McLaren unveils its groundbreaking $2.6m W1 supercar

McLaren has unveiled its stunning new W1 supercar – a worthy and powerful successor to the F1 and P1. 

The new hybrid supercar debuted on October 6 – exactly 50 years after Emerson Fittipaldi won McLaren’s first Formula 1 World Championship.

The beautiful W1 combines a mean and clean aesthetic with some serious power under the hood. 

The W1 is fitted with an all-new V8 hybrid powertrain that produces a staggering 1,275 horsepower – the highest ever output of a McLaren engine – and can do 0-200km/h (0-124mph) in 5.8 seconds.

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The new McLaren W1 packs in an awful lot of power

McLaren says the new W1 boasts unmatched aerodynamics, including its all-new purpose-built McLaren Aerocell and the new McLaren Active Long Tail, both of which help to deliver exceptional aerodynamic performance.

“The McLaren designers who brought W1 to life were aware from the moment they began to work on the project that they would be making history, creating a new Ultimate McLaren inspired by decades of Formula 1 racing heritage and two of the greatest supercars ever – the McLaren F1 and McLaren P1,” McLaren CEO Michael Leiters said. 

The W1 is the  fastest-accelerating and fastest-lapping road-legal McLaren ever, outperforming the Speedtail and a McLaren Senna during testing.

It has an acceleration of 0-200km/h (0-124mph) in 5.8 seconds and 0-300km/h (0-186mph) in less than 12.7 seconds; with a maximum speed electronically limited to 350km/h.

McLaren dubs the W1 a ‘supercar for all occasions’ and explains it is equally as happy on your average roads and highways as it is tearing up the track. 

It comes with Road mode and Race mode

Depending on where you’re driving the W1, you can switch between Road mode and Race mode, with the latter seeing the W1’s ride height lowers by 37mm at the front and 17mm at the rear, while the suspension stiffens. 

Alongside that, the front and rear active wings are deployed, with the McLaren Active Long Tail extending by up to 300mm to assist in generating 1,000kg of downforce.

Impressive stuff, right?

The supercar is powered by an all-new, McLaren High-Performance Hybrid Powertrain that consists of a new MHP-8 engine, a new lighter E-module, F1-derived battery technology, and an 8-speed dual clutch transmission.

Of course, as you’d expect the supercar comes with a hefty price tag and those hoping to get their hands on will need to part with around $2.6 million. 

If you were hoping to get one for your garage, then there’s more bad news. 

McLaren will be making a strictly limited run of 399 and all of them have been customer allocated.

Sorry.