Lightest McLaren since the F1. Damn.
The 88th Geneva International Motor Show will play host to the debut of the most driver-focused road-legal McLaren in history. The Senna, which was shown to the world in December, has finally been explained in great detail, to help us plebeians understand the true significance of this car, and get a hint of just how uncompromising the driving experience promises to be.
“The McLaren Senna honours my uncle because it is so utterly focused upon the driver, and their absolute connection with the vehicle. This engagement, these sensory cues that the driver responds to and relies upon, the whole immersive experience, has been at the heart of the development from the very start.” — Bruno Senna, McLaren Brand Ambassador, Nephew of Ayrton Senna
One of the Senna’s most amazing figures come not from outright performance, but from the weighing scale. The Senna may have started life as a 720S, but an extensive redesign and an extreme diet has resulted in a dry weight of just 1,198kg. So fastidious were McLaren’s engineers that they changed the type of bolts used in construction to save 33% in weight for every bolt used. An electronic door release was used over a mechanical one, to save a further 20% in weight. Even the paint, this beautiful ‘Victory Grey’ is special to the Senna, and applied less liberally than McLaren’s road cars.
You’d have probably noticed the design of the thing, which was shaped and sculpted based on aerodynamic requirements as well as for the generation of downforce. The Senna features the very latest in active front and rear aero, which can generate up to 800kg of downforce at speed. There are side blades beneath the headlights that work to actively maintain optimum aero balance, as so that the car doesn’t get upset under heavy braking.
Those front flaps work together with the enormous rear spoiler, which too moves about on ‘swan neck pylons’ to provide optimum drag efficiency and/or provide additional air braking.
The rear wing alone weighs just shy for 5kg, and is capable of handling more than 500kg in fore at any given time. Maximum downforce is generated at 250kmh, while top speed is rated at 340km/h. And on a top-speed run, the wing will lower itself to reduce drag. Smart, huh.
Motivation comes from a 4.0-litre biturbo V8, producing a stratospheric 588kW and 800Nm, which is impressive all on its own, even before you consider the Senna’s jaw-dropping 485/tonne power-to-weight ratio. This means that the Senna can rocket from rest to 100km/h in 2.8-seconds, and 200km/h in 6.8-seconds.
The Senna’s suspension is broadly familiar to what’s available on the P1, with independant double-wishbone suspension and hydraulic active dampers and anti-roll bars, which McLaren has christened as ‘Race Active Chassis Control II (or RCC II). With Race mode engaged (via a button mounted on the roof), the Senna lowers itself by as much as 40mm, while the suspension is stiffened, to sharpen its response. Braking is catered for using carbon ceramic discs and incorporate motorsports tech to make them some of the most advanced units available on a road vehicle.
The cabin of the Senna isn’t quite spartan, but it is minimalist. There are lightweight ‘seats’ (that are more like bits of padding placed on a frame), while things like the door releases, start button, and power-window switches are placed on the roof of the car.
The doors themelves are top-hinged and feature an upper glass section (normal) and a lower glass section (not normal in the slightest), with the latter available to make it easier to keep track of the apex of a corner. There’s a three-spoke steering wheel and a McLaren folding instrument display, while all other functions are relegated to a central touchscreen.
McLaren will demand no less than £750,000 (or about $1.3-million) for one of just 500 Sennas, though we’re informed that all of them have been sold. The very last example was put up for auction recently, and eventually sold for £2-million (or $3.56-million in our money), with all proceeds going to the Senna Foundation. More details will be revealed in March, when the Senna makes its public debut at the Geneva Motor Show next year.
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