Same is possibly true of Ferrari, though that brand is much more polarising from the start.
 
homeforsummer
My point here is that McLaren isn't really like that. I mean it's obviously not as arm-flailingly Italian as Pagani, but that's possibly to be expected when you consider how many cars each company builds. Nobody levels the clinical/emotionless thing at Aston Martin or Lamborghini, but both are probably closer to the McLaren end of the spectrum than they are Pagani. They do occasionally level it at Porsche, but between the GT-series cars and middle-aged men jizzing themselves over older aircooled stuff Porsche doesn't get it as bad as McLaren does.

Basically, I don't think it's really a bad thing to not be building what amounts to wheeled jewellery - there's a place for that, but it doesn't make a company any more regimented or clinical not to be doing that.

I do think a lot of people would change their minds on McLaren if they ever spent time with one of their cars in any capacity - whether that's prodding around one at a show or having a ride/drive. Same is possibly true of Ferrari, though that brand is much more polarising from the start.
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Really wish somebody would drop off a dozen or so exotics in front of my house for a week for a thorough sampling. :lol:

There is a good point to be made about sales volume. And I would absolutely lump AM, Lamborghini, and Porsche towards the 'consumer' end of things, definitely moreso than Mclaren in fact. I guess what I'm getting at is that Mclaren and Ferrari and Lamborghini were definitely a rarer sight when they were producing between several and several hundred cars a year. I've probably seen more 458s and 488s than all other Ferraris combined....I actually see them more frequently around these parts than Corvettes, which is kind of insane considering the cost differential. From the perspective of the 'spotter' there is something definitely less alluring about common sights. I don't even look twice when a Gallardo goes by. But when I see, on the very, very rare occasion, a Diablo, it's an event. Ownership/driving experience is obviously a whole other kind of thing. Alright I think I've gone far enough off topic. Carry on. :cheers:
 
ITT: A car designed in the optimal road-going low-drag shape looks like other cars designed in the optimal road-going low-drag shape.

I think it's pretty. That fact that it only goes 250 mph is pretty sad, actually. Needs more power, because the Veyron and Chiron are not low-drag by any means.
 
The first thing to come to mind to me about this car is how much this car looks like it's from the 1990s as opposed to the 2010s. I swear this is probably a car you would see in the days of Need for Speed before Underground. Maybe even before High Stakes. Despite this, the McLaren Speedtail is quite fascinating. I saw most of a Carfection video on YouTube of this car. I am fairly intrigued about this car.
 
fatkid
Alas, even though this takes inspiration from the legendary F1, it was never meant as a direct successor. The third paragraph down that has a quote from the McLaren CEO:
https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/mclaren/97731/mclaren-speedtail-986bhp-hyper-gt-to-be-revealed-today

The F1 is such a legendary car I don't think any car could live up to it as a sucessor. And I think because it doesn't follow the norm of what we think a super/hyper car should look like, the radical, unconventional looks will take some time to get used to. I personally love it. It harkens back to tht old salt flats, streamliner, top speed record cars of old:
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And as unusual a name "Speedtail" is, I think design reflects that.

This also has me very intrigued:
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To quote Francis Bacon:
"There is no excellent beauty that hath not some strangeness in the proportion."
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It is disappointing if that's the case. Successor or inspired or not, because of the 3 seater layout people will always immediately draw the F1 comparison. And apart from the seating, this car doesn't have the same design ethos as the F1. Namely to make the ultimate driver's car. The top speed of the F1 was always a side effect of its high power, lightweight and aerodynamic efficiency, not the ultimate solitary goal like the Veyron/Chiron/Hennessey/SSC.

IMO, the P1 is closer to what the F1 was than the Speedtail (minus the seat layout). The Senna is far too track focused, and the Speedtail swings too far the other way. The 3 of them complements each other, but none can really be called the "Ultimate" McLaren. Whereas the F1, in its time, stood head & shoulders far above any other production car in every metric of measure.

To be honest though, with how specialised and how far the bar for performance cars have moved in recent years, it's impossible to think any car can be as dominant as the F1. I would say Koenigsegg Agera RS/One:1 is the closest. Ultimate drivers car. Usable on road and track. High power, lightweight, advanced aero. Destroys laptimes and as a side effect, also holds the fastest production speed record.

I'd be more kind to the Speedtail if it at least tries to get on the speed record race, but it just feels like another edition in McLaren's ever growing portofolio. Heck, as Famine have said, the 250 mph top speed is pitiful given how much more power it has compared to the F1 and all that talk about optimising drag. Why not go all out with covered rear fenders while they're at it (ala XJR9)?
 
RandomCarGuy17
I actually quite like the design, it feels like an evolution of the 90s design of supercars & hypercars. It gives me some Jaguar XJ220 vibes.
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Yeah, it instantly feels like a supercar of that era, very 90's retro and something that probably would have been in a Need For Speed game.

Omnis
Does the BP in BP23 stand for Bendy Panels?
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It's the special mixture of BP fuel that it can ONLY run on. Made from crushed unicorns.
 
RandomCarGuy17
I actually quite like the design, it feels like an evolution of the 90s design of supercars & hypercars. It gives me some Jaguar XJ220 vibes.
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Was thinking the same actually. It's very XJ220 I think.

I do love the design of this McLaren. Can't help reiterating the sentiment though: What a mad world we live in, that this amazing machine, and so many others similar to it, are born into a world where they're totally obsolete for their purpose.

It's effectively a fantasy. One that will be purchased as a plaything /status symbol / trophy by the hyper rich. One that would be great if road infrastructure was able to accommodate it, or looking likely to at any point in the future. But this is an area where there is basically no movement at all. Most countries roads are clogged. The majority of the network was designed when there were probably about 1/10th of the cars on the road and impact safety standards were equivalent to being strapped inside a garden shed with the tools on the walls. Raising speed limits is absolutely not on the agenda, especially when the main problem is they're often self-limited to 5mph by traffic.

