mclaren supercar

7/29/2019 McLaren Supercar

1/4


2/4

I ere have been too many silly su-percars recently. The late '80swere littered (and I use the wordadvisedly) with them. These cars- mostly got their presence fromcrude bulk, not beauty. They usually

derived their speed from brute power, notclever engineering. They got their grip fromvast tires and a lack of bodyroll-mostlydue to minimal suspension travel-ratherthan to a deep understanding of the mys-teries of chassis behavior.In the main, these cars were far moreintimidating (both to drivers, and other roadusers) than they were praiseworthy.

It's refreshing, then, to welcome a supercarthat is super in more ways than its sheerspeed. In fact, the speed angle of the newMcLaren F1, the first road car built by themost successful Grand Prix team of the pastdecade, is considered largely irrelevant.Top speed? "Comfortably over 200 mph,but we didn't consider it important," saysGordon Murray, technical director ofMcLaren Cars, the road car wing of theI acing team. Its 0-60 mph time? "Under

four seconds, but we're not really sure," hesays with a dismissive shoulder shrug. Thepriority was to make a driver's car ratherthan merely afast car.To make the world's best driver's ma-chine, McLaren needed a car that did awaywith the compromises that plague mostother high-powered "super" cars. Out wentthe askew driving position that force F40and Diablo drivers to point their legs oneway and their arms another. Goodbye, poorvisibility, the usual blight of having the en-gine behind the driver but ahead of the rearaxle. McLaren would not countenance bulk,the supercar stylists' most usual tool to im-part aggression. So the car would have to bequite slim and short and, most important ofall, it would have to be light.

Just as impressive, the new Fl bristleswith tomorrow's technology, some of whichshould be seen on Chevys and Fords of the,late '90s. Novelties bound to have mass-market significance include laminated glassof surprisingly complex curvatures whoseinner membrane acts as both heating ele-ment and tint (de-icing glass seven times

quicker than the European average, and re-ducing ultraviolet light intrusion by 85 per-cent); the miniaturization of a bevy ofitems, including the stereo system and thetransmission; novel new front and rear sus-pension designs; a central driving position,which helps accommodate three people in acabin narrower than the typical two-seatsupercar's and provides huge cost benefits(not least that the manufacturer needn'tchange from left- to right-hand drive, orvice versa); a new type of paint claimed tobetter protect the bodywork; and the wide-spread use of composites, which offer maloweight savings and safety gains over copventional steel or aluminum.

One of the eight patents for whichMcLaren has applied is a composite moldingtechnique which, Murray believes, couldhave great significance for major carmakesProduction of the new McLaren F1 Spercar starts next year, before deliveriestart at the end of '93. Only 300 will.@made, at the rate of 50 a year. ~roductl"will continue till the end of the '90s. Thecosts 530,000 (the equivalent of $971,ooo


3/4

BMW Motorsport, thetwin-cam, 48-valve V12displaces 6.1 liters anda claimed 550 hp

type approval, but willwhere it will have to be

"

e-seater, which uses a~ 1 2ngine. At 168.8

as a Porsche 91 1. At 71.6across the beam, it's sub-wider, a corollary both

wishbone suspension. Nonethe-l is from six inches to a foot nar-upercars of similar performance.e to the Ford GT40 racer of the

Not that the wind tunnel wasignored; far from it. McLarendid more than 1000 tests in itsown tunnel (also used by theFormula One team), partly toperfect a ground-effect system,and to control changes in theaerodynamic center of pressure,through which both lift anddownforce react.The ground effects are exe-cuted largely by the clever shap-ing of the car's underside. In ad-dition, extra suction is providedby a pair of fans, similar in prin-ciple to the Gordon Murray-de-signed Brabham BT 46B "fancar," which appeared at (andwon) the Swedish Grand Prix in 1978, be-fore being banned. As road car rules-toMurray's delight-are much less restrictive

than race car rules, he can be more imagina-tive, and thus the fan principle has returned.In a nutshell, two fans-which also helpcirculate air in the sealed engine compart-ment-are sited at the end of special tun-nels, which continue down to the floorpan.There is one fan, and one tunnel, on eachside of the car. The fans help remove turbu-lent "boundary" air from underneath theI car, helping to-reduce the movement of the Iaerodynamic center of pressure, and thusgreatly improving stability.This center of pressure is also controlledby a rear spoiler, which lifts at 30 degrees tothe horizontal during heavy braking. It isthe only wing or spoiler on the car, suffi-cient downforce being generated at othertimes by the ground effects. The pop-uprear spoiler-which looks rather like anold-fashioned air brake-helpskeep the center of pressure cen-tral under heavy braking, thusputting an equal load on all fourwheels, and all four brakes (vastBrembo discs, gripped by four-pot monobloc aluminum cali-pers, as on a Formula One rac-

ing car). The raised wing alsoexposes rear brake coolingducts, increasing the rear brakes'efficiency at a crucial time.McLaren says this system ob-viates the need for ABS, whichthe F1 lacks. "Current ABS sys-tems are also too inefficient,"says Murray. "They come in toosoon on high-performance cars,hurt driver feel, are heavy andcomplex. This car doesn't needI z ABS. And what this car doesn'tneed, it doesn't have."rn The central monocoque and allbody panels are made from ad-

