A new street-legal McLaren P1 replacement, a car that has been in the works for years, now has a date attached to it, McLaren says. And a time as well. The car will be unveiled “exactly one minute past midnight” on Dec. 10.
What might the new P15 include? An Autocar report in July revealed some of the specs, like a 3.8-liter twin-turbo V8 that is said to produce 800 horsepower, in addition to being built on the same carbon tub as the McLaren 720S. The car will cost around $1 million, or not far off from the $1.15 million price that the P1 sold for.
Some more details from Tuesday’s Autocar report:
Autocar understands the 675LT development car that has been spotted testing at the Nürburgring in recent weeks is a mule for the P15, offering insight into the advanced aerodynamic layout of the final production car.
The mule’s bodywork features large intakes on the nose that are designed to channel air out of openings on the bonnet and direct it around the car’s windscreen. Such a system will be employed by the P15, meaning it ditches a front boot in favour of aerodynamic efficiency. The mule also wears a large rear wing, held in place by two centrally mounted swan neck arms. A source revealed that the mounting arms will be fixed so the wing can’t fold away into the rear deck, but it was suggested that the wing itself could rotate in a similar way to the drag reduction system fitted to Formula 1 cars.
It is understood that the P15 will forgo a hybrid drivetrain, as used by the P1, for a lighter, combustion engine-only set- up. The engine will be based on the M840T turbocharged 4.0-litre V8 used by the 720S but will feature upgraded internals and a bespoke turbocharger set-up to boost power far beyond the 710bhp offered by the 720S Super Series model. A mooted figure of around 789bhp would give the P15’s V8 a 62bhp advantage over the 3.8-litre combustion engine featured in the hybrid P1’s drivetrain.
We’ll get pictures of this puppy in less than a month then, but if you want to see it up close, plan to be in Switzerland in March. According to numerous reports, the new P15 is set to make its public debut there at the Geneva Motor Show.