McLaren F1

The McLaren F1 was engineered and produced by McLaren Cars, a subsidiary of the British McLaren Group that, among others, owns the McLaren Mercedes Formula One team.

The car features a 6.1-litre 60¡Æ BMW S70 V12 engine and it was conceived as an exercise in creating what its designers hoped would be considered the ultimate road car.

Only 100 cars were manufactured, 64 of those were street versions, 5 were LMs, 3 were GTs and the rest were GTR racing models. Production began in 1993 and ended in 1998.

The McLaren F1 was the fastest production car ever built (having achieved a top speed of 240.14 mph, 386.5 km/h) until surpassed in 2005 by the Koenigsegg CCR, and then the Bugatti Veyron a few months later.

Chief engineer Gordon Murray's design concept was a common one among designers of high-performance cars: low weight and high power. This was achieved through use of high-tech and expensive materials like carbon fiber, titanium, gold and magnesium. The F1 was one of the first production cars to use a carbon-fiber monocoque chassis.

The idea was first conceived when Murray was waiting for a flight home back from the fateful Italian Grand Prix in 1988; Murray drew a sketch of a three seater supercar and proposed it to Ron Dennis. Later, a pair of Ultima MK3 kit cars, chassis numbers 12 and 13, "Albert" and "Edward", the last two MK3s, were used as "mules" to test various components and concepts before the first cars were built. Number 12 was used to test the gearbox with a 7.4 litre Chevrolet V8 to mimic the torque of the BMW V12, plus various other components like the seats and the brakes.

Number 13 was the test of the V12, plus exhaust and cooling system. When McLaren was done with the cars they destroyed both of them to keep away the specialist magazines and because they did not want the car to be associated with "kit cars".

The car was first unveiled at a launch show, 28 May 1992, at The Sporting Club in Monaco. The original prototype (XP1) remained the same as the production version except for the wing mirror which, on the XP1, was mounted at the top of the A-pillar.

This car was deemed not road legal as it had no turn signal indicators at the front; McLaren was forced to make changes on the car as a result (some cars, including Ralph Lauren's, were sent back to McLaren and fitted with the prototype mirrors).

The original wing mirrors also incorporated a pair of indicators which other car manufacturers would adopt several years later.

The car's safety levels were first proved when during a testing in Namibia in April 1993, a test driver wearing just shorts and t-shirt hit a rock and rolled the first prototype car several times.

The driver managed to escape unscathed. Later in the year, the second prototype (XP2) was especially built for crashtesting and passed with the front wheel arch untouched.

The following information from the 2004 BMW-Williams F1 media guide describes the evolution of the BMW P84 engine. Here you will find info describing the tremendous challenges facing the developers of an F1 engine and how they accomplished their goals.

BMW P84 - power and endurance required. Times are changing. While the "short burner" delivers extra power and used to provide a sensation for a single qualifying lap in Formula One, there is now a need for long-life power units. The Formula One Sporting Code introduced by the FIA for the 2004 season stipulates the use of a single engine for each vehicle over the entire Grand Prix weekend.

This increases the required duration of an engine to 800km. It doubles the distance covered by engines competing in the 2003 season, where the same engine was already being used for qualifying and racing. This represents a considerable challenge for BMW engineers.

Mario Theissen encapsulates the new requirement in a simple equation: "If an engine has to have a longer service life, every component must in principle be designed to be tougher. This means that the engine will get bigger and heavier, and that is at the expense of revolutions and hence power. Minimizing these losses while guaranteeing endurance are the goals we have to work towards."

Early start to development and early testing. The BMW P84 was developed by the team of engineers led by Heinz Paschen, Head of BMW F1 Development, in close co-operation with the specialists from the BMW Research and Innovation Center (FIZ). It has been tailor made for the regulation requirements of the 2004 season.

Work on the new BMW engine began in Munich even earlier than in previous years. The team of engineers already started working on a specification for the engine powering the 2004 season in November of 2002. In May 2003, the first version of the P84 was up and running on the test rig in Munich. Over the coming weeks, a number of other versions of the BMW P84 came on stream.

Paschen says, "The key factor here was to prove 'fit' for the increased running distance". The version of the engine finally intended for the FW26 was put on the test rig for the first time in July 2003 before being tested in an interim car at Monza on 4 September. From October, work focused on final link-up with the chassis, and circuit testing continued in November.

The design of the BMW P84 engine is based on its predecessor, but every single component was affected by the new specifications. The engine's design priorities for the 2004 season are: the same dependability must be guaranteed for significantly longer running times while sacrificing as little performance as possible.

Material specialists at the BMW Research and Innovation Center also helped to ensure that the effect on dimensions and weight was kept to a minimum, by developing the new heat-treatment procedures that enhanced endurance properties.

