McLaren 720S PERFORMANCE, page #7

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McLaren matches Ferrari with an extended warranty of up to 12 years

If you're an owner of a McLaren and want some assurance that if something goes wrong with your pricey sports car it'll be covered, McLaren has some good news for you. The company announced that it will now offer an extended warranty that will protect your McLaren for up to 12 years from the date of manufacture. Previously, McLaren owners were only given the option to extend the factory three-year and unlimited mileage warranty to seven years. Extending the warranty does cost extra (though McLaren didn't announce how much), and can be purchased in increments of 12 to 24 months. If you happen to have a McLaren P1, we're afraid this warranty isn't available to you. It only covers Sports Series and Super Series cars, which includes vehicles such as the 570S, MP4-12C, 650S, and variations on those models. For people looking to purchase a McLaren with this warranty, it is only available for new, and certified pre-owned McLarens that are under 10 years old and have driven fewer than 100,000 miles. The warranty also only covers problems that are not considered general wear and tear, misuse, or abuse. Aftermarket parts and upgrades also aren't covered. McLaren isn't the only supercar company to offer lengthy warranty coverage. According to Business Insider, Ferrari announced two years ago that it would offer extra-charge extensions to the standard three-year warranty for up to 12 years as well. Ferrari also sweetens the deal on new models with a seven-year service program. Related Video:

McLaren 570S Track Pack removes 55 pounds just to add them back at 150 mph

Though the McLaren 570S is plenty sporty as-is, the British supercar builder decided there was room for improvement. That improvement comes by way of a new Track Pack option for the sports car. The meat of the upgrade are a gaggle of lighter parts to go along with a new rear wing. Inside, leather upholstery is swapped for Alcantara, and the standard buckets are replaced with carbon fiber racing-style units. Combined with lighter wheels, the package reduces the 570S's weight by 55 pounds. The new rear wing, exclusive to the 570S, nullifies the weight gain, and then some, once up to supercar-level speeds. The wing is 12 mm taller than the stock example, and produces an extra 64 pounds of downforce at 150 miles per hour. The other performance-oriented goody included in the package is the McLaren Track Telemetry system. This app records lap times, sector time splits, and logs data for analysis of your performance. Because McLaren knows owners will want people to see that they have the most hardcore 570S available, the company made a couple of visual tweaks, too. The roof is painted in what McLaren calls "Dark Palladium" and the exhaust and wheels are given a "stealth-finish." Based on the photos, this seems to be a fancy way of saying "satin black." The Track Pack is now available for ordering and delivery in 2017. The package isn't cheap at a price of GBP16,500, or $20,595 at current exchange rates. But look at it this way. The extra grams from those dollars in your wallet were slowing you down on the track. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

A weird end to a weird F1 season | 2016 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix recap

The 2016 Formula 1 season ended with a bang that came from a direction no one expected. Lewis Hamilton put his Mercedes-AMG Petronas on pole position and then got away clean to start the race. Teammate Nico Rosberg did the next best thing, lining up in second and following right behind Hamilton for most of the race. Other than Rosberg's wicked pass on Red Bull's Max Verstappen to retake second place on Lap 20, things stayed all quiet at the front. Come Lap 32 of the 55-lap race, however, observers began to wonder why Hamilton was driving so slow. The Brit, working every trick he could think of to win the Driver's World Championship instead of just the race, dogged it out front trying to push Rosberg back into the chasing mix of Red Bulls and Ferraris. Over the next 15 laps Hamilton's race engineer repeatedly radioed ideal lap times. Hamilton only occasionally hit the times until finally saying, "I suggest you let us race." When the one-stopping Sebastian Vettel blasted his Ferrari from sixth to third, nosing up to Rosberg's gearbox, Mercedes team honcho Paddy Lowe got on the radio to instruct Hamilton to go faster. Hamilton replied that if he wasn't going to win the championship he didn't care about winning the race. Hamilton repeatedly zoomed through the first sector to keep everyone behind, then clogged up the works through Sectors 2 and 3. The problem with his plan was that the Red Bulls in fourth and fifth couldn't get close enough to threaten the trio at the front; even if Vettel had got by Rosberg, Rosberg would still win the Championship with a third-place finish. As it happened, Rosberg finished second behind the disconsolate Hamilton. Vettel took third, followed by Red Bull drivers Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo, then the second Ferrari piloted by Kimi Raikkonen in sixth. Nico Hulkenberg took seventh, beating Force India teammate Sergio Perez for the last time as an intra-team rivalry. Felipe Massa closed his F1 career with ninth place in a Williams chassis that he got to take home as a gift from the team. Fernando Alonso scored the final point for McLaren, a touch of sweet for the team after the bitterness of Jenson Button retiring on Lap 12 with suspension damage. Rosberg's second place earned him 385 points for the season, enough to take the World Driver's Championship from Hamilton by just five points. Some have put the title down to Rosberg's consistency, others to his car's reliability.

