Super-light mid-engined hypercar is the new star in the brand’s Ultimate Series after the P1.
Is it road-legal?
What you see here in official pictures before a world premiere at the Geneva motor show next March is McLaren’s all-new Senna.
Named after Ayrton Senna, who won three F1 titles for McLaren in the early 90s, the hypercar is claimed to be the most extreme car yet produced by the Woking boys.
The Senna has been designed for both track and road use and employs the brand’s next-generation carbonfibre body construction dubbed Monocage III. Like in the McLaren F1 model of yore, the Senna utilises dihedral doors.
Based on a classic mid-engine, rear-drive layout, the Senna has two buckets seats inside the minimalist cabin. Its road-legality can be seen via the use of three-point seatbelts and carpets.
How fast can it go?
McLaren has yet to reveal performance figures for the Senna. But the technical details are very telling about its ability to crack the 0-100kph time in a projected 2.5sec with a potential top speed of more than 350kph.
The Senna comes with 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 and seven-speed dual-clutch automatic producing 800hp and 800Nm of torque. And by tipping the scales at just 1,198kg, the Senna has a remarkable power-to-weight ratio of 668hp per tonne.
The Senna is able to achieve such a weight because it doesn’t use any electrification of some sort to boost power, apart from the extensive use of carbonfibre trim.
The P1, the first model in the Ultimate Series produced five years ago, came with a hybrid drivetrain which is why McLaren doesn’t want to treat the Senna as a direct replacement for it when actually it is in marketing terms.
In a bid to make the Senna an easy yet fun car to drive, McLaren has installed the latest in active aerodynamics and adaptive suspension system. Other standard chassis items include carbon-ceramic disc brakes and Pirelli P Zero tyres. There are three driving modes available: comfort, sport and track.
I bet its price would nudge 100 million baht in Thailand…
Exactly that price level, thanks to horrendous duties for imported cars in Thailand. As in cases of most limited-run models, the Senna is sold out as you’re reading this. Only 500 will be made with production starting in the third quarter of next year.
Despite their high prices, hypercars aren’t exactly non-existent in Thailand. The P1, for one, had seen one customer in the country. Only 375 were made worldwide.
The P1 came with 916hp 3.8-litre V8 petrol-electric hybrid that accelerated from 0-100kph in 2.8sec before hitting an electronically limited top speed of 350kph. It weighed 1,574kg and had a power-to-weight ratio of 593hp per tonne.
