McLaren is a name incredulously famous for hypercars in the automobile industry. It never stops trying attitude and competitive racing history makes it awesome. Although it was founded in 1963, a new entrant compared to the other racing giants like Mercedes and Ford, it has been quick to establish its reputation as one of the most reliable and cutting-edge carmakers in the world. A fine example of this accomplishment by the British company is their one of the most famous and successful car of all time, the McLaren P1. McLaren’s 903bhp hybrid hypercar that promises to be the most involving car to drive on-road and track. The P1 is a superhero among supercars: supermodel shapely, heroically powerful, stratospherically expensive, but here's the one drawback—unavailable. That's because all 375 examples of the million-dollar car have been already sold. However, its starting price when it was launched was £866,000.
The McLaren P1 is all about the drive, a very, very fast drive. You have the electric motor helping get the car off the line in the blink of an eye before the twin-turbocharged gasoline engine takes over to propel the car forwards at such a rapid pace that an unsuspecting passenger might scream or throw up – or both. Other cars that offer similar performance, it's just that the P1 does it with drama and anger and violence. Steering is responsive to the point that you must pay careful attention to inputs and speeds; even with electronic help, you can quickly have the rear try overtaking the front.
It's not so much an interior as it is a cockpit in the McLaren P1. When you open the scissor door you're greeted with carbon fibre, more carbon fibre and a little more carbon fibre. Deep and high-bolstered race seats are covered in Alcantara, as is the top of the dash and the steering wheel along with a few select locations that need padding. The centre of the dash connects to the transmission tunnel with smooth flowing lines and is home to the screen for the infotainment system. There are a few places for storage of small items, but overall the look and feel are cold and dark, there's never any doubt that the car is in charge here, not you. Visibility in the low-slung hypercar is good as long as you keep looking forwards.
The McLaren P1's performance had to set a new standard for gasoline / electric hybrids and it did what it set out to do. The P1 has a permanent-magnet synchronous electric motor that produces 177 hp and 96 lb-ft of torque, and that works together with a highly-tuned 3.8-litre V8 with twin-turbocharging working to produce an amazing 727 hp with 531 lb-ft of torque. The combination is mind-blowing – the P1 is rated at 903 hp. The hypercar reaches 60 mph in as little as 2.8-seconds and will hit 186 mph in 16.5-seconds. The top speed is 217 mph, oddly slower than the F1 though. A fast-shifting 7-speed dual-clutch transmission helps direct all that power to the rear wheels.
The safety of the McLaren P1 is built into the car, and not really visible unless you know where to look. A carbon fibre MonoCage is the passenger compartment, safety cell and the major structural component for the chassis, a design taken from the company's Formula 1 exploits. The carbon fibre is five times stronger than top-grade titanium and twice as stiff as steel – and light too with the whole compartment weighing just 90kg. The only tech is the instrument cluster and the Android-based centre screen for the infotainment that features a browser, maps, navigation, a media player, the phone and added apps.
The P1 has, like its contemporaries, done rather well for its owners, considering its original £866,000 price tag back in 2013. As of late 2020, and aside from a car in the United Arab Emirates priced at just over £930,000, the majority of P1s for sale are listed at just over the million mark and a few touching £1.3 million.