'60s. The Cd is only 0.34. Murray said it vanced carbon composites, as on a Formula"wasn't a design consideration. We wanted One car. Most primary structure panels area car whose styling wasn't going to be com- double-skinned and stiffened by aluminumpromised by aerodynamics, and a car with honeycomb. The result is immense torsionaltremendous stability in all conditions." and bending stiffness, and wonderfully low


4/4

-inertia enhance engine response. The

Three-seat layout speed gearchange has an extraordinar."Y(below)sites driver short throw, although the change action ,t-squarely in the center self is ~ ~ n v e n t i ~ n a l .raction Control buildsfor best control of gearboxes fo r th e McLaren F1 team andvehicle, avoiding Truesports Indycar team.wheel well intrusions Entry to th e cockpit is by unusual "&he-so that pedals (in dral" doors, which pivot forward and up ,photo, Iefi) arefound The central driver's seat-mounted ahead ofstraight ahead-Low th e tw o passenger seats-is clearly a fairconsO*s either side way inboard of the doors. TO prevent awk-Of driver's seat hold ward entry an d exit, the door apertures needinstrumentationis to be vast. They are.thorough. Cargo At the car's launch, held in Monaco aaccess is via couple of days before Ayrton Senna (luck.d Prix fo r McLaren, jou,nalists were prevented from climbing behindth e wheel. It does look awkward, althoughMurray promises thatit's not. Th e driver sitsin a Specially madeConnolly-trimmed car-bon-fiber seat, sand-wiched by a couple oflow consoles, contain-in g th e main switch-gear. Th e gear lever ison the right, as on aracing car.The central seatingp o s i t i o n obviouslycures the askew drivingposition associated withm i d - e n g i n e d cars ,u s u a l l y c a u s e d by

pedals offset to clearth e front wheel arch.Forward and side visi-bility is said to be sU-perb, while at the rear,ness of the powertrain. Th e "it's similar to a Honda NSX's," says Mur-e ng ine was commiss ioned ray. Which means as good as the class best.weight: all-up, the new F1 weighs just over aton, at 2244 pounds; Diablos and Testarossasweigh about 60 percent more.There are double wishbones front and rear,and an an tiroll bar up fron t. In order to reducegeometry changes yet still get compliance,each unequal-length front wishbone is con-nected to a subfrarne via plain bearings. Thesubframe, in turn, is mounted to the carbonmonocoque using elastomeric bushings. Thissolution, claims McLaren, provides the rightmix of feel and shock insulation.Equally good results, it is claimed, areachieved at the rear, w ith minimal geometrychanges even in extreme braking, corneringor acceleration. This is partly due to the ri-gidi ty of the chassis-loadings are all fed bythe stressed powertrain into the main mono-coque-and to unusual auxiliary moun ts inthe shoulder beams, which run each side ofthe engine. McLaren calls this latter devicean "Inclined Shea r Axis," and it's one ofthe items for which it's seeking a patent.The constant suspension geometry, andvirtually static center of gravity, has alsobeen helped by the compactness and light-

from BMW Motorsport, andbears no resemblance to the bulkier, yetsmaller-capacity V12 used in the 750i and850i road cars. It boasts quad overheadcams, 4 8 valves, variable inlet valve timing,and a mighty swept volume of 6064 cc.Maxim um power is "over 550 hp" at7500 rpm. Couple that to the light weightof the car, and you're left with what ishandsomely the highest power-to-weightratio of any car on the road. It's an extraor-dinarily torquey engine, too: 441 lb ft be-tween 400 0 and 7000 rpm, with no less than260 lb ft at only 1500 rpm.The engine is sited longitudinally underthe rear screen (so passers-by can derive asmuch pleasure from the engine's looks ascan the car's owner). The transmission,made by Traction Control Inc. of CostaMesa, Calif., is extraordinarily compact.The six-speed gearbox has transverse gear-shafts , to minimize fore-aft space. Thefinal-drive gear, in turn, is offset alongsidethe clutch, to minimize the distance betweenthe engine and the drive output. The clutchassembly is made from carbon, and the fly-wheel from aluminum. Their low mass and

Further benefits include the fact that the bestplace to s it, for really quick driving , is plainlyin the car's centerline.The passenger seats, slightly aft of thedriv er, an d either side , both of fer goodshoulder room, and reasonable legroom.Both seats have sizeable cubbies under-neath, im proving stowage space.The car does without four-wheel-drive 0four-wh eel-steering, both of which Mumconsiders to be improper for the "ultimatedriver's car." It doesn 't 'have pow er steering-"a mid-eng ined car this ligh t doesn't needit-not if the suspension geometry is right."There is much the McL aren d oes without.Yet there is even more that it commands.Most important, it is crafted by companyunencumbered by the negative, conservativthinking that has hamshackled too man!road cars, be they mass made or "super,for far too long.It is too early to say for sure whether thisreally will deliver the ultimate driving experience that its maker claims. But I stronglysuspect that it will.

Gavin Green is the editor ofEngland's Car magazine.

mclaren supercar

Documents