789 horsepower, 2,641 lbs, almost a million bucks, and you can’t even purchase it… We are in love.
After falling asleep, I found it a wonderful experience to take the Snake Pass through the Peak District between Manchester & Sheffield. The route is flanked with a heather-colored landscape, which looks like it was taken from a Tolkien sketchbook. A ribbon of road cuts through the terrain with many corners and cambers. It’s too bad that I’m only a passenger and slow to move despite the vain efforts of my shuttle driver, and his grumbling Transit van.
While any of the current McLaren cars is a joy to drive, the Senna that I have seen and learned about is bound be more… More of everything. You’ll find it more powerful, lighter, and more responsive (forgive me if I sound a bit feigned).
Senna was born “Project 15”, around two years ago. Its goal? Its goal? To surpass the track stats of last year’s Ultimate Series car, the P1. Senna must be extremely light to achieve this feat, especially with the trick electrified motortrain.
The car’s bodywork looks a lot larger than the 720S. It is certainly more striking in person. A fanatical eye on scales has counterbalanced design decisions made in the name of extreme aero.
This is possible thanks to the extraordinary use of carbon fiber. For instance, the doors are just 22 pounds in weight, which is less than half the weight of the 42-pound 720S doors. I have a sample of the featherweight seatshells on hand that I can pick up with just two fingers. They weigh in at 7.4 pounds. The crowning rear wing is the most remarkable, at just 11 pounds. It can also carry 500 times its weight.
Senna’s magic metric numbers are 800/800/800 – 800 PS, 800 Newton meters, and 800 kg of total downforce. This translated to U.S. standards means that 789 horsepower and 590 pound-feet torque come from the biturbocharged, 4.0-liter V8. There is also a jaw-dropping 1,764 pounds worth of downforce to keep spaceship landbound stuck to the ground.
It has a dry weight just 2,641 pounds. This is a lower power-to-weight ratio than the P1. I find it a great incentive to gain a few extra pounds before I drive it.
Andy Palmer, vehicle line director, stated that driver comfort is “less of an issue” for the Senna. Palmer says that the focus is on the driver and his or her ability drive the fastest lap. This is a marked departure from McLaren road cars which are capable of being easy daily drivers, even if posted speed limits are doubled or tripled.
McLaren went the extra mile to make the Senna one of the most plug-in cars ever made. The doors feature transparent composite panels that allow drivers to see the curbs from the track. They also increase speed by showing how low and fast you are.
There are many other numbers that can be used to quantify how fast it is. According to my calculations, 62 miles per hour can be reached in 2.8 seconds. The top speed, which is heavily affected by aggressive aero, is 211 mph. The braking power is what will amaze anyone who has ever raced. Although the carbon ceramic CCMR brakes take months of manufacturing, when completed your Senna will go from 124 mph down to zero in just 328 feet.
These are impressive stats for a racecar, and even more so for one that will be road-legal. Don’t worry too much about the door knocks that can result from your Senna being left in an office parking lot. McLaren is asking $958,966 per 500 units it builds. All 500 units in the production run are sold out. It’s possible that an example will fetch well over a million dollars when it first goes up for sale on the used market.
McLaren will let journalists, including you, drive the car in a few months. It could be seen as a marketing tool. The car will undoubtedly be exciting to drive. It’s probably because McLaren’s people love talking about their cars and driving them. I cannot wait to hear about the Senna drivers. Stay tuned.