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McLaren P1 crashed by 27-year-old driver a day after he bought it

There's one fewer McLaren P1 spitting fire on the world's roads after a 27-year-old driver wrecked his $1.15-million supercar in Dallas, TX, just a day after he picked it up from a local luxury car dealer. According to KHOU local news, police were responding to the crash site by 7:41 AM the next day. The 903-horsepower P1 allegedly hit a wet patch of road and spun, slamming the car into a guardrail. Judging by a photo obtained by KHOU, the hit did serious damage to the back of the supercar and bent the driver's side rear wheel into the body. The McLaren was the only vehicle involved in the crash, though, and the shunt sent both the driver and a 24-year-old passenger to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries. Featured Gallery 2015 McLaren P1: First Drive View 39 Photos News Source: KHOU via Motor AuthorityImage Credit: Copyright 2014 Matt Davis / AOL McLaren Ownership Safety Coupe Performance Supercars mclaren p1

McLaren and Honda rekindle a winning combination

With the 2014 Formula One World Championship now drawn to a close, all eyes are fixed on next season. And for both McLaren and Honda, that means the dawn of a new era – or hopefully, the return to one bygone. After twenty years running Mercedes engines, McLaren is switching back to Honda next season, rekindling the most successful partnership the once-dominant team has ever had. Immediately after swapping to Honda power in 1988 – and with Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost behind the wheel – McLaren entered its winningest era, racking up four consecutive world championships. In the two decades it's spent under Mercedes power since, it won three drivers' titles and one constructors', leaving the relatively brief Honda era as its most successful. It was also the most successful for Honda, which had enjoyed success with Williams and some with Lotus, but far more with McLaren – the likes of which it was never able to recreate. The Japanese automaker that was the first to break into the Euro-centric series left grand prix racing when it left McLaren, and despite returning to fund its own team for the better part of a decade, claimed but one checkered flag before calling it quits again. Whether the new collaboration will return both outfits to the winner's circle remains to be seen, but we're looking forward to finding out. In the meantime, after releasing a couple of images from the video shoot last week, McLaren has put out this minute-and-a-half video clip showing the MP4-29H running a few laps around Silverstone, marking the official start of what could be the second reign of the McLaren-Honda dynasty. News Source: McLaren Motorsports Honda McLaren Racing Vehicles Videos F1 mclaren-honda

Race Recap: Abu Dhabi GP is reversals, luck, leanness and last dances

We weren't sure if Alter Ego Nico Rosberg, the one who flew into Brazil and showed Mercedes AMG Petronas teammate Lewis Hamilton that he knew also knew how to grab an entire race weekend by the scruff of the neck, arrived in Abu Dhabi. In both Friday practice sessions Hamilton showed Rosberg the way. Then on Saturday, Alter Ego Rosberg took over, taking the last Free Practice session and then pole position by a whopping four-tenths of a second over Hamilton. Thanks to the gimmicky and soon-to-be-obliterated spectre of double points, if Rosberg won the race and Hamilton finished lower than second, the World Championship would remain in German hands. Behind Hamilton came the Williams duo, again, with Valtteri Bottas ahead of Felipe Massa. Daniil Kvyat did swell to put his Toro Rosso in fifth, Jenson Button was just as swell getting his McLaren into sixth. Kimi Raikkonen outqualified his Ferrari teammate Fernando Alonso for the third time this year, the pair taking seventh and eighth on the grid. Kevin Magnussen lined the second McLaren up in ninth, Jean-Eric Vergne making the top ten for Toro Rosso in his last race for the team. To be clear, that was the final grid for race: Daniel Ricciardo and Sebastian Vettel had both qualified in the top ten but were sent to the back of the grid when their Infiniti Red Bull Racing front wings were deemed illegal. They'd start from the pit lane, which was still ahead of Romain Grosjean in the Lotus, who took so many penalties for new engine components that he started the race in Turkey. At lights-out on Sunday, well, it was pretty much lights out. That's when Hamilton got the start of the year, bolting off the line so quickly it didn't take him 100 meters to get in front of Rosberg. The Brit took Turn 1 in the lead, then laid more than a second into the German on the first lap. Rosberg kept close, about 2.5 seconds back, but it was Hamilton's race to lose and everyone knew it; barring a reliability issue or the kind of driving mistake Hamilton hasn't made all year, Britain would have its fourth double world champion. Rosberg was left asking his engineer what kind of strategy they might use to claim first place. That reliability issue did come, but it struck Rosberg on Lap 26 when his entire Energy Recovery System failed, robbing him of 160 horsepower and taxing his brakes.

