2023 Mclaren Artura on 2040-cars

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Alonso wants an NSX, but did Honda block him from Le Mans?

One of the biggest changes in store for the 2015 Formula One World Championship will see Fernando Alonso moving back to McLaren. That means he'll be driving under Honda power for the first time, after spending the bulk of his career driving for Renault and Ferrari. And being Honda's new poster child, as the two-time World Champion is fast discovering, has its advantages and its drawbacks. According to the latest reports, Alonso had been negotiating a clause in his contract with McLaren that could have seen him driving a Porsche 919 Hybrid at Le Mans this year, but Honda reportedly stepped in at the last minute and scuttled the plan. The drive would have been Alonso's first in the famous 24-hour race, after having had the honor of waving the flag at La Sarthe last summer. In one of the wilder rumors that emerged during the prolonged silence over his move for this season, the Spaniard was also linked to a potential return for Ferrari to Le Mans. That prospect came to naught, and now the Porsche deal has been wheeled into the garage, as well. The upcoming F1 season is expected to be one of transition, adjustment and development for McLaren and Honda, but the Japanese automaker's involvement in his hiring may not be all bad news for Alonso. Following the reveal of the new Acura NSX, Alonso tweeted "You still don't know, but one day we will be together..." followed by a series of heart-eyed smiley-face emoticons and accompanies by images of Honda's new supercar. The implication is that the two-time World Champion is expecting to get his talented hands on an NSX of his own, and we can certainly see how Honda would appreciate the imagery of Fernando driving around in its flagship. Even if it doesn't, though, we're sure McLaren would be glad to hook him up with a company car of its own – though Lewis Hamilton encountered some trouble securing (a very specific) one for himself. Even discounting the front-running F1 machinery he's been tasked with piloting on track to an impressive 32 career wins, Alonso has had some lustworthy company cars at his disposal over the years. At Renault, he had a Megane RS to drive, and during his last stint at McLaren, he had an SLR 722. But since signing with Ferrari, he's been given the keys to FCA models as varied as a Ferrari FF, a special 599 GTO, a Maserati GranCabrio, a Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT and an Abarth 695... and those are just the ones we know about.

McLaren may be planning P15 to slot between MP4-12C and P1

McLaren hasn't tried to hide the fact that it is working on cheaper sports car codenamed the P13 that will directly take on the venerated Porsche 911, but now rumor has it that the automaker is also working on a second new model that would slot between the MP4-12C and P1 supercar, which is pictured above. While the car, codenamed P15, is still in the earliest stages of development, McLaren Chief Executive Officer Mike Flewitt teased the project to Autocar. Flewitt admitted that the P15 is still "quite a long way off." Like all of McLaren's current production cars, the P15 would use a tuned version of its 3.8-liter twin-turbocharged V8 mounted in the middle of the company's MonoCell carbon fiber monocoque. Flewitt did not say whether the car would use hybrid power like the P1, stick with the 12C's turbos or otherwise. The exact specifications are still being decided. Pricing for the P15 will likely be around 400,000 pounds, or about $660,000 at current exchange rates. That price will position it nicely between the 12C's $229,000 base price and the P1 at $1,150,000. McLaren is reportedly hoping to sell as many as 2,500 P15 models a year when it goes on sale in 2015 or 2016. Featured Gallery McLaren P1 Hot Weather Testing View 10 Photos Related Gallery McLaren 12C GT Sprint News Source: AutocarImage Credit: McLaren Rumormill McLaren Coupe Performance mclaren p1 mclaren p13 mclaren 12c mclaren p15

McLaren going all-hybrid within ten years

There's a lot that's ground-breaking in the McLaren P1, not the least of it being its mind-bending performance. But so is its hybrid powertain. Aside from its Formula One racers, the P1 is the first hybrid McLaren ever made. But it won't be the last. Speaking with CEO Mike Flewitt, Edmunds reports that McLaren won't reserve its hybrid technology just for its flagship hypercar, but will integrate electric propulsion into every one of its models within ten years' time. In fact, it may even do a fully electric car as well. Of course that's a long-term vision for a company that's only been in operation (at least in its current form) for about five years. In that time it has launched the 12C, the P1 and the 650S. Soon it will add a new "entry-level" model internally known as P13, tipped to debut at the Geneva Motor Show next March, that will be more accessible in terms of price and performance. And it will – sometime within the next ten years – succeed the P1 with a P15 that will cost about half of the six-figure P1. Just what it has in mind for P14, however, remains a big question mark. Featured Gallery McLaren P1 News Source: Edmunds McLaren Hybrid Performance mclaren p13 mclaren p15