The McLaren Senna Is An Extreme Road Legal Track Car

You have to be absolutely sure your product is the the best there is when you name it after an iconic personality. Take, for example, the newest car from McLaren; it is a light, powerful, agile sportscar which the company has named after the famed Formula 1 racing driver, Ayrton Senna. This, ladies and gentlemen, is the McLaren Senna. So, what makes this car worthy of such an iconic name?

This ‘Ultimate Series’ McLaren is essentially a track car that is road legal. While you could drive it daily, you wouldn’t like it. McLaren followed one of Senna’s philosophy while making this car: “You commit yourself to such a level where there is no compromise. You give everything you have; everything, absolutely everything.”

That focus on track performance can be seen in the design of the Senna. Unlike many of McLaren’s newer cars, the Senna is not exactly a looker. Everything on the surface of the car has been designed to be as functional as possible. There are vents, cuts, intakes, and fins spread around the car for the optimum use of airflow. Highlights include blade-like headlights, large air intakes at the front, aggressive vertical air blades and front splitter, roof-mounted engine air intake, a wide rear diffuser, slim taillights, three-piece exhaust and a massive two-piece wing.

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A unique element on the McLaren Senna is the two-piece glass on the doors, apart from the standard windows. These allow drivers to see more of the track/road apart from letting in more light into the cabin -- the sensation of the road flying past is intensified, which in turn excites the driver’s senses.

The form-following-function theme continues to the inside. The McLaren Senna seems sparse in comparison to contemporary sportscars; this has been deliberately done to keep the driver focussed on driving. There is bare carbon fibre almost everywhere, hydraulic door hinges are exposed, the steering is devoid of any buttons, the controls are far and few in between and there are no storage space anywhere in the cabin except for a small gap between the seats and the rear firewall.  All this has been done to save weight.

McLaren was obsessed with the weight of the Senna. Everything which could be made of carbon fibre is made of carbon fibre - this includes the chassis and every body panel on the car. Along with other weight saving features, the McLaren Senna weighs in at 1,198kg.

Also Read: The McLaren Senna is as light as the iconic F1, is this the much-touted successor?

Powering the McLaren Senna is the company’s latest and greatest V8 motor. The ‘M840TR’ 4.0-litre twin-turbocharged V8 is the most powerful internal combustion engine McLaren has ever fitted to a road legal car. It develops 800PS of maximum power and 800Nm of peak torque, and thanks to the low weight it has a power-to-weight ratio of 668PS-per-tonne. The engine is placed low in a mid-ship position, with power sent to the rear wheels through a 7-speed dual-clutch transmission.

As you can imagine, the acceleration on the Senna is said to be explosive, though McLaren has not released any numbers. The engineers also spent time on making sure drivers felt every bit of the performance and handling prowess of the Senna. The engine mounts have been designed to let some good vibrations into the cabin, while special inlets allow the engine note into the cabin too. The roof-mounted scoop also transmits air intake noises into the cabin. The carbon fibre seats with minimal padding are bolted onto the floor and let the driver/passenger feel the chassis at work through his butt. The electro-hydraulic steering too is designed to transfer as much of the steering feel through as possible.

The engine, transmission, traction and suspension characteristics can be changed using two different rotary knobs. Shifting between Comfort, Sport or Track requires using two rotary dials on the centre console while there is a dedicated dial to access the Race driving mode on the roof-mounted control panel.

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McLaren is building just 500 units of this ultimate track machine, with each unit priced in the UK at £750,000 (Rs 6.47 crore). And all of them have already been booked!