McLaren's all-electric P1 shows its stuff in new video

If you like your McLaren's electric and fast, then the company has a video for you. Click above to see a short video of the testing process of the new P1 EV. Center driver's seat? Check. Open top? Of course. And did we mention that it hits it's top speed in under two seconds? Oh, yeah. Ok, fine. The McLaren P1 Ride-on edition is a bit of a joke, but until the hybrid BP23 comes along, we'll take it (if only as a gift for the little EV fans in our lives. It's funny how dreams of electric McLarens seem to come up in all sorts of shapes and sizes from time to time. If you want to satisfy your McLaren EV urges now, you can get the Ride-on in Volcano Yellow for just under $500. Related Video: Related Gallery McLaren P1 toy car News Source: YouTube via Hybrid Cars Green Humor Marketing/Advertising McLaren Electric Videos mclaren p1 p1

What McLaren's new boss has to say about the F1 team he just took over

You might have read recently that American Zak Brown will take over the reins of McLaren from Ron Dennis. That means Brown, a former pro racer with long-time ties to Formula 1, will also run the road-car business. But while that's important, his passion and more immediate focus is the F1 team, which has had some trouble taking on Mercedes-AMG Petronas recently. If you follow F1 and are keen to know what Brown plans to do to take the fight to Mercedes, you're in luck. Our friend and veteran motorsport journalist Marshall Pruett got Brown for a one-on-one interview, and it's insightful if you're a big McLaren fan, perhaps inspirational. Take a listen below, and if you like what you hear you can find more of Pruett's podcasts right here. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Related Video: Hirings/Firings/Layoffs Motorsports McLaren Racing Vehicles

McLaren 570S Design Editions add $10k but still make financial sense

The McLaren 570S' five new Design Edition models add just over $10,000 to the car's starting price but promise some clever packaging of styling and design features. McLaren turned to its own designers to pick out colors, trims, wheels, and other details for each Design Edition, delivering what it calls packages that make "financial sense." Now, stop laughing about a $10,000 package for a six-figure sports car making financial sense and keep reading, because we're going to explain why McLaren's right. Let's start with Design Edition 1, which is that red beauty up top. Edition 1 pairs Vermillion Red paint with diamond-cut, five-spoke alloys, a black – or "Stealth" if you insist on McLaren's silly nomenclature – exhaust finish, and red calipers, while the cabin is a mix of black Alcantara and red Nappa leather with Slate Grey contrast stitching. McLaren says that while you could get a car finished the same way, a customer would need to pick each option individually, leading to a premium of far more than the Design Edition's $10,320. In other words, think of the five Design Editions as a value package, bringing you a lot of new style at a lower price. And since McLaren doesn't call these cars a limited or special edition, the move could let the company leverage some economy of scale – building broadly similar versions of a car is, after all, cheaper than going bespoke on each new vehicle – so it's good for all parties. In addition to Vermillion Red, it's offering its Design Edition models in Onyx Black, Storm Grey, Ventura Orange, and Silica White. Dealers are accepting orders, with deliveries slated for 2017. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

McLaren CEO says Apple takeover talks happened but didn't go anywhere

Back in September, we reported that Apple was in talks to buy McLaren, as per a report in the Financial Times. A McLaren spokesperson flatly denied the rumor at the time, but it turns out that perhaps the truth of the matter is a little more complex than that denial encompassed. In an interview with Reuters, McLaren's acting CEO Mike Flewitt confirmed that there were talks with Apple, but that they never reached the stage where Apple made a bid. "There wasn't a bid from Apple," Flewitt told Reuters. "They visited. We talked. We talked about what they did. We talked about what we did. They toured. It never matured to a definitive proposition." Even if Apple had made a bid, it seems like the people who run McLaren might not have been in the mood to take it. As you might remember, long-time CEO Ron Dennis was ousted recently from his position after a 35-year run. A BBC report made it sound like the dismissal had to do with management style, but Sky News reports that it was Dennis's backing of a Chinese takeover bid that precipitated his departure. Apparently the stockholders weren't keen on selling, whether to a Chinese consortium or anybody else, and so Dennis got the boot. It's not as if Dennis will be completely uninvolved from this point forward. The man still has a 25 percent stake in the company, and will remain on the board of directors of both the McLaren Technology Group as well as McLaren automotive itself. In other news, Zak Brown, a former racing driver and sports marketing executive, has decided to take Dennis's vacated position, reports Sky News. Related Video: News Source: Reuters, Sky NewsImage Credit: Mark Thompson/Getty Images McLaren Racing Vehicles Special and Limited Editions Performance mclaren automotive

