When the McLaren P1 sold out in 2014, the British manufacturer quickly had their sights on their next big thing. After several years of hard work behind the scenes, McLaren is now edging very close to revealing their P1 successor, given the project name ‘P15. With McLaren’s notoriously fast production pace, it will be interesting to see how the car fits into the brand’s current line-up.
First of all, the McLaren P15 is expected to completely surpass the P1 in terms of performance, and even the P1 GTR too. In fact, the P15 is being designed with performance at heart, whereby engineers were given the liberty to go the full nine yards in their pursuit of the ultimate track weapon.
To make all this come true, McLaren have opted to base the P15’s drivetrain on the 3.8 litre twin turbo V8 – the heart and soul of most McLaren in the current line-up. Naturally, the engine will be heavily modified to produce a monstrous 789 horsepower. Weighing less than 1,300kg, this will propel the car from 0-100 km/h at a similar time of the P1 GTR, which does the sprint in some blisteringly fast 2.5 seconds.
Building on the 720S’ state of the art technology, the P15 is likely to have a tweaked version of its seven-speed gearbox. It will also use the Monocage II one-piece carbon fibre tub, which made a debut in the 720S. The lightweight tub will play a big part in the P15’s large weight decreases over the P1. The P15 is expected to have a large front spoiler and a substantial rear wing as aerodynamics will play a big role in the car. The interior is said to be completely stripped out, to only barely meet the homologation requirements.
The P15 is expected to be unveiled later this year, but we do know that certain customers have already gotten the option to reserve a spot for the highly anticipated hypercar. The production run will consist of 500 cars, with a base price around €800,000.
