2017 Mclaren 570 Coupe on 2040-cars

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F1's Fernando Alonso staying at McLaren in 2018

AUSTIN, Texas — Double world champion Fernando Alonso will stay with McLaren in 2018, the team said on Thursday in a long-expected announcement that finally ended one of the sagas of the Formula One season. McLaren did not say whether the new contract extended beyond next year. The Spaniard has endured a miserable three years with the British-based former world champions and had refused to commit to staying until he felt they could provide him with a competitive car. McLaren have gone some way towards answering those doubts by ending a troubled partnership with Honda and switching to Renault engines in 2018. "It's fantastic to be able to continue my relationship with everybody at McLaren. It was always where my heart was telling me to stay, and I really feel at home here," the Spaniard said in a team statement at the U.S. Grand Prix. "McLaren has the technical resource and financial strength to be able to very quickly win races and world championships in F1," added the 36-year-old, who won his two championships with Renault in 2005 and 2006. "Although the last few years have not been easy, we have never forgotten how to win, and I believe we can achieve that again soon." Alonso has not been on the podium since 2014, when he was with Ferrari. His last win was in Spain in 2013, again with the Italian team. McLaren is currently ninth overall, out of 10 teams, and the season ranks as the worst of Alonso's career with the exception of his debut year with now-defunct tail-enders Minardi. He has six retirements in 16 races so far in 2017, and failed to start in Russia while also missing Monaco to compete at the Indianapolis 500 in May. The Spaniard has scored points only twice. McLaren executive director Zak Brown said continuing with Alonso, as team mate to Belgian Stoffel Vandoorne, had always been the obvious thing to do. "His commitment will allow us to further improve the attractiveness and potential of the wider Group, and will ensure we head into 2018 feeling increasingly confident that we'll be able to take a meaningful step forward," he said. "Fernando fully understands and buys in to the direction we are taking. "Our shareholders have ambitious plans for the whole Group, and success within Formula One is a central pillar of that strategy. With Fernando, there is no doubt that we have a driver who can help us achieve our goal of winning again in F1." Reporting by Alan BaldwinRelated Video:

McLaren 570S priced at $184,900

McLaren broke new ground when it launched the new 570S at the New York Auto Show this week, moving in into lower-priced but higher-volume territory for the first time. But that's just the tip of the proverbial iceberg: there will be an entire Sports Series to follow, with additional body styles and more affordable (a relative term in this case) levels of specification. The second model, dubbed 540C, is set to debut at the Shanghai Motor Show. US dealers will exchange $184,900 for keys to a 570S, which is $2,200 more than Porsche's base price for the 911 Turbo S. Based on 540C pricing already announced in the United Kingdom, we estimate that model will cost about $160,000 if it comes Stateside. The 540C is to the 570S as the Asian-market 625C is to the 650S. The smaller number designates a lower level of equipment and a little less power, but also a lower price tag. In the case of the 540C, that's 533 horsepower instead of 562 hp. The carbon-ceramic brakes on the 570S will most certainly disappear from the standard features list for the 540C, among other features. Of course that doesn't mean the 540C will be offered Stateside. The 625C at the bottom end of the Super Series is only offered in Asia, and with the new 540C set to be unveiled at the Shanghai Motor Show later this month, McLaren could follow a similar formula. Show full PR text McLAREN 570S: A NEW BENCHMARK FOR THE SPORTS CAR MARKET PREMIERES IN NEW YORK · Sports Series completes the McLaren three tier model range, priced from $184,900 · Highest power and lightest car in the sports car segment by almost 150 kg (331 lbs) means a class-leading power-to-weight ratio of 434PS per ton (5 lbs per hp) · Two examples of the 570S unveiled in New York showcase some of the customization options available with the new 'By McLaren' designer interiors The all-new McLaren Sports Series brings McLaren race-derived technologies and supercar driving exhilaration to the sports car market for the first time. Launching with two power outputs, the Sports Series offers class-leading performance, lightweight construction including a carbon fiber chassis, recognizable McLaren design values and a comprehensive specification list. Pricing for the higher-powered 570S, shown for the first time at the New York International Auto Show, will retail from $184,900 USD. Global deliveries of the Sports Series will commence later this year.

2016 McLaren 675LT Review

"It's so comfortable." That's always the first or second comment made by anyone who owns or has driven a McLaren. They say the coupe or spider in question is also a singular performer, but what really blows them away is the bug-in-a-rug coziness when they're not murdering the tires. A Southern California dealer commenting on the respective driving habits of Ferrari, Lamborghini, and McLaren purchasers said, "McLaren owners drive their cars too much," adding that it wasn't unusual for him to see examples clock 20,000 miles a year or go on long road trips – kind of like the one my colleague Steven Ewing did in a 650S Spider. We spent a week with a Napier Green 675LT coupe, the limited-edition, track-focused model in the Super Series line-up. It establishes a psychic connection with the McLaren F1 GTR Long Tail developed in 1996 to battle the Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR and Porsche 911 GT1. This is what you should know about the 675LT: it's really, really comfortable. Almost excessively so. Final output is 666 hp and 516 lb-ft of torque, an increase of 25 hp and 16 lb-ft over the 650S. At heart is the twin-turbo 3.8-liter V8 found in all McLaren models, but more than half of its components are new for this application. The camshaft is new, the block gets lightweight connecting rods, the fuel pump is upgraded, the twin turbos are the same size as those on the 650S' engine yet more efficient. Final output is 666 horsepower and 516 pound-feet of torque, an increase of 25 hp and 16 lb-ft over the 650S. More important is the weight loss. At 2,712 pounds the 675LT is 220 pounds lighter than a 650S through major overtures like carbon fiber body panels, less sound deadening, Alcantara in the cabin instead of carpet and leather, and a polycarbonate engine cover. You need a special tool – made of carbon fiber – to remove the polycarbonate cover because the struts and latches have been omitted to save weight. Then there are minute gestures, like the windshield being one millimeter thinner (saving 6.6 pounds), the rear bulkhead glass being half a millimeter thinner (saving 1.1 pounds), and the carbon fiber being satin-finished instead of gloss-finished (saving 50 grams). For all that precision, the 0-60 mile-per-hour time of 2.8 seconds is only one tenth under that of the 650S, and its top speed is 205 mph, compared to the 207-mph terminal velocity of the 650S. There is nothing riveting about the 675LT at road-legal speeds on straight roads.