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McLaren F1

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For the Formula One team, see McLaren
McLaren F1<tr><td colspan=2>Image:McLaren F1 logo.svg
Image:1996 McLaren F1 open.jpg
</tr>
Manufacturer: McLaren Cars<tr><th>Production:<td>1994–1998
107 produced</tr><tr><th>Class:<td>Supercar / Ultracar</tr><tr><th>Body style:<td>2-door 3-seat coupe</tr><tr><th>Engine:<td>60° 6.1 L V12</tr><tr><th>Length:<td>4287 mm (169 in)</tr><tr><th>Width:<td>1820 mm (72 in)</tr><tr><th>Height:<td>1140 mm (45 in)</tr><tr><th>Curb weight:<td>1140 kg (2513 lb)</tr><tr><th>Designer:<td>Gordon Murray</tr>


The McLaren F1 is a supercar engineered and produced by McLaren Cars, a subsidiary of the British McLaren Group that, among others, owns the McLaren Mercedes Formula One team. The car features a 6.1-litre 60° V12 BMW V12 engine and it was conceived as an exercise in creating what its designers hoped would be considered the ultimate road car. Only 100 cars were manufactured, 64 of those were street versions, 5 were LMs, 3 were GTs and the rest were GTR models. Production began in 1994 and ended in 1998.

The McLaren F1 was the fastest production car ever built (having achieved a top speed of 240.14 mph, 386.5 km/h) until surpassed in 2005 by the Koenigsegg CCR, and then the Bugatti Veyron in 2006.

The car remains as one of the most popular modern supercars, and is quickly securing a spot among the most famous cars ever made.

Contents

[edit] Concept

McLaren F1 (missing headlight covers) Chief engineer Gordon Murray's design concept was a common one among designers of high-performance cars: low weight and high power. This was achieved through use of high-tech and expensive materials like carbon fiber, titanium, gold and magnesium. The F1 was the first production car to use a carbon-fiber monocoque chassis.

The idea was first conceived when Murray was waiting for a flight home back from that fateful Italian Grand Prix in 1988, Murray drew a sketch of a three seater super and proposed it to Ron Dennis. Later, a pair of Ultima MK3 kit cars, chassis numbers 12 and 13, the last two MK3s, were used as "mules" to test various components and concepts before the first cars were built. Number 12 was used to test the gearbox with a 7.4 litre Chevrolet V8 to mimic the torque of the BMW V12, plus various other components like the seats and the brakes. Number 13 was the test of the V12, plus exhaust and cooling system. When McLaren was done with the cars they destroyed both of them to keep away the specialist magazines and because they did not want the car to be associated with "kit cars".

The car was first unveiled at a launch show on May 1992, the original prototype (XP1) remained the same as the production version except the wing mirror which was mounted at the top sill of the door which was deemed not road legal as there were no indicators at the front, McLaren was forced to make changes on the car as a result (some cars, including Ralph Lauren's were sent back to McLaren and fitted with the prototype mirrors). The original wing mirrors also incorporated a pair of indicators which car manufacturers as well as an aftermarket company would adopt several years later. The car's safety levels were first proved when during a testing in Namibia in April 1993, a test driver wearing just shorts and t-shirt hit a rock and rolled the first prototype car several times. The driver managed to escape unscathed. Later in the year, the second prototype (XP2) was especially built for crashtesting and passed with the front wheel arch untouched.

[edit] Engine

Murray insisted that the engine for this car be normally-aspirated to increase reliability and driver control. Turbochargers and superchargers increase power but they increase complexity and can decrease reliability as well as the ability of the driver to maintain maximum control of the engine. BMW's motorsport division BMW M custom-built a 6.1 L (6064 cc) 60-degree V12 based on BMW's M70/S70 BMW S70B56 engine with aluminum alloy block and head, 86 mm x 87 mm bore/stroke, quad overhead camshafts for maximum flexibility of control over the four valves/cylinder and chain drive for the camshafts for maximum reliability. At 266 kg, the resulting engine was slightly heavier than Murray's original maximum specification weight of 250 kg but also considerably more powerful than he had specified.