McLaren P1 squares off against Porsche 918 in Evo track battle

Evo's side-by-side comparison of the McLaren P1 against the Porsche 918 Spyder isn't the first time we've seen England and Germany's ultimate automotive weapons sized up together; last month, Autocar tested them over the standing mile, with a Ducati 1199 Superleggera playing the joker. Evo throws a few curves at its test, though, taking the supercars to Anglesey Circuit in Wales to see which will lay down the fastest lap time with scribe Jethro Bovington at the wheel. In case the numbers haven't yet been seared into your memory, while both are assisted by electric motors, the 3,069-pound, rear-wheel drive P1 gets on with 903 horsepower and 664 pound-feet from a 3.8-liter, twin-turbocharged V8. The 3,750-pound, all-wheel-drive 918 Spyder does its job with 795 hp and 575 lb-ft surging out of a naturally aspirated, 4.6-liter V8. We're not told know which circuit layout he uses for the test, but both cars comfortably eclipse the mark set by the fastest coupe Evo's driven around it so far, the Ferrari 458 Speciale. Then, in an epilogue occasioned by a tire change, one of the supercars comfortably eclipses its own time again, before Bovington declares one the master of the track and the other the ruler of the street. Enjoy finding out which is which in the video above.

McLaren teases new Sports Series in development

Hot on the heels of confirming its upcoming "entry-level" model, McLaren has released a solitary teaser image of that new vehicle undergoing testing. Known until now as the P13, the McLaren Sports Series is set to take on the likes of the Audi R8 and Porsche 911 GT3. Like the rest of the F1-team-turned-supercar-manufacturer's lineup, it'll be built around a carbon monocoque with a V8 engine mounted amidships – widely expected to be a detuned version of the 3.8-liter twin-turbo unit that has already found its home in the 12C, 650S and P1, mated to a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission. Although the teaser image above only shows part of the car, and is wearing all manner of camouflage, it definitely looks like a modern McLaren. You can see the telltale swoosh-shaped LED headlights peering from behind the mesh cladding and ten-spoke alloys spinning away, with wing mirrors mounted to the doors (like on the P1) instead of the window frame (like the 650S). Beyond that there's not much to tell at this point, but you can see that the cockpit will (at least initially) feature a two-seat layout and not the 2+2 arrangement that could still follow – or, for that matter, the 1+2 central driving position of the legendary McLaren F1, an arrangement Woking ruled out for its modern fleet of supercars due to practical considerations like toll booths and parking gates. News Source: McLaren via Facebook McLaren Coupe Supercars mclaren sports series mclaren p13

