McLaren Senna First Look

MotorTrend

Motor Trend's Angus Mackenzie gets a first look at the McLaren Senna. With claims of being the fastest street legal car

Transcript

00:00 This is the McLaren Senna and it's been designed with one purpose in mind, to be one of the

00:09 fastest, most exciting street-legal cars you can drive on the track.

00:15 Some numbers to consider, McLaren claims 789 horsepower, 590 pound feet of torque, a 0

00:22 to 60 time of 2.7 seconds, a quarter mile time of 9.9 seconds and a top speed of 211

00:31 miles an hour.

00:32 A McLaren that promises to set a new benchmark for hypercar performance where it counts most,

00:38 on the track.

00:39 As you can see from this greenhouse, the ultra-light and immensely strong Mono-Kage 3 structure

00:44 features a unique double-wall rear crash structure that eliminates the need for a roll cage.

00:50 The Senna's twin-turbo 4.0-litre V8 is also shared with that of the 720S, but this new

00:58 air intake, unique carbon-fibre plenums, plus unique ultra-light camshaft and pistons and

01:05 sensors that allow higher combustion chamber boost pressures and temperatures have delivered

01:10 an 11% increase in power and a 4% increase in torque.

01:15 This car draws on design and engineering experience gained from competing for more than 50 years

01:20 at motorsports most elite level, Formula One.

01:24 It's all down to aerodynamics and it starts right here at the front.

01:28 On the McLaren 720, the radiators are out here, not on this car.

01:32 They've been moved to the centre of the car for one reason.

01:36 It enables air to come in through the front here and be managed by variable veins underneath

01:43 here which can alter the amount of downforce the car generates at speed.

01:49 One of the more controversial aspects of the design is the very sloped side and the corner

01:53 of this car has been brought much further forward than on the 720.

01:59 It's all about getting the air to flow around the front of the car and stick to the side

02:04 of the car.

02:05 This splitter here sticks out a long way.

02:07 It sticks out a long way at the side.

02:10 The car almost looks slightly over-bodied, but again, it's there to manage the airflow.

02:16 There's a purity of purpose to the centre's design that's almost military spec.

02:21 Look at the front of the car here where these high fender edges, I can get my fingers right

02:25 underneath here, are designed to make sure the air comes along this surface and sticks

02:31 to the side of the door and gets directed back into the radiators there.

02:36 The mirror's out here on the edge of the fender itself.

02:40 When I come down here, I can get my hand through to almost touch the front tyre.

02:46 That's because the air that comes in through those adjustable vanes at the front is being

02:51 directed out and again along the side of the car and into those giant radiator ducts.

02:57 These CCMR rotors, each one takes seven months to make, seven times longer than a conventional

03:03 carbon ceramic rotor.

03:06 They have four times the thermal efficiency and are 60% stronger than other carbon ceramic

03:12 brakes.

03:13 And what does that mean?

03:14 That means the rotors themselves can be smaller, which means less weight.

03:18 These brake callipers usually have a McLaren logo on it that's raised, but not these.

03:23 These are painted on.

03:24 They've saved a few precious grams.

03:27 The McLaren centre costs almost $960,000 and if you're expecting a lot of soft leather,

03:35 shiny wood, and glittery chrome for the money, you're going to be disappointed.

03:40 Everything you see here, like the exterior, is designed for purpose.

03:45 So if you see carbon fibre, that's because it's a structural element of the car.

03:50 The seats themselves are just carbon fibre shelves with strategically placed pieces of

03:55 foam to keep you comfortable.

03:57 Not doing too bad a job, I must say.

03:59 And the driver's seat has a little pod for the drive, neutral and reverse buttons, as

04:04 well as the launch control button attached to it.

04:06 So if you move the seat fore and aft, this little pod moves with you.

04:11 The central control screen, that's a feature of modern McLarens, is being moved up and

04:15 angled towards the driver so you can easily access all the functions.

04:21 The starter and the window lifts are up here to save weight on the doors.

04:25 And the windows themselves are quite small.

04:28 Only the lower bit recedes into the door.

04:32 It's also allowed McLaren to put this really cool glass panel at the bottom of the door.

04:37 So not only do you feel low to the road in this car, you'll be able to see it as well.

04:44 This carbon fibre active rear wing weighs just 11 pounds, yet it produces 100 times

04:50 that amount of downforce on the rear axle.

04:54 Working in conjunction with the active front blades and this aerodynamic underfloor, it

04:59 contributes to a total downforce of 1,764 pounds.

05:05 That's astonishing for a car that weighs barely 2,800 pounds and is the reason, says McLaren,

05:11 that the Senna will generate 30% more lateral grip than its previous top-dog hypercar, the

05:18 P1.

05:19 Now, the McLaren Senna has on paper an identical 0-60 time and identical top speed to Porsche's

05:27 new 911 GT2 RS.

05:31 But this car's killer combination of ultra-lightweight and massive downforce begs the question, can

05:37 the Porsche 911 GT2 RS's record-breaking Nurburgring Nordschleife lap time, 6 minutes,

05:44 47.3 seconds, be safe for long?

05:48 Icon right there.

05:50 Gifted Brazilian Ayrton Senna, arguably the greatest Formula One driver of all time, won

05:55 three world championships in four years while driving for McLaren.

05:59 The people at McLaren today hope the Senna will be a car that's a fitting homage to one

06:05 of the driving greats.

06:06 (upbeat music)

06:09 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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