Automotive

McLaren's stunning Senna hypercar revealed

McLaren's stunning Senna hypercar revealed
The Senna - McLaren's most extreme road-car to date
The Senna - McLaren's most extreme road-car to date
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The teardrop shaped silhouette was designed to be as aerodynamic as possible and each line on the car passes through a functional vent or intake
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The teardrop shaped silhouette was designed to be as aerodynamic as possible and each line on the car passes through a functional vent or intake
The stepped louvers (pictured) push air along the sides of the car while generating a low-pressure area to draw heat from the engine and radiators
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The stepped louvers (pictured) push air along the sides of the car while generating a low-pressure area to draw heat from the engine and radiators
The McLaren Senna can be optioned with a piece of glass on the mid-portion of the door to give it that cool exposed look
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The McLaren Senna can be optioned with a piece of glass on the mid-portion of the door to give it that cool exposed look
The roof-mounted snorkel rams air into a carbon-fiber intake plenum and is designed to amplify the V8's induction noise
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The roof-mounted snorkel rams air into a carbon-fiber intake plenum and is designed to amplify the V8's induction noise
The center console features most of the Senna's controls like the window switches and the door release buttons to ensure minimal distraction while on the track
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The center console features most of the Senna's controls like the window switches and the door release buttons to ensure minimal distraction while on the track
The McLaren Senna's center-lock wheels are wrapped in bespoke Pirelli P Zero Trofeo R and houses the car's carbon-ceramic brakes
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The McLaren Senna's center-lock wheels are wrapped in bespoke Pirelli P Zero Trofeo R and houses the car's carbon-ceramic brakes
The McLaren Senna can be optioned with choice of leather or Alcantara bucket seats
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The McLaren Senna can be optioned with choice of leather or Alcantara bucket seats
Carbon-fiber is used extensively through out the interior of the McLaren Senna from the dash, center console and even the door cards. If you look closely, you can see the exposed blue gas-strut for the driver's door
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Carbon-fiber is used extensively through out the interior of the McLaren Senna from the dash, center console and even the door cards. If you look closely, you can see the exposed blue gas-strut for the driver's door
The McLaren Senna's dihedral doors - a signature design feature used in all of the company's road cars
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The McLaren Senna's dihedral doors - a signature design feature used in all of the company's road cars
The Senna - McLaren's most extreme road-car to date
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The Senna - McLaren's most extreme road-car to date
The menacing rear-end of the new McLaren Senna
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The menacing rear-end of the new McLaren Senna
View gallery - 11 images

The new Senna is McLaren's all-new road legal track missile. As a homage to the late McLaren F1 driver, Ayrton Senna, the new supercar represents major performance and engineering milestones for the British manufacturer. Joining the Ultimate Series line-up amongst the hyper-hybrid P1 and P1 GTR, the Senna has been designed for zero compromise to deliver maximum track performance.

The mid-mounted 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 in the new Senna is the company's most powerful internal-combustion engine, with 789 bhp (589 kW) and 590 lb-ft (800 Nm) of torque driving the rear wheels via a 7-speed dual-clutch transmission. The Senna also features engine technology found in other McLaren road cars such as dry-sump lubrication, twin scroll turbochargers and a flat-plane crankshaft.

The 720S-derived Monocage III carbon-fiber chassis and bespoke carbon-fiber body gives the Senna a 2,641-lbs (1,198kg) dry weight, making it the lightest McLaren road car since the almighty-F1 and giving it a power-to-weight ratio of 679 hp-per-ton. Like other McLaren road cars, the Senna's fully-adjustable suspension has no mechanical anti-roll bars. Instead it uses an interconnected hydraulic system that features technology found on the P1 hypercar, such as a kinetic roll system for variable suspension stiffness and adjustable ride height technology. The Senna sits on a set of ultra-light center-lock wheels with Pirelli P Zero Trofeo R tires that house the car's carbon-ceramic brakes.

The menacing rear-end of the new McLaren Senna
The menacing rear-end of the new McLaren Senna

The aerodynamic teardrop-shaped silhouette has an active carbon rear-spoiler, a large front splitter and a one-piece carbon rear double diffuser. Every single line on the Senna's aggressive body passes through a functional intake or vent. The roof scoop for example, feeds air into the engine's carbon-fiber plenum and is designed to amplify induction noise. A set of gurney flaps placed alongside the stepped louvers near the rear wing direct air along the sides of the body and generate a low-pressure area to draw heat from the engine and radiators.

The centrally-mounted slash-cut inconcel and titanium exhaust pipes form part of the body to push exhaust gasses away from the rear wing and, along with the slim-LED taillights, give the Senna a menacing, road-going fighter jet look.

The McLaren Senna can be optioned with a piece of glass on the mid-portion of the door to give it that cool exposed look
The McLaren Senna can be optioned with a piece of glass on the mid-portion of the door to give it that cool exposed look

The wicked exterior features don't stop there. The signature dihedral doors can be optioned with a piece of glass rather than carbon-fiber on the mid-portion, which gives it an awesome exposed look – even though everyone will know what sort of shoes you're wearing.

Carbon-fiber is used extensively through out the interior of the McLaren Senna from the dash, center console and even the door cards. If you look closely, you can see the exposed blue gas-strut for the driver's door
Carbon-fiber is used extensively through out the interior of the McLaren Senna from the dash, center console and even the door cards. If you look closely, you can see the exposed blue gas-strut for the driver's door

The zero-compromise approach has been taken to the interior as well. Carbon-fiber has been used extensively, from the dash to the center-console, and storage space is restricted to a chamber behind the seats.

The driver-focused cockpit features an electro-hydraulic steering rack and button-less wheel, elongated carbon-fiber paddle shifters that are designed to be used with race gloves, the choice of Alcantara or leather bucket-seats and a foldable dash display. The center console houses the relocated door-release buttons and window switches, the infotainment touchscreen, and the drive-mode selector with its Comfort, Sport and Track powertrain settings. There's also a Race mode, which lowers the ride height and tightens the suspension, that's unleashed via a roof-mounted button above the console.

The £750,000 (US$1,004,662) McLaren Senna will make its debut in March 2018 at the 88th Geneva International Motor Show. Only 500 hand-built examples will be produced, but you're already too late – each one has already been sold. To lift your spirits, take a closer look at the McLaren Senna in the video below.

The McLaren Senna: the ultimate road-legal track car

Source: McLaren

View gallery - 11 images
5 comments
5 comments
Gizmowiz
The new 2019 Tesla Roadster will blow it away for 1/5th the price.
Daishi
@VincentWolf
If it were about the money you can get a 650 HP, 650 lbs torque Corvette Z06 for $80k that's good for a 7:13 Nurburgring lap time too.
dougspair
...Huge rear 'wing'......useless at any legal speeds....
dougspair
...Tires that house the carbon/ceramic brakes....so, are the brakes 'inside' the tires...?
Daishi
Interestingly I hadn't read about the Corvette's ZR1announcement when I read the above comment. It will be 755 horsepower and 715 lb-ft and come in around the $125k range. Considering the Z06 already competes with supercars in performance I have high hopes for ZR1. You could pick up a ZR1 for a couple years worth of maintenance costs on a McLaren that would be more comfortable to drive and competitive with it on the track.