Paschen adds that "We were already so geared up in quality control with the processes that had been running in 2003 that the non-conformance quota in testing and racing was reduced drastically."

The final endurance tests on the dynamic test rig is once again carried out using the Monza circuit profile because at 73%, this track has the highest full-throttle section. However, qualification for use was increased over 800 kilometers.

The McLaren F1 can do 0 to 60 mph (97 km/h) in 3.1 seconds and has an official top speed of 240.14 mph (386.4 km/h), although with the rev limiter removed, the F1 remains one of the fastest "production" cars ever made.

While most car manufacturers rate their cars in terms of raw engine power, in terms of overall performance (acceleration, braking, and agility) a car's weight is a more important factor. The power-weight ratio is a better method of quantifying performance than the peak output of the vehicle's powerplant.

By this measure, the F1 was one of the most powerful production cars ever made. The F1 achieves 501 hp/ton, or just 4 lb/hp, while the Enzo Ferrari (even with its significantly higher raw output) measures behind the F1 at 434 hp/ton (4.6 lb/hp) due to its greater weight.

The McLaren F1 has a top speed of 231 mph, restricted by the rev limiter at 7500 rpm. The true attainable top speed of the McLaren F1 was reached on the 31st of March, 1998 by the (then) five-year-old XP5 prototype. Andy Wallace piloted it down the 9 km straight at Volkswagen's Ehra-Lessien test track in Wolfsburg, Germany, setting a new world record of 386.5 km/h (240.14 mph) at 7800 rpm.

As Mario Andretti noted in a comparison test, the F1 is capable of engaging a seventh gear, thus, with a higher gear ratio or addition of a seventh gear, it is possible for the McLaren F1 to attain an even greater top speed. This is something which can also be observed by noticing that the top speed was reached at 7800 RPM while the poweplant's peak output is at 7400 RPM.

Wallace reportedly remarked that removal of the wing mirrors and adjusting the rear spoiler would have made the car go faster.

Some claim the record is not true nor official due to the fact the car can be considered to be modified prior to the test--the rev limiter was removed. However making minor modifications is common when testing the top speed of supercars, for example removing mirrors, covering up air ducts and using different tires has been seen before.

The title of "world's fastest production road car" is constantly in contention, especially because the term "production car" is not always well-defined by the media. Critics of the F1 will point to the relatively tiny number of cars produced and the extremely high price and contend that a car available to so few is hardly a "production car".

Callaway's Sledgehammer Corvette, the road going version of the Dauer-Porsche 962 (winner of the 1994 24 Hours of Le Mans as a GT) and most recently a version of the 911 Turbo produced by German tuner "9ff" have all proven in testing that they are capable of top speeds matching or in excess of 240 mph, although none of them are considered production cars, and hence cannot displace the McLaren's record.

More recently, the Koenigsegg CCR recorded a speed of 388 km/h (241 mph), a record which has in turn been broken by the Bugatti Veyron, with a top speed of 407 km/h (253 mph). Both of these are considered to be production cars, and have therefore each beaten the McLaren's record.

As a sidenote, the 962, Veyron, Ariel Atom, Koenigsegg CCX, the turbocharged version of Saleen's S7 and RUF's Rt 12 can hit 60 miles per hour in 3.2 seconds or less, meaning that even while certain cars can not break the McLaren's top speed, they are capable of matching or beating its 0-60 time.

In response to this, however, designer Gordon Murray has repeatedly stated, usually in his column in Evo Magazine, that the F1 was never meant to break records, but rather perform as the ultimate driver's car. The Autocar magazine also stated in their review (Autocar is the only car magazine, other than Road & Track 12/97, to have done an official road test/review on the McLaren F1) that the McLaren F1 will remain the best supercar ever produced, which helps reinforce what Gordon Murray had said.

Further evidence of it being the ultimate driver's car is its light weight. It weighs only 1138kg while the Bugatti Veyron 16.4 weighs in at 1888kg. Gordon Murray's target for the McLaren F1 was a curbweight of 1000kg, but ended up being 1138kg. It remains one of the lightest supercars ever built.

The McLaren F1 road car, of which 64 were originally sold, saw several different modifications over its production span which were badged as different models. Of the road versions, 21 are reportedly in the United States. One of the completed street cars remained in McLaren's London showroom for a decade before being offered for sale as new in 2004.

This vehicle became the 65th McLaren F1 sold. The showroom, which was on London's luxurious Park Lane, has since closed. The company maintains a database to match up prospective sellers and buyers of the cars.

F1 LM

In honor of McLaren's achievements at Le Mans, they announced the building of the McLaren F1 LM (LM for Le Mans). Since five F1 GTRs had finished Le Mans, five F1 LMs would be built. The weight was reduced by approximately 60 kg (132 lb) over that of the road car through the removal of various pieces of trim and use of optional equipment.

