McLaren Unveils MP4-12C Production Model

McLaren Automotive McLaren unveiled the production version of its MP4-12C supercar on Thursday at the company’s headquarters in Woking, England.

McLaren, one of the most successful teams in formula one history, has spun off a company to sell road cars. Mclaren Automotives first entry, the MP4-V12, is a two-seat, midengine supercar powered by a twin-turbocharged V-8. The car goes on sale in the first half of 2011 for about $200,000.
In a press introduction Thursday morning, Ron Dennis, McLaren Automotive’s chairman, described the start of his company as “good news for McLaren, good news for Britain and good news for car enthusiasts everywhere.”
McLaren defines the competition in the ultra-high-performance sports car market as the new Ferrari 458 Italia, Lamborghini Gallardo, Porsche 911 Turbo, Bentley Continental GT and Aston Martin DB9. There will be up to 35 dealers around the world, from Bahrain and Kuwait to Singapore and the United States. “We are up against some very good competitors,” Mr. Dennis said, “and the only way we will succeed is by doing what we do best.”
Accoding for report, the 12C can accelerate from zero to 124 miles per hour in less than 10 seconds and has a top speed of more than 200 miles per hour.

The 12C has a lightweight carbon-fiber structure; curb weight is 2,866 pounds. The car’s engineers were obsessed about weight, choosing engraved rather than raised lettering on its logo because it saved a few grams. Also jettisoned was a CD player because “modern use of MP3 players in cars negates the need to add such a weighty device.”
The midmounted 592-horsepower 3.8-liter M838T engine is new. It is stirred by a 7-speed dual-clutch transmission with steering-wheel controls. The transmission has a “pre cog” feature that allows the driver to set up a fast shift in advance. The technology recalls the “preselector gearbox” on some classic British cars.
McLaren does have some road car history. The storied McLaren F1 is one of the fastest production cars ever made, capable of more than 230 miles per hour. It was priced at just under $1 million. Only 107 were made (64 of them for the road). An F1 solid at RM Acuation event in 2008 for about $3.7 million.
More recently, McLaren collaborated with Mercedes-Benz on the SLR McLaren, another sports coupe that ended its run in 2009 and was a relative bargain at around $500,000. Some 2,100 SLRs were sold.
The new car, the vanguard in a planned range, is reaching downmarket from the company’s previous road cars, with less exclusivity (1,000 cars are planned for next year, with up to 40 percent of them to be sold in the United States) and a starting price of $191,127.
Antony Sheriff, McLaren’s managing director, said that making a car equal to those other players “wasn’t good enough for us.” The new car, he said, had to “push to the very edge of what’s possible.”
Does it deliver? At its press event, McLaren brought out its Formula One team drivers, Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton, who also happen to be the past two champions in the series. McLaren showed a video of the pair driving the cars at the Goodwood circuit. Mr. Button, the 2009 champion, said he was impressed by the 12C’s light and nimble handling, as well as its good visibility all around. “I felt like part of the car,” he said.