McLaren offers a trease of the new P15's taillights.
McLaren is familiar with the idea of going to extremes, as its legendary F1 and the more recent P1 models clearly demonstrated. But the British sports carmaker aims to one-up itself with the debut of the newest member of its Ultimate Series set for December 10th.
Internally codenamed the P15, McLaren promises that the new hypercar will be “the most extreme road-legal McLaren ever.” Expect that to mean, among other things, a top speed well in excess of 200 mph using what is rumored to be a 4.0-liter V-8 blasting out something just short of 800 horsepower.
The P1 isn’t the only ultra-exotic in the works at McLaren, however. The automaker also is working up what is being referred to internally as the world’s first Hyper-GT. And it will borrow at least some elements of the original P1’s design, notably the unusual, staggered three-seat cabin with the driver in the middle.
For now, McLaren is only giving us a hint of what the P15 will look like with this carefully cropped teaser image. It reveals a long and narrow LED taillight above a mesh-covered vent. An earlier teaser showed off the hypercar’s distinctive triple exhaust framed within a large chromed bezel.
The McLaren P15 will be the fastest McLaren ever unleashed on the streets, and comes amidst a wave of new hypercars ranging up to the absurd, 5,000 hp Devel Sixteen that made its debut at this week’s Dubai Motor Show. As part of the McLaren Track22 plan, the British maker plans to roll out 15 new models by the end of 22, the P15 being the third in that series.
(The devil’s in the details — in this case a 5,000 hp engine powering the new Devel Sixteen. Click Here for a first look.)
McLaren previously teased the P15's triple exhaust.
The hypercar is expected to use a modified version of the turbocharged 4.0-liter V-8 powering the current 720S model, British media outlets setting the output at around 789 hp. Significantly Aston is foregoing the Formula One KERS hybrid boost system it relied on for peak power with the P1.
(Click Here for a look at the new McLaren 720S.)
The P15 will share the current Monocage II carbon fiber monocoque but will be seriously paired back with the intent to use these cars on track. That means a Spartan interior and a reported weight of under 2,900 pounds – or about 350 pounds less than the P1.
The initial unveiling will take place online on March 10 but the public won’t get to see the McLaren in the sheet metal, er, composite until the Geneva Motor Show next March. Not that it matters. McLaren indicates it has already taken orders for all 106 of the P15 hypercars it plans to build. In Britain, the price tag has been set at around 840,000 pounds, or $1.1 million.
About the same time McLaren rolls the P15 into Geneva it’s expected to reveal the fourth model in its new product plan, the BP23. It’s being referred to by the automaker as “the world’s first Hyper-GT.” That suggests it will add many of the luxury features that have been stripped out of the P15. That said, it’s also expected to deliver extreme levels of performance only slightly below that of the P15. Oh, and before you pull out the checkbook, McLaren reportable has sold out the BP23 production run, as well.
(For more on the BP23, Click Here.)