McLaren is making a three-seat successor to the F1

They had us at three seats. McLaren just announced a new car, currently called BP23, that is the spiritual successor for the iconic F1 supercar. Just 106 will be made, the same number as the F1, and they're already sold out. And yes, it will have a three-seat configuration. BP23 is short for "Bespoke Project 23" and, hey, McLaren has never been strong on names. This the company that launched its current road-going car lineup with the memorable title of MP4-12C, after all. What few details we have, though, point to a everything else about the car being amazing. McLaren calls the BP23 a Hyper GT, because it's designed for long-distance travel. The powertrain will be a hybrid, which we expect to exceed the 904 horsepower total output of the P1. Inside, every single piece of switchgear will be unique to the BP23. Along with the three-seat configuration, the new car will also feature the dihedral doors that are now a McLaren calling card, but with a twist. This time around the doors will be power operated and extend into the roof, Ford GT40-style. And in case you were wondering, yes, the body is all carbon fiber. Pricing has yet to be revealed, but we're told it's seven figures. Which is incredibly vague. Then again, if you haven't already had a meeting with McLaren Special Operations, the price doesn't matter.Related Video:

Ron Dennis vacates McLaren F1's CEO position after 35 years

McLaren's Ron Dennis, one of the biggest names in F1 history, is stepping down from his CEO position after 35 years. Dennis was told on Tuesday he must give up his position as McLaren's chairman and chief executive, reports the BBC. Dennis, who holds a 25-percent stake in McLaren, attempted to contest the shareholders' decision to put him on so-called "gardening leave" redundancy. Reports say McLaren's other owners, TAG Group CEO Mansour Ojjeh and the Bahrain-based investment fund Mumtalakat, ousted him due to being at odds with Dennis' management style. Ojjeh holds another 25-percent stake in McLaren, and Mumtalakat holds the remaining 50 percent. According to Dennis, the rest of the management team warned Ojjeh about the possible consequences of removing him from McLaren. As Dennis says, "My management style is the same as it has always been and is one that has enabled McLaren to become an automotive and technology group that has won 20 Formula 1 World Championships and grown into an GBP850m-a-year business." Due to differences in vision regarding McLaren's future, there was no other option for Dennis than to leave the company. Dennis will still retain his 25-percent stake in the company and remain on the boards of both McLaren Technology Group and McLaren Automotive. Dennis states he plans to launch a new technology investment fund as soon as his contractual commitments expire; he also pledges to "use his McLaren board seat to protect the interest of the business and its 3,500 employees." McLaren has failed to win a F1 title after Lewis Hamilton's drivers' championship eight years ago and the latest constructors' title was won in 1998, 18 years ago.Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. News Source: BBC SportImage Credit: Mark Thompson via Getty Images Hirings/Firings/Layoffs Motorsports McLaren

Rain prolongs the Championship battle | 2016 Brazilian Grand Prix recap

Rain and an old-school circuit are the antidotes to Formula 1's constricting technical regulations and Tilke tracks. At Brazil's Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace – otherwise known as Interlagos – rain Saturday night and on race day washed away everyone's careful plans, except for those of the man at the front of the pack. Lewis Hamilton put his Mercedes-AMG Petronas ahead of the field throughout the weekend. On Sunday, a storm-delayed start behind the Safety Car assured Hamilton of a clean path to the lead and a clear track. The Briton didn't waste it, pulling out a gap on teammate Nico Rosberg behind, and Rosberg appeared to have no interest in going hard after Hamilton. Safety Cars and red flags kept resetting the gap to zero, though. After the Mercedes-AMG GT S led the first seven laps, it emerged again on Lap 13 for another six laps when Marcus Ericsson crashed his Sauber. Seconds after racing resumed, Kimi Raikkonen aquaplaned his Ferrari into the wall on the front straight. That caused the first red flag, leading to another eight-lap Safety Car interval, then a second red flag stoppage due to conditions on Lap 28, then three more Safety Car laps, and then, finally, racing again. Hamilton never surrendered his lead. The Briton changed tires once during a stoppage, and drove fast enough to cover the full race distance despite the intermissions. Afterward, he said "it was a very easy race." Rosberg had it harder, defending against the preternatural Max Verstappen in third. Barring misfortune it's already clear the Red Bull pilot has at least one Driver's Championship in his career future. In Brazil the young Dutchman drove like he's worthy of the hardware right now. After Verstappen passed Rosberg for second on Lap 34, the Red Bull driver pitted for intermediate tires on Lap 44 – a huge gamble in the conditions – coming back out in fifth. That tire wager failed, giving Rosberg a safe position in second when Verstappen had to pit for extreme wets on Lap 54 of 71. The teenager re-emerged in 16th. Over the race's final 17 laps Verstappen passed 13 drivers at six different places on track. He ran it close-but-clean a couple of times, especially when getting around Sebastian Vettel and Sergio Perez, but he was simply untouchable. Not only did the Dutchman score an amazing third place, he put in what could be the drive of the season.