To my knowledge there isn't a single country in the world who are even thinking about roads that could allow this car to legally be used in the way it was designed to be.

Oh well.
 
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SiriusR
Germany?
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Certainly, but most of the time our beloved Autobahn is so congested with traffic, that you'll only be able to go these speeds on a newly paved and practically empty stretch of it at around 2AM in the morning.

And isn't there an unrestricted road in the outback of Australia as well? Probably not the best idea, given the wildlife in the area.

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Thoughts on the car

Unlikely most of y'all, I really like the design. It's another car from McLaren (see McLaren Senna) that follows the recipe form follows function, and function isn't always pretty. But it's still undeniably a McLaren at first glance, which I really like, and the combination of the seemingly old-school design mixed with the futuristic and "engineering-esque" aspects of McLaren design language, at least to my eyes, seems to be executed quite successfully!

Does it look like the old F1? No, but I don't think that they were going for it. If you want to have the same basic design language of a car from yesteryear, then you'd have to buy a 911, and that's coming from a Porsche head :lol:

In terms of the whole speed thing, same with Nürburgring laptimes, it has become a marketing ploy for manufacturers in order to attract the attention of the press, 12-year olds and people with more money than sense. The whole engineering marvel in order to reach these levels of speed, performance and putting all of this into a package, that is still street legal, useable and driveable for the average joe as been sidelined due to the sheer ridiculous fixation on pure performance numbers and lap times on track, that we will never be able to experience, let alone shakedown on our own in reality, which I find quite sad.

But then again, I'm certainly not in the target demographic for such a car.
 
I have to say, I like how it looks a lot more with some scale and natural lighting:



It's certainly more my jam than the Regera (or whatever Koenigsegg is up to these days) P1, Senna, LaFerrari, or 918. I think I'd still take a Chiron over the Speedtail, but seeing in this video makes me like it quite a bit more.
 
Eunos_Cosmo
I have to say, I like how it looks a lot more with some scale and natural lighting:



It's certainly more my jam than the Regera (or whatever Koenigsegg is up to these days) P1, Senna, LaFerrari, or 918. I think I'd still take a Chiron over the Speedtail, but seeing in this video makes me like it quite a bit more.
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The car is fine up till middle part but its that ugly behind that bothers me the most its uglier then the senna. :eek:
 
Eunos_Cosmo
Mclaren has always positioned themselves as a kind of ultra-scientific, clinical-precision car maker, which I can appreciate, but probably not really love. In some ways they are kind of the opposite of Pagani. I get the sense that Horacio develops a new car by first sketching one little detail that he thought of, whereas Mclaren probably starts with a list of objectives. The 720s alone proves that methodical approach produces some staggering results, but I've seen a few of them in person now and they just leave me a little cold. The one single Pagani I've seen in person (a burgandy colored Huayra) left me absolutely dumbfounded...it basically seared into my retinas despite the somber color. The Huayra could have 300hp and it wouldn't diminish it's appeal....but that's just my opinion.

[As an aside, Modern Ferraris leave me just as cold as Mclarens. There is this feeling I get with both companies that they are in the business of making money as a priority, and their product just happens to be high-end sports cars. Whereas Pagani is in the business of making high-end sports cars and they happen to make money. While I know this dichotomy can't possibly be so black and white, I do think there is some truth to it]
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There's some incredible documentaries about Pagani on Youtube. I think it's easy to over-sell the artistry of hypercar manufacture, while McLaren may have a scientific feel and style to them, the reality is that even the most passionately built car has to have a whole lot of engineering and science behind it at that level of performance.

Whether it's true or not, the Zonda and the Huayra feel like the product of a single visionary, who made the car that he wanted. The McLaren feels like a stable of related cars, where designers were given more guidelines as to exactly what the car had to be. And that can be if anything a more challenging way to design a product, but it's less likely to be something that's inspiring. A McLaren 570s is never going to have the same mystique as a McLaren F1 or even a McMerc SLR. While it might be a functionally superior car, I think at that level of car purchasing the story that comes with the car is almost as important as the performance itself.

I guess the Speedtail is actually a bit positive in this regard. It does have a good story associated with it because of the bonkers speed thing.

Eunos_Cosmo
I have to say, I like how it looks a lot more with some scale and natural lighting:



It's certainly more my jam than the Regera (or whatever Koenigsegg is up to these days) P1, Senna, LaFerrari, or 918. I think I'd still take a Chiron over the Speedtail, but seeing in this video makes me like it quite a bit more.
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Agreed, it looks much better in the round. Although it sounds rather more farty than I expected...
 
Production spec prototype for testing on public roads

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mclaren_100678430_h.jpg



mclaren_100678428_h.jpg


His name is Albert
 
Who is Albert? Is this Albert? Probably!

I like Albert as well. The discs on the front wheels give Albert a retro-ish look.
 
Albert looks like he stumbled into Bondi Ink at 2am with a kebab in his hand... Then stumbled out 2 hours later, covered with tribal lines and smelling of cheap cask wine and regret.

Love the Speedtail though. In methadollogy and execution I just think it’s brilliant.
 
So all these hypercar concepts coming out lately from Toyota, Aston, Mercedes, Mclaren, others, are these the cars that will make up the new GT1 class?
 
Keef
So all these hypercar concepts coming out lately from Toyota, Aston, Mercedes, Mclaren, others, are these the cars that will make up the new GT1 class?
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Toyota yes, the rest of them no (to my knowledge). I'm not sure GT1 has a full set of rules drawn up yet, though I know McLaren is keeping a close eye on it.
 

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