The $1.15 million 2015 McLaren P1 captured the ultra-high end imaginations of 375 very wealthy people, selling out even before the first one was delivered.
Why? Because it just might be one of the most amazing cars ever built.
As an automotive racing team, McLaren have won everything over a 50-year span by being technology leaders, and that level of intensity and innovation is distilled down into its purest form with the P1.
Two engines working in perfect synchronicity, the extraordinary low end torque from the 176-hp electric motor propels you off the line while the 727-hp twin-turbo V8 delivers the kind of throttle response and high-revving power that befits a supercar. You can also drive the P1 in full electric mode for up to six miles.
Every McLaren road car uses a carbon-fiber monocoque. With the P1, the body panels are also of the same material, keeping the dry weight down to 3,075-pounds.
But when you hit the track in the P1, the aerodynamics will blow your mind. It works actively, with the rear wing and underbody flaps adjusting when needed to help you through the corners, and if you switch to ‘race’ mode the P1 drops by 2 inches, creating true ground-effect suction. At the same time the rear wing moves back almost 12 inches. At that point, all you have to do is hold on.
(More 2015 Exotic Car Buyers Guide Winners)
The P1’s is arguably the best carbon-ceramic brake package on any road car and an amazingly intuitive traction control system. I don’t think there is a car you can drive faster and still feel it has more unexplored performance potential.
Gallery
From the duPont REGISTRY 2015 Exotic Car Buyers Guide
