2022 Mclaren 720s Spider Performance on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Question of the Day: What's the greatest British car ever?

The British automotive industry has produced everything from high-production econo-commuters to staggeringly luxurious oligarch-wagons, along the way winning plenty of races and building plenty of beautiful machines. The original Mini led directly to the past half-century of transverse-engine, front-wheel-drive cars built everywhere, the MGB put the sporty little convertible into everyone's reach, and the Morris Oxford became the most beloved motor vehicle in India. So many to choose from, but we want you to pick one. What will it be? Related Video:

Refreshed Seat Exeo looks even more like an Audi than before

What happens to German cars when they've outlived their lifecycles? Some die off like any other model line, but others get turned into more budget-oriented vehicles with new badges.
Take the old Mercedes-Benz E-Class, for example, whose platform was recycled into the Chrysler 300 and then, in turn, into the Dodge Challenger. Same with the old SLK that was turned into the Chrysler Crossfire. Volkswagen often continues producing its old vehicles after they've been replaced, offering them in markets like South America and Canada. But when the Audi A4 was replaced, it was transformed into a new flagship model for Seat.
The Exeo has only been on the market for three years, but the B7-generation A4 on which it's based (and by "based," we mean a few fresh body panels and some new badges) dates back to 2004. That's seven years ago, and that makes the Exeo a dated product. So Seat's toiled to keep it fresh by launching this facelifted model. But though you might think they'd have made it look less obviously like an Audi, to our eyes it looks like they've done precisely the opposite.

2015 McLaren P1 [w/video]

We have already raved about the Porsche 918 Spyder, and all indications suggest we'll be moved to dispense flowery Italian prose about the upcoming Ferrari LaFerrari (even if the name does sound like a skip on a 45-rpm record). In between these two hypercars comes this British mind-boggle better known as the McLaren P1. As a pure driver's exoticar, the P1 outshines the Porsche in dynamics and nimbleness, while the 918 engineers the miracle of potentially exceptional mileage combined with face-flattening speed that equals the Big Mac. Both cost around $1 million ($845,000 for the 918, $1.15 million for the P1 – at this level, what's a few hundred-thousand dollars among friends?), and both get most normal humans as close to experiencing Formula One for the street without driving something that looks like a single-seat, open-wheel car. You can imagine my excitement as I was ushered over to Dunsfold Airfield south of London to have my cherished laps in McLaren P1 validation prototype No. 5. I have never experienced good weather here, but I was thankfully blessed with tepid air and brilliant late winter sunshine for this drive. This means that there wasn't the usual standing rainwater on the scrappy Top Gear test track. As I arrived at the McLaren bunker alongside the makeshift circuit, the mellow, flame-yellow P1 I was to drive was already going through motions in a client's hands. This client and his charming wife were just finishing up several laps of their own, including some absolutely scorching rounds with McLaren chief test pilot Chris Goodwin, as well as with McLaren GT3 driver Duncan Tappy. The couple was as giddy as teenagers when I talked with them, smiling from ear to ear. And they were not from Dubai, not from Moscow, not from Singapore, and not from Beverly Hills. They were from Ohio, so leave your rich people stereotypes at the door. I should get on with the drive experience, but a primer about what this McLaren proposes to the driver is needed. Like the MP4-12C, the P1's "petrol-electric" plug-in hybrid sits on the same aluminum-carbon composite architecture and uses the company's M838T 3.8-liter twin-turbo V8 built by Ricardo. From there, it's all changes and intelligently pumped-up performance numbers. In E-mode, the electric motor can run things alone over a maximum of approximately 7.5 miles. A dry P1 sitting empty weighs a stated 3,075 pounds, which is not far off the weight of a 570-horsepower Ferrari 458 Italia.