Mclaren cars

Video: McLaren P1 Chased by Ferrari 458 Spider

Easy question: how many time do you think you will have the chance to drive a drop-top Ferrari 458 and catch a McLaren P1 out for a test drive? Pretty much never. But Youtube user Shmee150 seems to be the only guy in the Universe with such an amazing luck.

The guy was out for a ride in a friend’s 458 Spider, when he spotted a McLaren P1 supercar. It is pretty easy to imagine that he has started to chase the P1 supercar and managed to shot this impressive video.

The problem is that when the P1 driver realized he was being chased he took his car back to the McLaren Technology Center. Unfortunately for him, he got stopped behind a broken down Peugeot on the roundabout outside, and Shmee150 used the opportunity to take some close shots of the next P1 supercar.

Repairs for Rowan Atkinson’s McLaren F1 Eclipses $1 Million

There are a handful of cars that cost over $1 million. However, for repairs for a car to hit seven figures, well, that’s unheard of…

Not anymore, apparently.

Rowan Atkinson’s McLaren F1, which was destroyed during an accident that occurred back in August 2011, is now up and running again. Now, repairing a totally mangled supercar of the stature of the McLaren F1 takes a pretty long time, as McLaren engineers will attest after spending more than a year restoring the car to run again. With that much time spent on just putting the car back together, costs for the repair eventually ran up to the tune of £910,000 ($1.44 million).

That figure is even more remarkable considering that it’s three times as expensive as any other repair claim that has been documented in the UK. Just a hunch: Mr. Atkinson’s insurance company will no doubt raise his insurance rates after this deal – whether they paid for it or not.

Granted, it’s a McLaren F1. But still, $1 million for repairing a car is just absurd.

Note: Photo above is not Rowan Atkinson’s restored McLaren F1

Video: McLaren 50 - Courage

As you probably know, this year marks McLaren’s 50th anniversary and the company announced some cool events to commemorate the event. The celebration continues today with the unveiling of a video that "sheds light on McLaren’s very human backstory."

You probably guessed it, the video talks about Bruce McLaren, who founded his racing team five decades ago. The story of the video ends with the crash at the Goodwood circuit in 1970 when Bruce McLaren died at the young age of only 32 years old.

Our favorite part of the video is the following: "What might be seen as a tragic end was in fact a beginning. As I always said, to do something well is so worthwhile that to die trying to do it better cannot be foolhardy. Indeed, life is not measured in years alone but in achievement."

A very sad, yet inspiring video that any car buff will enjoy.

Rumormill: McLaren to Stop Taking P1 Orders in Mid-February

When it comes to the upcoming McLaren P1 we have seen it all, but we do not know any concrete details about it. How’s that? On one hand, we may say we know how it looks because we have seen a concept version of it, but we all know that the production version may feature a slightly different design. Additionally, everyone is speculating about its engine, but McLaren hasn’t released any final specifications just yet.

So you see, you may think you know a lot about the upcoming P1 supercar, but in fact none of us know any real details on it.

Despite the missing details, everyone has to agree that the P1 will be an amazing supercar according to what we saw with the concept, what McLaren promised us and what people who have tested the prototype version have said.

With this is mind you shouldn’t be surprised to hear that McLaren has been flooded with orders for their upcoming supercar. In fact, they have received so many requests that they are now ready to close the order book.

A McLaren owner who placed a deposit for the P1 suggested that the company had already taken deposits for about 120 units and will close order book in mid-February. We can’t be too sure what this means exactly, since initial details suggested McLaren plans to develop a total of 500 units.

From the looks of it, this closing of the books is just for the initial stage of ordering, but we can’t stop thinking that McLaren may have chosen to reduce the number of P1s it will manufacture. We also have to take into account that the buyer who passed on this information may be full of hooey. We’ll see…

Video: GRID 2 Teaser Features Chris Harris in a McLaren MP4-12C

Noted auto journalist Chris Harris recently got an invitation from Codemasters — the fine folks behind the racing game series, GRID — to give the game a virtual test. This isn’t any old test either, as it pits Harris against McLaren test driver Mat Jackson in a race at Brands Hatch in the virtual UK.

In the virtual race, Harris struggles to keep up with the more experienced Jackson and voices his displeasure to one of the game’s developers. After a few tips and pointers on how to get more out of his MP4-12C, Harris proceeds to catch up to Jackson, overtake him and then beat him to the checkered flag by the slimmest of margins.

Apparently, the whole point of the series of teasers is for Codemasters to display the kind of real-life instructions you can put to use in the virtual racing game. Quite frankly, we don’t get the idea of the whole thing, given the fact that the GRID series has always been a game that put hardcore racing as its main selling point. In any case, the video’s pretty interesting if you’re a fan of the GRID franchise.

Harris’ involvement in these teasers also appear to be of the multi-part variety, which means that we can expect to see more of these teasers in the coming weeks as Codemasters prepares for the release of “GRID 2 Effect” this summer.

