In December 2019, McLaren set a clear mark with its Speedtail hypercar when the car achieved more than 30 Vmax runs of 250 mph in constant high-speed tests on the runway of the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The McLaren Speedtail is an automotive wonder that transcends technical limits and sets new standards for the hypercar world. Only 106 examples will be made and the lucky owners will be able to customize the car to their personal taste.
Interestingly, the car is not fully road legal in the USA and can only be imported under the exception rule “Show” or “Display Exemption”. That hasn’t stopped American buyers, however, and the reasons highlighted here could explain why the fastest McLaren production car is just too good to resist … if you can afford it, that is.
10 The fantastic seating layout
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The 3-seat layout of the Speedtail is clearly one of the most outstanding features. It goes back to the arrangement of the legendary McLaren F1, with the driver sitting in the middle of the dashboard.
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The 2 passenger seats are behind and on both sides of the driver. The F1 took this layout over to give the driver a better view of the cockpit, and it works just as well in this case – not to mention the fact that it looks incredibly cool too.
9 Unique door mirrors
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You won’t find conventional side mirrors on this hypercar. Instead of attachments sticking out, you get a pair of digital cameras that project images onto high-resolution screens inside the car.
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The cameras are usually flush with the body of the vehicle and only slide out when the start button is pressed. According to McLaren, this design adds to the vehicle’s overall aerodynamic efficiency and actually offers wider lines of sight than regular mirrors.
8th Carbon fiber aero covers
via cars.mclaren
These carbon fiber hubcaps are pretty obvious, especially considering they are only on the front wheels. Their contribution to the aesthetics of the car remains questionable, but they certainly play their role in improving the aerodynamics of the car.
via the Dupont registration
Wheels caused turbulence when spinning and increased drag, which ultimately slowed the car. These solid hubcaps help fix this problem by smoothing out the flow of air. Keep the passing air close to the body of the car and the leading edge of the Dieder doors.
7th Flexible ailerons made of carbon fiber
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Modern hypercars have made a big deal out of aerodynamic wings or spoilers that channel airflow and keep the car up to speed on the road. The Speedtail is no different, but it has approached this issue in a pretty unique way.
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The car’s “spoilers”, or rather ailerons, are integrated directly into the car’s carbon fiber clamshell. They are controlled by hydraulic actuators that move them up to 4.7 inches. McLaren claims that depending on the driving situation, they react just as quickly as the Senna wing.
6th Overhead console
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Like the McLaren Senna, the Speedtail also has a console above the driver’s seating position. This is where the start button and other buttons that are usually found on the dashboard are located.
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The result is a cleaner dashboard design and enhanced driving experience that begins the moment you step into the car. Imagine sliding into that middle seat and reaching over your head to power the 1,035 horsepower hypercar.
5 The heart of the Speedtail
via the supercar blog
It’s impossible to talk about the Speedtail without mentioning the powerplant. It’s a crucial part of what makes the car so special. Somewhere in that low frame is a 4.0-liter, twin-turbocharged V8 that develops 746 horsepower and 590 lb-ft of torque.
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That’s more power than most people would need in a high-performance machine. However, there is also an electric motor for the Speedtail, which boosts the car’s total output to a whopping 1,035 horsepower at 7,000 rpm and 848 lb-ft of torque from 5,500 to 6,500 rpm.
4th The electrochromic glass
via Roadandtrack
This is a transmission from the McLaren 720S, but works particularly well with the Speedtail, especially in a central driving position. The Speedtail windshield is the largest curved section of glass ever used on a McLaren.
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It extends well above the driver’s head and actually forms part of the teardrop-shaped canopy. McLaren has also introduced electrochromic glass, which darkens with the push of a button and controls the amount of light that enters the cabin. In addition, the glass area has tiny LED lights that help create a really pleasant ambience in the interior.
3 The speed mode
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The impressive Speedtail gives an impression of pure speed even when parked. However, it is able to quickly convert this impression into pure action via a very special mode, the Velocity mode.
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It’s designed specifically for the Speedtail, preparing it for a Vmax run that surpasses the 250 mile mark. Among other things, the car crouches down about 1.4 inches and these digital cameras (side mirrors) go into the body of the car to further reduce aerodynamic drag – and then it’s show time!
2 The dashboard layout and design
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As mentioned earlier, the visual interruption from buttons and switches on the dashboard has disappeared. In its place is a series of high-resolution driver displays, one on each side of the steering wheel.
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The screens are touch-sensitive and separated by functions – vehicle control on the left and infotainment system on the right. These screens are complemented by a number of other displays that can be used to project the images from the digital cameras that slide out of the sides of the vehicle.
1 The cool battery technology
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At the moment, the Speedtail houses the most powerful battery that has ever been installed in a production car. It’s a setup taken straight from Formula E, and McLaren engineers had to be very smart about adapting it to their Ultimate Series GT car.
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The battery is four times denser than the P1 and understandably generates a lot of heat. To achieve this, the cells are dipped in a light, electrically insulating oil for rapid drainage. The increased transmission speeds ensure higher thermal efficiency and higher repeatability. This is one of the main reasons the car can reach its Vmax speed several times in a short period of time.
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Tolu Akinshete
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A simple guy with a not so simple obsession with cars!
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