2017 Mclaren 570 Coupe on 2040-cars

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The McLaren 620R is revealed as a road-legal 570S GT4 race car

Perhaps you missed out on the limited-run McLaren Senna race car for the road. Those were all snapped up immediately, so it’s understandable if you did. DonÂ’t fret, though, because McLaren just unveiled another road-legal race car that it plans to sell 350 of. ItÂ’s called the McLaren 620R, and itÂ’s even more exclusive than the 500-unit Senna. The 620R is truly a road-legal 570S GT4 race car at its core. McLaren simply homologated it for road use, and then took advantage of the total lack of racing regulations to make it even quicker than the race version. The end result is rather enticing. To make it road legal, McLaren attacked a laundry list of items. The massive rear wing gained a brake light. McLaren says that cars will be delivered to customers in the most roadworthy low-downforce setting, but a McLaren retailer is able to adjust it to one of the two other more aggressive settings — in maximum attack, it can contribute 408 pounds of downforce. The front bumper and splitter were redesigned with “more pronounced aero blades” on the splitter. Dive planes were added to help accelerate air flow along the sides of the car and aid brake cooling. Then, the redesigned carbon fiber hood has two nostrils to clean up the air flowing over the top of the car and aid downforce. The full frontal aero package is able to produce up to 143 pounds of downforce. As expected, it uses an unshackled version of the 3.8-liter twin-turbo V8 out of the GT4 race car. In this spec, it produces 612 horsepower and 457 pound-feet of torque. ThatÂ’s good for a 0-60 mph sprint in 2.8 seconds and a maximum speed of 200 mph. The dampers are straight off the GT4, too. TheyÂ’re manually adjustable, and actually contribute to a 13-pound weight savings over the road version of the 570S. Still, these dampers are meant for the track, so expect them to be brutally stiff on our pockmarked roads. Lightweight aluminum wishbones and uprights are used, plus stiffer anti-roll bars as well. Carbon ceramic rotors and forged aluminum calipers are used to stop. McLaren says stopping power is spectacular with the standard Pirelli P Zero Trofeo R tires, but itÂ’s taken to an entirely new level with the optional full slicks. Buyers in the U.S. are allowed even more goodies than those elsewhere with this car. YouÂ’re able to spec an MSO upgrade package that features a carbon fiber roof and roof scoop for the carÂ’s intake.

2015 Spanish F1 Grand Prix makes its Deutsche mark

The first race of the European Formula One season inaugurates the second phase of the Championship. Teams overhaul their cars with the big updates they've been working on since Australia, and at the end of The Battle of Spain we find out how the positions on the field have changed. Mercedes-AMG Petronas driver Nico Rosberg brought a big update to his psychology, straight-up beating teammate Lewis Hamilton to take his first pole position of the season. Mercedes owns the front row and Ferrari maintains its status as primary challenger, Sebastian Vettel lining up in third. Williams proved it's been hitting the books to do better in class, though, Valtteri Bottas slotting into fourth. And Toro Rosso's visit to a track that rewards strong aero rewarded them with the best team grid position since the Italian Grand Prix in 2008: Carlos Sainz secured fifth, ahead of Max Verstappen in sixth. Kimi Raikkonen's bout of Saturday woes – it seems the Finn is always handicapped by lots of tiny issues – continued in Barcelona with one of his sets of prime tires getting cooked by malfunctioning tire warmers. He recovered well enough to take seventh on the grid, but he's got some strong competition ahead of him. He led three other drivers in the Continuous Issues department, Daniil Kvyat unable to wrestle his Infiniti Red Bull Racing higher than eighth, Williams driver Felipe Massa getting it wrong in Turn 3 to fall five places behind his teammate Bottas, and Daniel Ricciardo in the second Red Bull enduring another engine change and sloppy car behavior to get tenth. And while it turned out to be a steady race a little rough around the edges, the positions on the battlefield just might have changed. A little. Of the 66 laps in the race we might have seen Rosberg for three of them – maybe. The German got a smashing start, had a clear lead into Turn 1, and after that we checked in occasionally during his two pit stops and again at the checkered flag. He owned the entire weekend the way we're used to seeing his teammate do, and the cameras left him alone to run his race. No one got within seven seconds of him during the first third, and as the pit stop strategies played out that cushion grew. He finished seventeen seconds ahead of Hamilton, and 45 seconds ahead of third-placed Vettel. Hamilton, on the back foot all three days, stumbled out of the gate.

Future McLaren cars will be hybrids and autonomous

You may want to look away supercar purists, McLaren views its future as partially electrified and autonomous. Autocar reported today that McLaren's CEO Mike Flewitt wants to bring in hybrid technology for next-generation McLaren sports cars, with the electrified tech baked in from the beginning rather than adding it on after the fact. "Hybrid design is part of the next platform," Flewitt said. "It is designed-in from day one rather than having to adapt an existing chassis." The British manufacturer would even offer hybrid-only models in most product lines, rendering conventional, non-hybrid McLarens as limited editions only. The powertrain in the strongest-selling hybrid cars would feature a turbo V6, reports Autocar. The upcoming BP23 hypercar will already have an electric motor and a battery pack backing up its 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8. Flewitt also confirms that future McLaren cars will have autonomous capabilities, which is certainly an interesting move by a driver-centric specialty car manufacturer. Flewitt acknowledged this, but noted that "Autonomy in its own right isn't that appealing to our customers, but we need to have capabilities designed in for safety, legislation and emissions." The first model to be replaced with a hybrid successor would be the entry-level 570S, reportedly by next year. The electrification would then continue until the 2022 replacement of the 720S. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. News Source: AutocarImage Credit: McLaren Green McLaren Future Vehicles Hybrid Luxury Supercars mclaren automotive