You don't create one of the utmost masterpieces of the high-performance supercar market without countless hours of testing. Much of that testing is dirty, sweaty and anything but sexy, but a few select aspects are riveting enough to make for edge-of-your-seat video – aspects like the McLaren P1 drifting through snow-powdered ice in northern Sweden. McLaren released just such a video this week.
The specific reason behind McLaren's traveling across the North Sea was "durability and development testing" under extreme conditions, something that sounds much more compelling when set to the soundtrack of a motor-assisted 727-bhp V8 engine and screeching Pirellis. McLaren brought the car inside the borders of the area we know as the Arctic Circle for the testing.
McLaren showed a P1 design study at the Paris Motor Show last September and provided details about the 903-bhp hybrid powertrain and other mechanicals prior to the 2013 Geneva Motor Show. Moving forward, McLaren is certain to cite the 217 mph (349 km/h) top speed, sub-3-second 0-62 mph (0-100 km/h) and sub-7-second 0-124 mph (0-200 km/h) in trying to convince 375 buyers that US$1.15 million is a small price to pay for this particular piece of motoring history.
McLaren is continuing testing P1 prototypes around the world and plans to showcase the P1's talents at a "number of dynamic displays" this summer. The car will also be a part of McLaren's Goodwood Festival of Speed presence.
The video won't answer definitively whether McLaren has succeeded in making the "best driver's car in the world," but it will make you forget about every other sports car in existence for at least a couple minutes. And since the car tested in Sweden was a camouflaged test car, we've packed some recently released track day P1 photos into our gallery for a little extra viewing pleasure.
Source: McLaren