Introducing McLaren’s 789 bhp McLaren Senna Hypercar
We’ve known about the long-awaited McLaren P15 hypercar, but now we finally have all the juicy details, specs and photos.
Let’s start with the most important stuff. 789 horsepower and 590 pound-feet of torque from a familiar 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 engine, delivered through a 7-speed dual-clutch gearbox all in a car weighing 2,641 pounds. Read those numbers again and think about just how freakishly fast McLaren’s new hypercar is going to be.
With only 500 units and a million-dollar-plus price tag this is another rare hypercar very few lucky owners will ever drive and that was sold out before the car was even announced.
The Senna is built to pummel race tracks. While it is road-legal this is clearly an ugly, track-focused beast with “race-derived” double-wishbone suspension that is fully active, active aero and other tasty race tech designed per McLaren “to deliver the most intense circuit experience of any road McLaren.” That says a lot given what the McLaren P1 is like, but with a name like Senna we don’t expect anything less.
The design is clearly all function over form. It is not a good looking car. The front end has a massive splitter and ‘aero blades’, while at the back there is a double diffuser and an active rear wing. The wing changes position in certain modes and speeds: it adjusts constantly, and also acts as an air brake. The “stepped louvres” on the rear work together with a set of gurney flaps just ahead, with a low pressure area sucking hot air out of the radiators, and the louvres making sure the resulting airflow doesn’t muck up the efficiency of the rear wing. Very cool.
This is the lightest McLaren since the McLaren F1 at only 2,641lbs. The body is built on McLaren’s Monocage III chassis with every panel built from carbon fibre and optimized for weight. Body components have huge cut-away sections to reduce weight further and optimize airflow to suck the car to the track. An entirely new front and rear active aerodynamics package has also been developed.
The interior is all business too – stripped, basic, sparse and pure race car simplicity. Alcantara and leather are available to cover the surfaces. We love it.
Can’t wait to see what this thing does on a track.
McLaren Senna Image Gallery