McLaren's entry-level P13 will be called Sports Series

McLaren is dropping its alphanumeric model-naming scheme when it comes to its upcoming model to slot into the bottom of the brand's supercar lineup. Unlike the 650S or P1, the vehicle previously known as the P13, is now rechristened with an actual title as the Sport Series. The announcement comes in conjunction with a somewhat bizarre new teaser video that compares the future supercar to a black swan. It's the, "symbol of a moment that challenges beliefs and turns thinking upside down," according to the clip. That seems like a pretty big promise, but McLaren also confirms that the Sports Series is primed for a global unveiling in the second quarter of 2015 with a carbon-fiber chassis and mid-mounted V8. Hard facts about the supercar haven't been easy to come by. Company spokesperson Wayne Bruce confirmed to Autoblog this year that the price would be "around two thirds of what a 12C would cost you today." Multiple body styles have also been suggested, including a coupe, convertible and possibly even a larger GT version. Earlier rumors also indicated that the turbocharged V8 might be detuned down to around 450 horsepower, compared to 641 hp from the 650S. The switch to using a real name for the model rather than a mix of numbers and letters certainly signals it as something different from the rest of the brand. Scroll down to read the McLaren's announcement and check out its rather weird teaser clip. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. McLAREN CONFIRMS MUCH ANTICIPATED SPORTS SERIES WITH GAME-CHANGING LAUNCH CAMPAIGN Nov 6, 2014 McLaren Sports Series to make global premiere in 2015 Third model in the range will be a pure McLaren View the Sports Series launch film at http://youtu.be/0ff_kV1wqYE Follow the campaign at cars.mclaren.com and join the conversation – #BlackSwanMoments Scheduled to premiere on the world stage in the second quarter of 2015, McLaren has now confirmed that its latest model, previously referred to only by its internal codename 'P13', will be known as the McLaren Sports Series. It will join the range below the 650S, bringing McLaren credentials and exclusivity to the sportscar segment for the first time. The launch campaign will plot the history over 13 chapters of true game-changing – Black Swan – moments from around the world and within McLaren's.

2015 McLaren 650S Review

Otolith organs are the tiny acceleration-sensing parts of your inner ear that are extremely effective at telling your brain when you are changing velocity. They make easy work of elevator rides, subway cars and most roller coasters, but the organs are completely overpowered by the 2015 McLaren 650S – the acceleration from its twin-turbocharged V8 leaves them dazed and confused, an overwhelming, dizzy sensation topped off with a bout of queasiness. The British automaker did not intend its MP4-12C successor to be nauseating – despite its effectiveness in this role – but the explosive way the rear-wheel-drive supercar puts its power down is absolutely mind-boggling. We've driven countless other exotics, but it's hard to point to a single example that changes velocity as quickly, and as capably, as this $330,000, carbon fiber, street-legal racer. Some would consider a $1-million winning lottery ticket the key to happiness. We'd argue that spending five days with a Mako Blue McLaren 650S – barf bag poised in lap – is a much more gratifying prize. Its new lines are far more distinctive than its predecessor, which was cleanly styled but a bit paint-by-numbers supercar. McLaren's MP4-12C, launched in the middle of 2011, was a superb sports car. Unfortunately, many who drove it felt that it lacked the final bits of polish, and a sharp, emotional edge, to push it ahead of its Ferrari 458 Italia and Lamborghini Gallardo competition. Not content sitting in the cold shadows of its rivals, McLaren went back to its engineering team and had them diligently rework dozens of components. What emerged, under the quartz lights of the 2014 Geneva Motor Show, was this 650S. The basic architecture, a Formula One-like carbon-fiber tub with front and rear aluminum crush extrusions, was unchanged from the 12C, but the new model debuted fresh styling, refined suspension tuning, more potent brakes and a healthy boost in power. Mako Blue isn't our first choice from McLaren's nearly unlimited color palette (orange and yellow are stunning), but standing face-to-face with the carbon-fiber-bodied coupe reveals that this paint provides an optimal way to show off the car's P1-inspired styling. Compared to the 12C, the 650 appears more aggressive and decidedly more threatening – both necessary in this emotion-driven segment. Most importantly, its new lines are far more distinctive than its predecessor, which was cleanly styled but a bit paint-by-numbers supercar.

McLaren offers glimpse inside P1 GTR program [w/video]

