MP4-12C Coupe

Make
McLaren
Segment
Coupe

After too many years of not building a production road car, McLaren is clearly trying to make up for lost time. Now that their MP4-12C has successfully launched, the British company is turning their attention to something even bigger: the F1 successor. Speaking at the opening of a new Sydney, Australia McLaren dealership the other night, company boss Ron Dennis revealed a few more details about the F1's spiritual successor.

Expected to be revealed in May, Dennis stated that trying to beat the legendary F1's top speed of 242 mph isn't the goal, nor is breaking the Bugatti Veyron's speed record. Instead, he claimed that the MP4-12C "will go around any circuit in the world faster than an F1. Don't get fixated by top speed. That's the first thing you have to discard in today's society." However, he did promise the new flagship will be the world's most technologically advanced supercar. He continued by stating that "you've got to have....a complete package of performance.

You've got to embrace technologies that are out there that are accepted, and some that don't even exist. I can tell you our next car has many things on it that don't exist at the moment." He also revealed that it will be low volume (only 300-500 units, but this was expected) and that it'll be the most expensive and innovative supercar of its time. Power will come from the MP4-12C's 3.8-liter twin turbo V8; however it'll have better performance thanks to what will likely be a hybrid system that'll give it an extra boost and that also reduces fuel consumption.

Unlike the F1, the new car will have a conventional two-seat layout (instead of the F1's three-seat design), but will still be radically different styling-wise compared to the 12C's mainly conservative lines. Overall, the new McLaren supercar will be more livable than the F1, but Dennis said that "what it lacks in purity it will make up for with more technology."