Image:1996 McLaren F1 engine.jpg

The carbon fiber body panels and monocoque required significant heat insulation in the engine compartment and so Murray's solution was to coat the engine bay with the most efficient heat-reflector: gold foil. Approximately 25 g (0.8 ounce) of gold was used in each car.

The road version used a compression ratio of 11:1 to produce 627 PS at 7400 rpm - considerably more than Murray's specification of 550 horsepower. Torque output 480 ft·lbf (651 N·m) at 5600 rpm.[1] Other, more highly tuned, incarnations of the F1 produced up to 680 hp. The engine has a redline and rev limiter at 7500 rpm.

From 1998 to 1999, the Le Mans winning BMW V12 sports car used a similar S70B56 engine.

[edit] Power

There is some disagreement on the topic of power output. Most sources, including McLaren themselves, report output at "627 horsepower". However, it is unclear whether this is metric horsepower (often represented as "PS" from the German Pferdestärke) or imperial horsepower. Since the McLaren's engine was built by BMW, either unit could have been used - European carmakers tend to measure output in metric horsepower while their British counterparts tend to use Imperial horsepower. Therefore, the German company BMW may have used either measurement for an engine to be delivered to British company McLaren. The kilowatt (kW) is sometimes used as a reference, as it is unambiguous, but in the case of the McLaren, output in kilowatts has been given as both 461 kW (equivalent to 627 PS or 618 hp) and 468 kW (equivalent to 636 PS or 627 hp) - thus the various quotes of horsepower output given as 618, 627 or 636 horsepower.

[edit] Performance

The car may have been relatively small, but its performance was not. With a 0 to 60 mph (97 km/h) time of 3.2 seconds and an official top speed of 240.14 mph (386.4 km/h), although with the rev limiter removed, the F1 remains one of the fastest "production" cars ever made, unsurpassed until the Koenigsegg CCR was introduced.

While most car manufacturers rate their cars in terms of raw engine power, in terms of overall performance (acceleration, braking, grip and handling) a car's weight is a more important factor. The power:weight ratio is a better way to quantify performance than the power of the engine. By this measure, the F1 was one of the most powerful production cars ever made. The F1 achieves 550 hp/ton, or just 4 lb/hp, while the Enzo (even with its significantly higher raw output) lags behind the F1 at 481.75 hp/ton (4.6 lb/hp) due to its greater weight. The Caparo T1 (designed by former members of the McLaren team) is expected to reach 1000 hp/ton, however, it is not available as of September 2006.

McLaren F1

  • 0-60 mph 3.2 s
  • 0-100 mph 6.3 s
  • 0-150 mph 12.8 s
  • 0-200 mph 28.0 s


The Mclaren F1 has a top speed of 231 mph, restricted by the rev limiter at 7500 rpm. The true top speed of the Mclaren F1 was reached on the 31th of March, 1998 by the five-year-old XP5 prototype. Andy Wallace piloted it down the 9 km straight at Volkswagen's Ehra-Lessien test track in Wolfsburg, Germany, setting a new world record of 391.1 km/h (240.1 mph) at 7800 rpm. As Mario Andretti noted in a comparison test, the F1 is fully capable of pulling a seventh gear, thus with a higher gear ratio or a seventh gear the Mclaren F1 would probably be able to reach an even greater top speed (something which can also be observed by noticing that the top speed was reached at 7800 RPM while the peak power is reached at 7400 RPM).

[edit] Record claims

The title of "world's fastest production road car" is constantly in contention, especially because the term "production car" is not always well defined by the media. Critics of the F1 will point to the relatively tiny number of cars produced and the extremely high price and contend that a car available to so few is hardly a "production car".

Callaway's Sledgehammer Corvette, the road going version of the Dauer-Porsche 962 (winner of the 1994 24 Hours of Le Mans as a GT) and most recently a version of the 911 Turbo produced by German tuner 9FF have all proven in testing that they're capable of top speeds matching or in excess of 240 mph, although none of them are considered production cars, and hence cannot displace the McLaren's record. More recently, the Koenigsegg CCR recorded a speed of 388 km/h (241 mph), a record which has in turn been shattered by the Bugatti Veyron, with a top speed of 407 km/h (253 mph). Both of these are considered to be production cars, and have therefore each beaten the McLaren's record.

