2015 Mclaren 650s on 2040-cars

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McLaren-Honda drops the bling for stealth F1 livery

Watch a Formula One grand prix and you can instantly tell which are the McLarens, visible as they are from a mile away with their reflective chrome livery. But that's all about to change as the British team has dropped the chrome in favor of the more subdued livery you see here. Unveiled in time for this weekend's Spanish Grand Prix, the new McLaren livery replaces the bling with a gray so dark that it borders on black. The red accents remain, albeit in a revised pattern. The new livery promises to be less reflective at sunset and flood-lit night races especially, while providing more of a visual break from the Mercedes era now that the team is powered once again by Honda. McLaren first adopted the silver and black livery in 1997 after Marlboro (with its white and red livery) left for Ferrari and the West tobacco brand was brought in instead. The team parted company with West after the ban on tobacco advertising in sports was instituted in Europe in 2005, inserted some red into the livery and replaced the flat silver with chrome. This weekend's race will mark the first time in a decade, then, that McLaren will be racing without the chrome. Featured Gallery 2015 McLaren-Honda MP4-30: Gray Livery News Source: McLaren via Facebook Motorsports Honda McLaren Racing Vehicles F1 livery mclaren-honda

McLaren 650S to start at about $318,000 in Europe

Immediately following the reveal of a mid-engined piece of exotica like the McLaren 650S, one of the many, many questions that will be asked relates to the six-figure sum the 641-horsepower car will demand. Now, we have a rough answer - 232,500 euros, according to an alleged pricing guide leaked on on 650Sforum.com. That works out to $318,000, but in reality, the base US of the 650S is likely to be lower, what with things like Europe's Value Added Tax messing with the figures. Exterior carbon fiber items range from a 10,020-euro ($13,739 as of this writing) package that features CF versions of the rear bumper, door blades and front splitter to a 2,690-euro ($3,688) side intake. Like many exotics, there's a wide range of options to customize the cabin, with prices ranging from free (owners have their choice of a full leather cabin, a leather sport cabin, or an Alcantara-and-leather cabin at no cost) to 6,080 euros ($8,336) for carbon-fiber racing seats. Other intriguing items include a 5,670-euro ($7,774) sports exhaust and the option to go with steel brakes instead of the standard carbon-ceramic stoppers at no charge (but why?). You can hop over to the 650Sforum.com page and take a look at the entire list, including the leaked documents that revealed the pricing info. Have a look, and then let us know what you think a reasonable price is for this middling McLaren, by posting in Comments. Expect to hear more on the 650S ahead of its debut at the upcoming Geneva Motor Show. Featured Gallery McLaren 650S View 10 Photos News Source: 650Sforum.com Rumormill Geneva Motor Show McLaren Coupe Performance pricing 2014 Geneva Motor Show mclaren 650s

Hot lapping Detroit's Belle Isle in a McLaren 12C GT3

Last weekend's Indianapolis 500 was indeed the most prominent race of the 2014 IndyCar series so far, with driver Ryan Hunter-Reay winning in what was an incredibly close fight to the very last lap. But the Indy 500 doesn't mark the end of the IndyCar season, and this weekend, the series heads to Detroit for the Belle Isle Grand Prix – an event that brought open-wheel racing back to The D in 2012 (to admittedly terrible results). But this weekend's Belle Isle events aren't just about IndyCar. In fact, there's a whole host of racing to be found on the small island in the Detroit River this weekend, including the Pirelli World Challenge competition, which many folks love, if only because the racecars are actually based off of production vehicles. As part of this week's pre-race festivities, Autoblog multimedia director Adam Morath got to meet with the folks from K-Pax Racing and check out their McLaren 12C GT3 racer. Morath got strapped in and was told to hang on to his five-point for a memorable hot lap of Belle Isle in the 12C GT3, and he captured the experience on video. Scroll down to check it out. Motorsports McLaren Coupe Racing Vehicles Performance Videos detroit grand prix