Among the many things we were looking forward to seeing at Pebble Beach this year, the McLaren P1 GTR was near the top of our list. Invoking the spirit of the legendary McLaren F1 GTR that dominated sports car racing in the mid-1990s, the P1 GTR was unveiled in Monterey this past August in concept form, giving us an idea of what to expect. But now McLaren has given us a little more. Envisioned as a track toy for the wealthy who want to play racing driver, the P1 GTR is a further evolution – and a more extreme one – of the road-going P1. The GTR is being developed exclusively for use on track. To that end, Woking has stripped out the cockpit and installed a multifunction steering wheel said to be derived from the championship-winning MP4-23 grand prix car, allowing the driver to "fully adjust the setup and characteristics of the car without having to take their hands off the wheel." The racing buckets are modeled after a DTM touring car, equipped with six-point harnesses and affixed directly to the chassis. Outside you'll notice Pirelli slicks and a fixed rear wing with F1-style Drag Reduction System. The P1 GTR is about more than the vehicle itself, though, as McLaren – similar to what Ferrari offers with the XX client test-driver program – is launching a full driver support program to go along with it. Customers will have access to the advanced simulator at the McLaren Technology Centre (typically reserved for the team's contracted racing drivers) as well as the factory's coaches. The program will also include 10 to 12 track sessions each year, to be held at F1-certified tracks around the world, at which each customer will have his or her own garage and crew, all for the benefit of their enjoyment. The program is laid out in the video below, along with which McLaren has released a fresh batch of images showing the uncamouflaged prototype inside and out undergoing hot-weather testing at the grand prix circuit in Bahrain. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

McLaren 650S GT3 stalks its prey in the woods

We're plenty excited about the new McLaren 650S GT3. While we've poured over images of the new racer, we've yet to see it in motion, which makes the arrival of this new video pretty fortuitous. By clicking 'play' above, you'll see the 650S streaking through the forest, showing off its many good angles along with an ear-pleasing exhaust note that should fit in nicely on the racing grid. Of course, what grid that will be is open for discussion. Rumors continue circulating that the replacement for the MP4-12C GT3 will herald McLaren's long-awaited return to the 24 Hours of Le Mans and other top-flight endurance series, provided it's converted to the GTE class standard. While that's yet to be confirmed, as of right now, it's a virtual certainty that this new model will take up the series currently contested by the GT3 class, including the Blancpain Endurance Series and Pirelli World Challenge. Take a look at the video and let us know what you think in Comments. Related Gallery McLaren 650S GT3 View 16 Photos News Source: McLaren Automotive via YouTube Motorsports McLaren Coupe Racing Vehicles Videos motorsport mclaren 650s mclaren 650s gt3

McLaren rolls out more accessible 625C in Asia

When McLaren first introduced the 650S, the initial idea was to keep the 12C it effectively replaced around as a more accessible option – particularly in certain Asian markets where buying a new car, much less an exotic supercar, is an even costlier endeavor than it is in other markets. Woking soon changed track and discontinued the 12C, but has now addressed that "entry-level" demand with the introduction of the new 625C. Based closely on the 650S, the 625C is being launched in Hong Kong and will be available exclusively in the Asia Pacific region, making this McLaren's first "regionally tailored" model. It's powered by McLaren's signature 3.8-liter twin-turbo V8, but carries the same 616-horsepower output as the 12C touted before it's demise. It also gets a softer rear suspension to make the Club model both "more refined and more accessible" than the 650S. As a result of the decrease in power, 0-62 is quoted at one tenth slower than the 650S at 3.1 seconds, while top speed and emissions figures remain the same. Asian buyers will be able to opt for coupe and convertible body-styles, but what's particularly interesting for those in other regions is that the 625C paves the way for other variants tailored to specific markets (say, like the North American one, for example) and that the nameplate ostensibly sets the precedent for a new naming scheme to usher McLaren away from its previous disparate nomenclature (12C, 650S, P1) and into a more clearly defined hierarchy. THE McLAREN 625C: THE FIRST REGIONALLY TAILORED McLAREN MODEL Sep 26, 2014 - New more refined and more accessible McLaren 625C created for the increasingly important Asian market - Based on the globally available 650S - Coupe and Spider models available from launch As McLaren continues to grow its presence globally, the British sportscar maker has announced plans for its first regionally tailored model aimed at the Asian market. The new McLaren 625C offers the greatest level of refinement of any McLaren model to date, combined with the optimised driving dynamics all McLarens are famous for. The Asian market has seen the biggest area of growth for McLaren Automotive over the past two years, not least with the entry into China in September 2013. Sales are set to grow from 20 percent in 2013 to more than a third in 2014.