When tuning company Hennessey Performance out of Sealy, Texas makes an announcement, it’s usually something fantastic. In this case, they posted details on their site about a new McLaren MP4-12C concept that wrings an extra 208 horsepower out of the car’s 3.8-liter V8.

They manage the incredible feat by performing major surgery on  the drivetrain, dropping in everything from a better intercooler, exhaust, air intake and much more into the mix. Of course, the company backs all its tweaking with a warranty. Click here for the full specs.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a Hennessey without a wickedly redefined look. As per ususal, that philosophy is alive and well. The car will get a new set of wheels, a CarbonAero body upgrade that compliments the wheel color and delivers a two-tone look and a redesigned custom interior.

Normally such an awesome machine wouldn’t be a laughing matter, but we have to make fun of the Texan lads a little. They claim on their site to have taken the MP4-12C from “mild to wild.”

While we don’t doubt the concept’s capacity for rambunctious hoonage, calling anything bearing the McLaren badge “mild” is a little like saying habanero  peppers are tangy. Sorry Hennessey.

There aren’t price details listed yet, but this is just a concept car. In case you hadn’t already figured it out, this is one of those cases where having to ask the price means you can’t afford to play. If this one makes it to market, expect a healthy margin on top of the $229,000 base price for the mild version.

When the McLaren MP4-12C debuted, it was seen as a disappointment by many. Certainly the car’s performance was amazing, but not the Bugatti-beating numbers some had expected. That’s because it was never built as a Veyron rival but rather a Ferrari 458 killer. A proper successor to the McLaren F1 would come, however, and according to a new report by CAR Magazine, it will launch some time this year.

Powering the car, code named the P12, will be an up-rated version of the twin-turbo 3.8-liter V8 used in the MP4-12C, with one important change – KERS. Yes, the newest McLAren machine will utilize a kinetic energy recovery system, generating power under baking and then making that energy available in the form of electric boost on demand.

As for the chassis, it will reportedly be a similar structure to the MP4-12C as well, but with an even higher use of carbon for minimum weight.

Styling for the vehicle is said to be vastly more dramatic than the 12C (we certainly hope so), but with a conventional side-by-side cockpit, rather than a three-seat layout like the F1.

Pricing is said to be around $1.2 million.

[Source: CAR]

A bit of a surprise has appeared on the Internet, with a McLaren MP4-12C High Sport model making an appearance at The Collection in Miami, Florida. The McLaren MP4-12C HS features improved aerodynamics inspired by their GT3 racecar which allows the MP4-12C to benefit from extra boost safely, increasing horsepower by 75 from the factory’s 592-hp.

The aero package includes a new front bumper, rear bumper, enlarged vents, bigger diffuser and a modified rear wing to go along with its new wheels. As a result, the intercoolers get plenty more cool air allowing McLaren the ability to safely turn up the boost for the extra horsepower. Only five HS models will be built according to McLaren and two have already been spoken for: one to the crown prince of Bahrain and one to McLaren chairman Ron Dennis.

We wish we knew what the MP4-12C HS retails for, but we’re guessing if you have to ask, you can’t afford it. With its extremely limited availability and the fact that it’s even more radically tuned than the standard MP4-12C, they’ll be hard to come across and will be a true collector’s item. Hopefully we’ll see one end up on the track to see just how it fares compared to the standard model.

Check out the video after the break.

[Source: Autoblog]

Continue Reading…

McLaren is set to have their 2013 MP4-12C Spider debut sometime later this year and reports are coming in that the exotic convertible will get a fully-retractable hard top constructed from carbon fiber.

A carbon fiber hard top further adds to the sportiness of the MP4-12C, and helps save some weight from the convertible variant of McLaren’s newest sports car. It’s anticipated that the MP4-12C Spider will have the same powerplant of its Coupe variant, a 3.8L twin-turbocharged V8 with 600-hp and 440 lb-ft of torque. It’ll be mated to the same seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox that’s seen in the standard MP4-12C.

[Source: GT Spirit]

We may know McLaren for their exotic sports cars and race cars, but company founder and CEO Ron Dennis recently told the Wall Street Journal that McLaren is looking to expand its $1.5 billion company into other fields – including drugs (the legal kind of course).

As a technology company “first and foremost”, McLaren is looking to ”applying the technological savvy evident in decades of Formula One podium finishes to fields like pharmaceuticals and transport management.” And it looks like companies are already interested and are using McLaren’s services.

GlaxoSmithKline is looking into McLaren’s Mission Control center, what McLaren uses to monitor all their F1 races. GlaxoSmithKline believes that McLaren could assist in developing a similar control center for data modeling and high-speed process control.

Currently the United Kingdom’s National Air Traffic Services and California’s rail system utilizes McLaren’s telemetry and predictive ability. Ultimately though, McLaren wants to offer custom solutions in various fields including electronics, pneumatics, kinematics, fluid dynamics, material sciences and to implement their telemetry systems to monitor hospital patients in real time.

Us? Well, we just want to see what McLaren’s second vehicle is going to be in their new lineup.

[Source: Inside Line]

One of the most successful partnerships in the history of Formula 1 has to be the combination of a Honda engine in a McLaren chassis and body, with Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost behind the wheel. It was the perfect partnership which saw the team win many races and championships.