As a sidenote, the 962 as well as the turbocharged version of Saleen's S7 and RUF's Rt 12 can hit 60 miles per hour in 3.2 seconds or less, meaning that even where certain cars (the Saleen and RUF) can't break the McLaren's top speed, they are capable of matching or beating its 0-60 time.

In response to this, however, designer Gordon Murray has repeatedly stated, usually in his column in Evo Magazine, that the F1 was never meant to break records, but rather perform as the ultimate driver's car, which it has done. The Autocar magazine also stated in their review (Autocar is the only car magazine, other than Road & Track 12/97, to have done an official road test/review on the McLaren F1) that the McLaren F1 will remain the best supercar ever produced, which helps reinforce what Gordon Murray had said that the F1 isn't meant to break or set any speed records. Instead, he wants it to be the ultimate driver's car. An evidence of it being the ultimate driver's car is its light weight. It weighs only 1138kg while the Bugatti Veyron 16.4 weighs a portly 1888kg. Gordon Murray's target for the McLaren F1 was a curbweight of 1000kg (note that his primary target was weight, not speed records.), but ended up being 1138kg, an additional 138kg. He was disappointed at first, but nonetheless, that made it one of the lightest supercars in the market today.

[edit] Variants

The basic roadcar, of which 107 were built, 64 for street use and 43 for racing, saw several different modifications over its production span which were badged as different models. Of the road versions, 21 are reportedly in the United States. One of the street cars remained in McLaren's London showroom for a decade before being offered for sale as new in 2004. This vehicle was chassis number #065. The showroom, which was on London's luxurious Park Lane, has since closed. The company maintains a database to match up prospective sellers and buyers of the cars.

[edit] F1 GTR '95

Privately built for race teams in order to compete in the Global GT Endurance series as the result of requests by F1 owners Ray Bellm and Thomas Bscher (who is currently in charge of Bugatti). This car introduced a modified engine management system that increased power output — however, air-restrictors mandated by racing regulations reduced the power back to 600 hp (447 kW). An unrestricted version of this engine was used in the F1 LM car (see below). The cars extensive modifications included changes to body panels, suspension, aerodynamics and the interior.

[edit] F1 LM

Only five examples (six counting XP1, the prototype) of this car were built to celebrate the 1995 Le Mans win and the five Mclaren GTRs that finished the 24 hour race (of seven that were entered). The weight was reduced by approximately 60 kg (132 lb) over that of the road car through the removal of various pieces of trim and use of optional equipment. The car also had a different transaxle, various aerodynamic modifications (including a rear spoiler) and specially-designed 18 inch (457 mm) wheels. The roadgoing version used 17 inch (432 mm) wheels. The LM used the GTR engine without race-mandated restrictors to produce 691 PS (680 hp/508 kW). The few LMs that were made are easily recognized by their colour as they were painted "Papaya Orange" as a tribute to the memory of Bruce McLaren who used the same colour for all his contemporary Formula One and Can Am cars. It is suspected that LM1 and LM4 have a black paintjob with blue yellow and gray stripes. There are no pictures of these vehicles, however there is one illustration drawn by a designer who has seen the vehicles. This illustration can be seen here. These two vehicles are owned by the current Sultan of Brunei. The LM was used by CAR Magazine when they broke the world record for 0-100mph, doing it in 5.9 seconds. The car also reached a record by doing the 0-100-0 mph in 11.5 seconds being driven by Andy Wallace (Ex Harrods GTR Race Driver). This record has now been broken by the Ultima GTR. The Ultima GTR has the record of 9.8 seconds, the McLaren is in 3rd with 11.5 Seconds. The top speed of the LM is not as high as that of the F1 roadcar, mainly due to the drag created by the rear wing, shorter gear ratios and other parts of the body kit (these are in place to create downforce). The top speed of the LM is 225 mph, as claimed by McLaren Cars Ltd, but this has not been proven nor tested to find out.

