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McLaren Ultimate Vision GT | 1,134-hp hybrid with a crazy driving position

As with Gran Turismo 6, Gran Turismo Sport will feature special Vision GT cars, which are concepts designed by real car manufacturers for use in the video-game series. These cars imagine what a company might produce far into the future, as far as 2030 or later in the case of the car McLaren has just revealed as its contribution. It's called the McLaren Ultimate Vision Gran Turismo, and it's a thoroughly wild hybrid. Starting with performance, the McLaren retains a certain amount of gasoline propulsion thanks to a twin-turbocharged 4.0-liter V8. This engine powers the rear wheels, while the fronts are powered by individual electric motors. The combined output is 1,134 horsepower and 940 pound-feet of torque. While there are some hypercars with greater output right now, those numbers become more impressive when you realize this virtual McLaren weighs a little more than 2,200 pounds, less than a current Mazda Miata. The light weight should also make the inboard carbon ceramic brakes highly effective, too. The light weight comes from a body and chassis created using a considerable amount of carbon fiber. That body has unique active aerodynamics that rely on opening and closing holes near air inlets to adjust drag and downforce. According to McLaren, this method is simpler and lighter than mechanical flaps for the same purpose. Aside from the remarkable performance numbers, the McLaren Ultimate Vision Gran Turismo also has a remarkable cockpit. It has a large glass area for good visibility, but the party piece is the prone seating position that McLaren calls "motorcycle-like." It probably is a cool way to drive, though we do wonder how comfortable that position would be for a length of time. Interestingly, the McLaren isn't the first to imagine a Vision GT car with this sort of seating. The Chevrolet Chaparral 2X Vision Gran Turismo did something similar. Much more of that car was outlandish though, since it was supposedly propelled by lasers. No, really, lasers. That's what Chevy said. Don't expect to see the McLaren Ultimate Vision Gran Turismo on the road anytime soon, but you can get behind the wheel virtually very soon. It will be featured in Gran Turismo Sport for PlayStation 4, which goes on sale October 17. The car will also join another special sports car, the Fittipaldi EF7, designed by Pininfarina and racing legend Emerson Fittipaldi. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences.

Ferrari, BMW lend expertise to Olympic bobsled, skeleton, luge

LONDON — There are plenty of reasons why the sport of bobsleigh is sometimes referred to as Formula One on ice, but few as obvious as Italy's World Cup sleds. Resplendent in Ferrari red, and with a set of team sponsor Pirelli's P-Zero tyres painted on the sides, they are even liveried to look like racing cars. Ferrari, Formula One's most glamorous and successful team, have worked with the Italian federation, whose sleds run without sponsor branding at the Olympics, since 2010 and in the run-up to next month's Pyeongchang Winter Games. Former rival BMW, title sponsor of the World Cup, has long partnered the U.S. bobsleigh team, while McLaren teamed up with Britain's bob and skeleton athletes for the 2014 Sochi Games in Russia. "There's always the link between the Formula One companies, or any motor company, and skeleton and bobsleigh," says Rachel Blackburn, the engineer who has been involved in Britain's skeleton program since 2006 and who used to work for McLaren. "There's the Ferrari sleds and the BMW sleds ... when we were at McLaren it kind of made a good story," she told Reuters by telephone from her home in Dubai. That somewhat manufactured rivalry has died down in the years since Sochi, with McLaren no longer involved and Ferrari's presence low key. But the worlds of grand prix motor racing and sliding sports still have plenty in common. Bobsled, luge and skeleton are among the fastest of Olympic sports, with bobsleds reaching speeds over 90 mph. Drivers are subjected to gut-wrenching G-forces, and crashes can be fatal. And then there is the ongoing debate about cost controls, the direction of future rules, preserving a level playing field and obsessive secrecy — all endlessly recurring themes in Formula One. 80 mph on a tea tray Blackburn said skeleton, where riders hit 80 mph on what has glibly been compared to an oversized tea-tray, sits somewhere between Americas Cup yachts and Formula One cars in terms of speed and aerodynamics. "Applied engineering is far more interesting than the pure stuff, so when its applied to something that's fun and exciting it does make it a lot easier to solve problems," she said. "There is the Americas Cup, sailing, Formula One and the high speed ice sports as well. It's the same concept.

This unique McLaren 12C is valued at nearly $1.6 million

Want a new McLaren? Be prepared to shell out six figures. You can save a bundle if you're willing to go with a second-hand 12C, which you can pick up now for around $200k – about what you'd spend on a new 570S. Yet this particular MP4-12C is estimated to be worth upwards of a million. So what gives? As you may have guessed, this is no ordinary McLaren 12C. It's one of just ten examples of the special edition High Sport introduced back in 2012. McLaren Special Operations equipped the HS with aerodynamic enhancements derived from the GT3 racer, and an engine upgraded by around 80 horsepower to roughly match that of the ultimate 675LT that came much later. This particular example was ordered up by Ron Dennis himself with a special livery that mirrors (quite literally) the Vodafone livery which the F1 team was running at the time, with silver fading to black and neon red accents inside, out, and even on the wheels. Throw in the Stealth package, sport exhaust, carbon-ceramic brakes, and other goodies, and this example stands out from the other 3,500 or so 12Cs McLaren made over three years of production before the 650S replaced it. Outlandish as the livery may seem, this car won top awards at shows across Florida where it's current registered. Now consigned to Mecum Auctions to sell at its upcoming event next month, in Kissimmee, FL, it's expected to sell for between $1.3 and $1.6 million. That's more than you would have had to pay for a P1 if you had gotten your order in on time, but could prove the sounder investment as a collector's item. Related Video: Featured Gallery 2012 McLaren MP4-12C High Sport: Mecum Kissimmee 2016 View 32 Photos News Source: Mecum McLaren Auctions Coupe Supercars mclaren mp4-12c livery mclaren special operations mso mclaren 12c vodafone