McLaren Senna First Look
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]