The product of many years of development, the P1's design is driven by an obsession with lightweight construction and aerodynamics. The majority of the carbon-fiber bodywork is made up of two giant clamshells, with just a few other pieces here and there to fill in the blanks. The shape is not only one of the slipperiest in the business (with a drag coefficient of just 0.34), but also produces 600 kg of downforce (the pressure exerted by the air passing over the bodywork to keep a car planted to the road). All the while, the styling penned by Frank Stephenson (who previously designed for the likes of Mini, BMW, Ferrari and Maserati, to name just a few) looks far more dramatic than the 12C it supersedes.
The British outfit has yet to reveal the technical details of what will motivate the dramatic new shape and the carbon monoque chassis over which it is draped, but we're expecting an upgraded version of McLaren's 3.8-liter twin-turbocharged V8 engine paired to a Kinetic Energy Recovery System (like the one used in Formula One) for a hybrid power-train tipped to produce around 800 horsepower. |