McLaren F1Supercar- More developed on 2009

You've heard it before and you'll hear it again, the McLaren F1 is world's best supercar. Yeah, compared to modern standards it's not the fastest, most powerful and most expensive, but will another supercar ever oust its position as top dog? We don't think so.

The story begins in 1988 when partners of the McLaren Cars Ltd - the world's leading Formula One team, winning 15 out of 16 races - finished their successful season and decided that they should move beyond their current program and go one step further by building the finest road car possible. To them, this meant developing a no comprise supercar, built with nearly endless funds to achieve the highest power to weight ratio but retain usability for everyday driving.

To meet these goals, technical director of McLaren Gordan Murray and stylist Peter Stevens realized that the car had to be small, use the lightest components available and have a large capacity, normally aspirated V12 engine. Little did they know, this design philosophy would break many speed records and win championships it wasn't even originally intended for.

Four years after the McLaren's costly development, the first car made its official debut at the 1992 Monaco F1 week where McLaren could finally reveal to world what they had been doing. At Monaco, the targeted customer base learned that only 100 examples would be made, and that the McLaren would be the fastest, most exclusive car in the world. These attributes and gorgeous styling helped potential clients look past the 634 500 GBP price tag and beyond competitors like the Ferrari F40, Porsche 959 and Jaguar XK220.

After its release, the F1's potential was immediately realized when it reached 0-100-0 in 11.4 seconds and a record top speed of 240.14mph in its XP5 pre-production trim. Although, the success didn't stop in the record books, as special GTR versions won Le Mans outright in 1995 and took two FIA GT World Championships.

The F1's sucess can be attributed the McLaren's Formula One expertice. The small dedicated team picked by Gordan Murray designed 5000 individual pieces which were predominantely carbon fibre, magnesium, titanium to keep minimum weights. The car's carbon fibre monocoque was the world's first and supported BMW's impressive BMW S70/2, 620 horsepower engine. This engine produced considerable heat, so the engine compartment was lined with pure gold and air conditioning came as standard. But the greatest innovation was its seating arrangement.

To show off McLaren's dedication and Formula hertage, Murray used a central drivers seat and provided an option for two seats on either side. Like a race car, this provided the best possible view and was the good example of how uncompromising the F1 was. Additionally the McLaren wasn't equiped with any driving aids which meant it lacked traction control, ABS, power brakes and power steering.

Included with the purchase of every McLaren was bevy of lush appointments including a specially designed lightweigh stereo, a tailered golf back, custom fitted luggage and the mother of all full tool boxes, used for McLaren personal to use if they needed to do remote work on the customers car. Included was a modem, which could send data directly to McLaren. With this, one customer in Germany was found to reach 200 mph almost daily on his way to and from work!

After delivering 100 customer cars McLaren stopped production after seven prototypes, 64 road cars, 5 special F1 LMs (built to commemorate victory at Le Mans in 1995), three F1 GTs (road going versions of the long tail 1997 F1 GTR race car) and 28 F1 GTR road cars. Of these, the Sultan of Brunei owns the most, and has two very special black F1 LMs with stiking Pininfaria graphics as well as an exact replica of the F1 GTR that won LeMans.

Since delevery, McLaren have stayed commited to the F1 and continue to service the many cars. Almost every car has been returned to the factory and some have received custom modifications to suit the needs of their owners. The most radical of these are the few race cars which were converted back to road cars with the most minimal of changes. Other less daring cars have treatments that include new aerodynamic packages and custom interiors. As these cars get better, they keep the F1 up to pace with modern alternatives such as the Ferrari Enzo, Porsche Carrera GT and Koenigsegg CCX.

SPECIFICATIONS

type	Production Car
production years	1992 - 1998
released at	1992 Monaco F1
built at	Woking, England
body stylist	Peter Stevens
coachbuilder	McLaren
engineers	Gordon Murray
production	65
price	$970 000 USD
engine	BMW S70/2 60 Degree V12
position	Mid Longituinal
aspiration	Natural
valvetrain	Chain Driven DOHC w/4 Valves per Cyl, Variable Inlet Timing
displacement	6064 cc / 370.0 cu in
bore	86.0 mm / 3.39 in
stroke	87.0 mm / 3.43 in
compression	10.5:1
power	467.6 kw / 627.1 bhp @ 7400 rpm
specific output	103.41 bhp per litre
bhp/weight	550.09 bhp per tonne
torque	649.4 nm / 479.0 ft lbs @ 5600 rpm
redline	7500
body / frame	Carbon Fibre Monocoque w/Front Upper Sub Frame, Active Aerodynamics
driven wheels	RWD w/Torsen Differential
front tires	Goodyear F1 P235/45ZR-17
rear tires	Goodyear F1 P315/45ZR-17
front brakes	Unassisted Vented & Crossdrilled Discs
f brake size	332 mm / 13.1 in
rear brakes	Unassisted Vented & Crossdrilled Discs
r brake size	305 mm / 12.0 in
front wheels	F 43.2 x 22.9 cm / 17.0 x 9.0 in
rear wheels	R 43.2 x 29.2 cm / 17.0 x 11.5 in
steering	Unassisted Rack & Pinion
f suspension	Ground-Plane Shear Centre Double Wishbones w/Light Alloy Dampers, Co-Axial Coil Springs, A
r suspension	Double Wishbones w/Light Alloy Dampers, Co-Axial Coil Springs
weight	1140 kg / 2513 lbs
wheelbase	2718 mm / 107.0 in
front track	1568 mm / 61.7 in
rear track	1472 mm / 58.0 in
length	4288 mm / 168.8 in
width	1820 mm / 71.7 in
height	1140 mm / 44.9 in
transmission	Transverse 6-Speed Manual w/AP Triple Plate Clutch
gear ratios	3.23:1, 2.19:1, 1.71:1, 1.39:1, 1.16:1, 0.93:1
final drive	2.37:1
top speed	386.4 kph / 240.1 mph
0 - 60 mph	3.2 seconds
0 - 100 mph	6.7 seconds
0 - 1/4 mile	11.6 seconds
designers	Gordon Murray, Peter Stevens

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