McLaren: Our cars will keep getting faster
Faster than fast? That's bloody fast!
McLaren says its vehicles will continue getting faster as technology develops, hinting at potential avenues the company could go down in the pursuit of speed.
Speaking with Carscoops at the Geneva motor show, Jens Ludmann, chief operating officer for McLaren Automotive, said one only has to look at past developments to determine that vehicles will continue to evolve and improve.
"When I did my PhD in university, I had a professor who got exactly the same question from his students. They said, ‘look, for decades, cars have four wheels, steering wheel, an engine in the front... so how can we, from where we are now, develop something better in the future?"
"He did a seminar and he brought six Mercedes-Benz S-Classes, each was one generation back. He let the students test drive from derivative to derivative to derivative and the step change from car to car in every generation was stunning."
"If you see the trend of the past, you can anticipate the trend in the future," Ludmann added.
McLaren's COO highlighted active aerodynamics and alternative powertrain technologies as paths for development to make vehicles smarter and faster.
"Active aero – we didn’t have that in the past and now with active aero we can reach new limits," he said.
"Eventually, batteries will improve and there will be new powertrain solutions. There is so much focus now on powertrains that there will be different powertrains in the future and again, that will change the game. There will always be technology evolution which leads to better products."
At Geneva, the company showcased the Senna – a wild track special based on the 720S with 588kW, 800Nm, and an array of aerodynamic improvements to make it a road-going race car.
Weighing just 1198 kilograms in its lightest configuration, the McLaren Senna is capable of sprinting from 0-100km/h in 2.8 seconds, 0-200km/h in 6.8 seconds, and 0-300km/h in 17.5 seconds.
McLaren also claims the Senna will hit a top speed of 340km/h, while the extensive aero package produces 800kg of downforce at 250km/h.
It's unclear just how much faster McLaren's future models will get, but if the Senna is just the start, the future sounds mind boggling.
0