The car also had a different transaxle, various aerodynamic modifications (including a rear spoiler) and specially-designed 18 inch (457 mm) wheels. The LM also used the GTR's upgraded engine without race-mandated restrictors to produce 691 PS (680 hp/508 kW).

Three of the five LMs that were made are easily recognized by their colour as they were painted "Papaya Orange" as a tribute to the memory of Bruce McLaren, who had used the same colour for all his contemporary Formula One and Can Am cars.

LM1 and LM4, which were built for the Sultan of Brunei, have a black paintjob with blue yellow and gray stripes. There are no known pictures of these vehicles, though there is one illustration drawn by a designer who has seen the vehicles in person.

Although only five F1 LMs were sold, a sixth chassis exists in the form of XPLM, the prototype for modifications to the existing F1 to form the new F1 LM. This car is also painted Papaya Orange, and is retained by McLaren.

Other F1s have been modified by McLaren with LM bodyparts at the behest of the owners, however these are not full LMs since they do not use the race engine.

An F1 LM was used by CAR Magazine when they broke the world record for 0-100mph, achieving 5.9 seconds total time. The car also reached a record by doing the 0-100-0 mph in 11.5 seconds being driven by racing driver Andy Wallace. This record has since been broken by the Ultima GTR.

The top speed of the LM is not as high as that of the F1 roadcar, mainly due to the drag created by the rear wing, shorter gear ratios and a more blunt front end borrowed from the F1 GTR which is meant to create more downforce. The top speed of the LM is quoted at 225 mph by McLaren Cars Ltd, but this has not been proven nor tested. The LM accelerated to 0-60mph in under 3.0 seconds.

F1 GT

The final incarnation of the roadcar, the F1 GT was meant as a homologation special. With increased competition from homologated supercars from Porsche and Mercedes-Benz, McLaren required extensive modification to the F1 GTR in order to be competitive.

These modifications were so vast that McLaren would be required to build a production car on which to legally base the new race cars. Thus was born the F1 GT.

The F1 GT featured the same extended rear bodywork for increased downforce, yet lacked the rear wing that had been seen on the F1 LM. The downforce generated by the long tail was found to be sufficient to not require a wing.

The front end was also similar to the racing car. The wheel fenders were also widened to fit larger wheels. The interior was redesigned, and a racing steering wheel was included.

The F1 GTs were developed from unfinished standard F1 chassis. The prototype, XPGT, was F1 chassis #056, and is still kept by McLaren. The two customer F1 GTs were F1 chassis #054 and #058. McLaren technically only needed to build one, but demand from customers drove McLaren to build the two production versions.

Total Productions

In total, McLaren built the following amount of F1s and variants:

• 65 F1s (plus 5 prototypes)
• 5 F1 LMs (plus 1 prototype)
• 2 F1 GTs (plus 1 prototype)
• 28 F1 GTR race cars

Total production is thus 72 road legal F1s, 28 racing cars, and 7 prototypes.

Following its initial launch as a road car, motorsports teams convinced McLaren to built racing versions of the F1 to compete in international series. Three different versions of the race car were developed from 1995 to 1997.

F1 GTR '95

Built at the request of race teams, such as those owned by Ray Bellm and Thomas Bscher, in order to compete in the BPR Global GT Series, the McLaren F1 GTR was a custom built race car which introduced a modified engine management system that increased power output -- however, air-restrictors mandated by racing regulations reduced the power back to 600 hp (447 kW).

The cars extensive modifications included changes to body panels, suspension, aerodynamics and the interior. The F1 GTR would go on to take its greatest achievement with 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 13th places in the 1995 24 Hours of Le Mans, beating out custom built prototype sports cars. In total, nine F1 GTRs would be built for 1995.

F1 GTR '96

To follow up on the success of the F1 GTR into 1996, McLaren further developed the '95 model, leading to a size increase but weight decrease. Nine more F1 GTRs were built to 1996 spec, while some 1995 cars were still campaigned by privateers. F1 GTR '96 chassis #14R is notable as being the first non-Japanese car to win a race in the All-Japan Grand Touring Car Championship (JGTC). The car was driven by David Brabham and John Nielsen.

F1 GTR '97

With the F1 GT homologated, McLaren could now develop the F1 GTR for the 1997 season. Weight was further reduced and a sequential transaxle was added. The engine was slightly destroked to 6.0L instead of the previous 6.1L. Due to the heavily modified bodywork, the F1 GTR '97 is often referred to as the "Longtail". A total of ten F1 GTR '97s were built.

Many F1 GTRs, after the model was retired from racing, were converted to street use. By adding mufflers, passenger seat upholstery, adjusting the suspension for more ground clearance for public streets, and removing the air restrictors, they made quite a formidable sports car. An F1 GTR Longtail equipped like this can be described as the ultimate F1, and quite possibly the ultimate road-going supercar.

McLaren F1 GTR