2013 McLaren MP4-12C Spyder "Terso" Japan Limited Edition by FAB Design

Do you remember the McLaren MP4-12C Terso tuning package Fab Design announced last year? The same treatment has also been applied to the Spyder version and the result is equally impressive. The model, which is officially called the Terso Japan Limited Edition, was unveiled at the 2013 Tokyo Auto Salon and will be limited to only 10 units.

Just like with the Terso Coupe, the new Spyder version receives a pretty impressive aerodynamic kit and some amazing updates under the hood. For the exterior, the tuner adds a new front skirt with larger air intakes, new side skirts, redesigned side air intakes, a new rear bumper, a new diffuser and a rear spoiler.

The car sits on a set of 20-inch, three-part forged wheels wrapped in Dunlop SP SportMaxx tires. For the interior, Fab offers their customers the possibility to choose between a wide range of leather, Alcantara, carbon fiber and aluminum.

Under the hood, Fab applied the same treatment as they did in the coupe, as they have installed a new in-house stainless-steel sports exhaust and a three-chamber carbon tailpipe. The end result is a total of 680 horsepower and a peak torque of 527 pound-feet. The 0-to-60 mph sprint now takes just 3 seconds and the top speed goes up to an impressive 213 mph.

2013 McLaren MP4-28

Just last week, Ferrari unveiled the first teaser for their upcoming 2013 Formula One Race Car and now it’s time for McLaren to do the same.

Instead of an image, McLaren has unveiled a teaser video of their Formula 1 racecar set to be unveiled on January 31st. The car will be named McLaren Mercedes MP4-28 and it will be driven by Jensen Button and new driver, Sergio Perez.

What we do know about the car is that it will keep the same 2.4-liter V-8 engine as previous version. In fact, 2013 will be the last year that this type of engine will be used, as starting in the 2014 racing season, it will be replaced by a 1.6-liter turbocharged V-6 engine.

The 2013 racing season will be a pretty interesting one for McLaren. First they will celebrate their 50th anniversary. And second, this is the first year that Lewis Hamilton will not be joining their team, as he has moved onto Mercedes.

We’ll update you with all of the official details on the McLaren MP4-28 F1 car once all of the details are released.

Video: McLaren P1 Caught Flying Around

A very lucky guy managed to catch a McLaren P1 supercar while it was craned into SLS hotel for a private viewing in Beverly Hills. As a reminder, the P1 was previously unveiled in at a private event in New York City and is not due to hit showrooms for up to 12 months.

The P1 is powered by a 5.0-liter V-8 engine that produces about 800 horsepower and will be mated to a Graziano seven-speed dual-clutch transmission. The model will sprint from 0 to 60 mph in just 2.8 seconds, from 0 to 100 mph in 5.5 seconds, and 0 to 200 mph in just 20 seconds. Top speed is rumored to go up to an impressive 240 mph. Of course, such impressive performance numbers come with a huge price — around $1 million according to the first details.

So, this is your chance to see the P1 supercar flying! Of course, it’s not as dramatic of a flight as the Aston Martin Vanquish Centenary Edition made, but still cool nonetheless.

McLaren Celebrating Their 50th Anniversary With Special Badges

Add McLaren to the growing list of automakers that are celebrating their anniversary this year.

The British automaker has been mum about their plans, but now that every other automaker has unfurled their respective anniversary plans, McLaren has finally announced their own anniversary plans 50 years after founder Bruce McLaren started a company that has since reinvented the supercar genre.

To celebrate this momentous occasion, McLaren will use a 50th anniversary logo on everything from their merchandise all the way to the new MP4-28 Formula 1 race car.

It’s certainly worth noting that McLaren has a lot to celebrate about, considering the trail they’ve blazed in the supercar world. Whether it’s through exotics or even the world of motorsports, the British automaker has made the kind of emphatic stamp in the industry only a few can claim to have matched.

And as Ron Dennis, McLaren’s executive chairman, eloquently puts it, "This is a book that’s still being written...and that, perhaps, is the greatest legacy of McLaren."

Hamann Releases a New Take on Their MemoR Program for the McLaren MP4-12C

After two iterations of the McLaren MP4-12C, Hamann’s "MemoR" program for the British supercar is back for another helping.

We’ve already seen this song and dance twice before - one that made its debut at the Geneva Motor Show and the other was an art car take late last year - and to be honest, we wouldn’t mind if they made an entire album out of it.

The latest one isn’t all too different from the package we saw from the two earlier versions, except for the distinctive blue body finish with matching black accents. The body kit is still there, which includes a large front splitter, wheel arch-forced ventilations, new side skirts, a roof duct, and a larger rear wing. A new rear fender was also installed, along with a new diffuser, side pods, a triple exhaust system, and a set of 21-inch wheels.

The interior is fancily dressed up, too, unless you count the prevalent use of carbon, leather, and Alcantara to go with all the other niceties the cabin as run-of-the-mill.

All in all, the MemoR 12C program will set you back €95,000 ($130,000), plus tax. We know that the program costs more than just a pretty penny, but if you can make your MP4-12C to look like this, it’s a cost definitely worth incurring.