[edit] F1 GTR '96

Further modified from the '95 model, size increased but weight decreased. An '96 F1-GTR (chassis #14R driven by David Brabham & John Nielsen) is notable in being the first and only non-Japanese car ever to win the championship in the GT500 class of the All-Japan Grand Touring Car Championship.

[edit] F1 GTR '97

Weight further reduced, body lengthened and sequential transaxle added. This is often referred to as a McLaren "Longtail GTR".

A quote taken from the original McLaren F1 Build Schedule:

Chassis #27R & #28R

'This spare chassis was used to replace GTR 027R damaged during shakedown tests prior to delivery to the customer. The original 027R chassis was later repaired and plated as 028R'

Like many F1 GTRs, after it was retired from racing, many were converted to street use. By adding mufflers, passenger seat upholstery, adjusting the suspension for more ground clearance for public streets, and removing the air restrictors (like the F1 LM), this made quite a formidable sports car. An F1 GTR Longtail equipped like this can be described as the ultimate F1, and quite possibly the ultimate road-going supercar.

[edit] F1 GT

The final incarnation of the roadcar with modified body panels and redesigned interior. The three examples of the McLaren F1 GT were created to homologate the '97 GTR for racing. The interior included the same Nardi Steering Wheel used in the F1 Roadcar.

This GT model did not include the Rear Wing, as the body width of the car was increased to maximize downforce.

McLaren F1 GT Images: http://www.mclarenautomotive.com/cars/f1gt_gallery.htm

[edit] Owners

Famous owners include:

[edit] Ex-owners

  • Liam Howlett - Of electronic music group The Prodigy
  • Bernd Pischetsrieder - the former BMW chairman and current CEO of Volkswagen, destroyed a silver F1
  • Christopher Dawes - Former owner of Micromuse, Dawes and two passengers were killed in a burgundy F1, the only fatality of the car.
  • Michael Andretti
  • George Harrison (deceased)
  • Bruce Weiner former owner of Dubble Bubble Gum, his McLaren has hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of add ons and is supposedly the only one to pass CA emissions standards. He sold it along with his Enzo Ferrari in 2006 at a dealership just outside of Atlanta.
  • Sir Roger Bhatnagar New Zealand based entrepeneur who owned chassis XP4. Sold to new American owner.

[edit] The cost

Though not officially announced, the price of the McLaren F1 road cars has generally been pegged at $1 million. Premiums of more than $100,000 over sticker price were reportedly charged, thus making the average prices of a Mclaren F1 around $1,250,000. Used McLaren F1s are seldom publicly available. In December 2005, however, a yellow 1994 model was advertised by Silicon Valley Auto Group in Los Gatos, California, on the eBay auction site. Bidding escalated to $1,750,000 before the auction ended; the car did not sell as the auction listing noted: "Reserve Not Met". It was re-listed, but the seller ended the auction early, claiming an error in the listing - a common technique when an item is sold off-auction instead.

Some F1 LMs have been rumoured to have been sold for over 1.5 million dollars.

[edit] F1 rumors

  • Bill Gates never owned an F1
  • The McLaren that went 240mph was a prototype so it is quicker than the regular production cars - While XP5 is a prototype, it was "Road Car Spec" when it did the top speed run. The only changes to the car were that the underbody was polished, the rev limiter raised/removed, the headlights taped over, and the license plate replaced with a stick on item. All modifications were "road legal" and the car had no performance enhancing modifications.

[edit] Models

Certain die-cast scale models of the F1 are now extremely desirable among collectors. Most of these models are now out of production. There is a rumor that this is because McLaren is now partnered with Mercedes-Benz, the rival company of BMW which manufactured the F1's engine, and BMW refuses to release rights to produce the scale models. Manufacturers of McLaren F1 models include UT Models, Maisto, Minichamps/Paul's Model Art, Guiloy and Autobarn. Models have been produced in 1:64, 1:43, 1:24, 1:18 and 1:12. Among the most desirable of these models are the Minichamps 1:43 McLaren F1 GTR West Promotion model (which can sell for over $1,000 at auction) and the UT Models 1:18 silver & dark blue McLaren F1 LMs (which each can sell for over $400 at auction).

[edit] Trivia

[edit] External links

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