Practicality will not be on the minds of buyers of the new McLaren P1, code-named P15. We gave you some details of the car in August but now the model has been seen testing at the Nurburgring.
Camouflaged to look like a race car derivative of the existing 675LT, we know that beneath all that bodywork is the company’s 3.8-litre twin-turbo engine for the new hypercar. When Autocar broke the details of the model last month, it reported that the P15 will have 588kW, which beats the 542kW of the P1.
But the P1 had an electric motor which boosted the output to 673kW in total. There will be no electric motor in the next-generation P1, but our sources have told us the engine beneath all that downforce-creating bodywork will produce 671kW on its own.
We are quite sure that McLaren will find an extra 3kW to give it more total power. What we also know is that, unlike the first P1, McLaren will make the new model in right-hand drive and that confirmed orders have already been placed for four to come to SA. – Mark Smyth (Pic: Brian Williams Photography)
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