Over the last 16-years, McLaren has found much success by giving their driver’s Mercedes-Benz power. However, for the last two-years, Mercedes-Benz has been running its own F1 team and rumors started circulating that this will lead to an end to their relationship with McLaren, especially since Mercedes-Benz sold all its shares in McLaren back to the parent company.

With McLaren’s contract coming to an end in 2015 with Mercedes-Benz, much speculation has been circulating on the web and in the paddock as to who will supply engines to the Woking-based team in the future.

This has lead many to speculate that the McLaren-Honda relationship will once again be born, especially since turbo-charged engines are making their way back in Formula 1, and Honda was dominant in the last turbo-era in this sport.

However, McLaren’s managing director Jonathan Neale denies that there has been any contact with Honda. He stresses that McLaren is very well married to Mercedes-Benz for their engines and he sees this partnership continuing into the future.

As for rumors suggesting that Mercedes-Benz might not be giving McLaren its latest motors to give itself an advantage on the track, Neale says he doesn’t think “that’s a concern. ” He goes on to say, “Of course, Mercedes have their own GP team and it’s right and proper that a degree of focus is going to go in that direction, but I was just talking this morning with Thomas Fuhr at Mercedes-Benz – we speak frequently – and we want the same things. It’s in our interest to have consistent engines together because that’s how we get the highest quality.”

The last race of the 2011 F1 season takes place this weekend in Brazil at the Interlagos circuit.

[Source: ESPN]

McLaren recently celebrated the opening of its new production centre in Woking, England where even British Prime Minister David Cameron was invited to take a tour. The state-of-the-art production facility is the first step in McLaren Automotive’s goal of producing several models of vehicles in the coming years.

And with the Prime Minister’s visit, McLaren also took the time to announce its next project will be the MP4-27, but did not go into any details as to whether it’ll be a successor to the legendary McLaren F1 road car, or if it’ll be the company’s next race car. They did hint that they were nine months into the development program and have already sorted 18,918 individual components from more than 3,000 different work orders and signed off on more than 5,500 technical drawings.

McLaren Automotive’s immediate goals are to roll out 35 global dealerships by the end of 2012, preparing customers’ GT3 race cars for 2012 competition, and working on the design of a range of game-changing high-performance production cars that will bring McLaren Automotive’s annual vehicle production to 4,500 by 2014.

Check out two videos of the new production centre after the break.

GALLERY: McLaren Production Centre

Continue Reading…

Horst von Saurma, editor-in-chief of Sport Auto magazine, took McLaren’s MP4-12C out to Nurburgring for a single lap to see what the machine could do. Obviously we should all take the 7 minute and 28 second lap time with a grain of salt, considering the driver only had a single lap despite being very experienced at the ‘Ring.

McLaren did confirm that the MP4-12C was completely stock, including the factory Pirelli P-Zero Corsa rubber. It’s worth noting that the video doesn’t feature von Saurma’s MP4-12C that he lapped on the Nurburgring, but rather another car that was used on a separate lap day earlier in the year. Unfortunately that vehicle wasn’t able to complete a lap due to rain.

For comparison’s sake, the current production car record holder is the Viper ACR with a 7:12 while the MP4′s closest rival, the Ferrari 458, has a recorded best of 7:32.

Nonetheless, the video is entertaining to watch and McLaren has no plans of recording an official lap this year with their MP4-12C. (It’s a bit nippy in Germany this time of year).

Check out the video after the jump:

Continue Reading…

With sales of the MC4-12C now well underway in Europe, McLaren has reportedly begun testing on its new hypercar and successor to the F1.

Targeting the world’s most exotic exotics, the “mega-Mac” is being benchmarked against cars like the Veyron, as well as the upcoming models like the successor to the Enzo and the Porsche 918 Spider.

According to AutoCar, first tests of the car took place in Spain last month.

Rumored to power the supercar is a 5.0-liter V8 engine making just shy of 800-hp – or roughly 160-hp per liter. A 7-speed dual clutch transmission is also expected to be a part of the package. In addition, look for a pushrod suspension setup, five-stage traction control system, a carbon fiber tub and active aerodynamics.

Priced at close to one million dollars, McLaren is expected to build just 500 units over a four year period.

[Source: AutoCar]

In the latest trend of cars influencing home decor, Racing & Emotion has launched its Art Ball and Art Egg series of chairs, inspired by classic racing vehicles such as McLaren and Porsche.

Delightfully retro looking, both the Art Ball and Art Egg collections will add a definite statement to any room. These chairs are adorned with a number that corresponds with famous racing vehicles from Mercedes, McLaren, and Porsche, with 30 different options to choose from. If you’ve got some cash to play with, you can go with the AC Art and M1 Andy chairs, both of which are limited editions and cost $5,480 each (they also happen to be the most expensive pieces from this collection).

There’s only one chair in the Art Egg series. This beauty is called the 917 LM20E Gulf chair and it’s inspired by the famous Porsche 917 featured in the movie Le Mans. Boasting an egg-like shape, this chair’s body is made from high grade fibreglass, features fine grade leather upholstery and can turn 360 degrees. The 917 LM20E Gulf chair will set you back $4,800.

[Source: Born Rich]