DriveTribe
Sep 2, 2018 · 3 min read

Confirmed by McLaren, the upcoming Speedtail Hyper-GT will produce over 1000 horsepower.

It shouldn’t be long until the covers are finally pulled off the McLaren Speedtail. Ever since the project was first announced under the code name BP23, information has been fed to us in drips and drabs, with the confirmation of its official title only occurring relatively recently.

Now however, the all important power-figure has been loosely referenced by McLaren boss Mike Flewitt. Speaking in California at Monterey Car Week, he confirmed that the upcoming Speedtail will produce more than 1000 horsepower. That’s 986bhp in Queen’s English, which is the same as what the track-only McLaren P1 GTR develops.

From what information we have currently, it’s easy to see a couple of similarities between the F1 and the Speedtail. For a start, the Speedtail will be a 3-seater. Also, only 106 Speedtails will be produced, which mirrors the amount of F1s.

From there on out however, the Speedtail distances itself from people’s temptation to call it a “modern F1”. In the middle will sit McLaren’s 4L Twin-Turbo V8 which will be augmented by a hybrid system different to the one used in the P1. The exact way in which it’s “different” is something McLaren are yet to specify.

While it will be McLaren’s most powerful car, it won’t outpace either the P1 or Senna around a racing circuit. It will however beat both of them in a straight line sprint. The Speedtail is all about luxury and blistering straight line speed — a recipe that sounds astonishingly similar to the Bugatti Veyron.

McLaren is referring to the Speedtail as a “Hyper-GT”, and say that it will have a top speed in excess of 243mph — the record set by the McLaren F1 without its rev-limiter. While there’s still much speculation surrounding just how much faster than 243mph the Speedtail will go, there’s one thing for certain: McLaren aren’t interested in the slightest in chasing 300mph.

Unlike Hennesseys and Koenigseggs, the Speedtail wasn’t born to achieve a preordained target. Instead, the top speed it has is simply the result of the engineering that McLaren have put into it.

While there’s no official word on when the Speedtail will be revealed properly, I’m hoping it’ll finally make an appearance at next month’s Paris Motor Show. Fingers crossed!

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Written by: Angelo Uccello

Twitter: @AngeloUccello

Tribe: Speed Machines

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Photo credits: McLaren

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