McLaren W1 First Drive: Ferocious Hypercar Transcends the Track

You know things are getting serious when McLaren rolls-out the ‘1’ suffix. The origin story is, of course, the very first road car McLaren ever built, the F1. Designed by visionary Formula 1 aerodynamicist and engineer Gordon Murray, it arrived in 1992 and rendered all other supercars obsolete. The tiny, lightweight F1 embraced carbon-fibre material technology, adopted a radical centre seat driving position with two passengers set back and either side and was powered by a 6.1-litre V12 engine from BMW that might as well have been passed down directly from the Gods. Game-changer? That doesn’t even come close to describing its impact, even if at the time sales didn’t come easy… The P1 was very different. Rather than a unique side project from the Formula 1 team, it was instead a statement piece for McLaren Automotive, a new road car division still in its infancy. It arrived in 2013 and was a wild-eyed showstopper. It traded the long-legged gait and supple suspension of the F1 for a weaponized hybrid system capable of delivering 903bhp and huge blue flames from its drainpipe exhaust. In Race mode, it lowered by 2-inches and its massive concave rear wing extended into the sky. The P1 was all about aerodynamic downforce, crazed acceleration and a snorting, angry soundtrack that mixed venomous twin-turbocharged V8 with the manic whirr of electric motors. Not so much a car as a force of nature. And now there’s this: The W1. It’s a true successor to the P1 with a similar brief and, on the face of it, it evolves rather than radically reinvents McLaren’s vision for the ultimate hypercar. This is not a criticism. How could it be when the result is this dramatic and has such staggering, other-worldly potential? The W1 has 1258bhp delivered to the rear wheels. It’s capable of 0-124 mph in 5.8-seconds, the quarter mile in 9.6-seconds at 167 mph and produces 2205lbs of downforce at 174 mph. The active aerodynamics – particularly a rear wing that extends way out beyond the rear of the car – are pure performance art and deliver massive aerodynamic efficiency. The result, aside from looking extremely cool, is that the W1 is McLaren’s fastest road car around a racetrack. Ever. Their benchmark circuit is the breath-taking Handling Track at the Nardo proving ground in southern Italy, where the W1 beats their previous benchmark, the flyweight McLaren Senna, by three seconds per lap. Or “a lifetime” as they call it in racing. Maybe two lifetimes! Core to the W1’s performance is the new ‘Aerocell’ carbon fibre tub. With integrated seats and a raised footwell to allow for inboard pushrod-operated front suspension – which in turn gives air a clean path to the huge underbody diffuser – it’s light, stiff, space efficient and has been instrumental in McLaren realising a full ground-effect concept. Just like last year’s F1 cars, which were the fastest ever made. There is also an active front wing and the aforementioned complex rear wing dubbed ‘Active Long Tail’. All of which is very admirable. But the ‘anhedral’ or gullwing doors and the fantastically shirnked-wrapped feel to the minimalist, highly-focussed interior are a pretty good side effect. The W1 feels special. Those fixed seats are perhaps a shade more upright than expected, and the driving position is less obviously racecar than, for example, the Aston Martin Valhalla or Ferrari F80. However, once you’ve adjusted the pedals (they move on a slider) and the delicate, slim-rimmed and alcantara-trimmed steering wheel, there’s an overwhelming sense of purpose. The cabin is so tightly tailored and imparts a sense of lightness and agility before you so much as start the all-new 4.0-litre twin-turbocharged V8 engine, which makes 916bhp all on its own and revs to 9200rpm. Reach up to a roof-mounted control panel to find the starter button. Maybe this fighter plane trope is a little corny, but somehow you feel thrilled rather than manipulated. The W1 has a sense of humour as well as all that motorsport-derived sophistication. There’s a short delay, but when the engine does fire it’s instant – as the high-powered hybrid system negates the need for an old-school starter motor. A sharp flare of revs tells you that this engine is hyper-responsive and angry. On some deep level your brain and body have been sent all the signals required to prepare for something new and intense. Ahead of us, an empty Mugello racetrack, so press and hold the blue button next to the red starter to select Race mode. The centre display graphic shows the W1’s transformation in real time as it lowers by 37mm at the front and 17mm at the rear whilst simultaneously undocking all that active aero goodness. Race mode is not road legal and is geo-locked. You can show your friends and neighbours the aero dance, but it won’t allow you to select a gear to actually drive unless you’re at a circuit. Incidentally, the rocker switches either side of the display binnacle allow further options now: Toggle up the Handling control on the left for Race+ (for F1-spec super smooth tracks) or stick to Race for gnarlier ones. On the right toggle select ‘GP’ for sustained performance over a stint or ‘Sprint’ to unleash all 1258bhp for a time attack. There’s also a DRS and Boost function on the steering wheel. But I guarantee you won’t have the mental capacity to use them… Exit the pitlane, pin the throttle and W1 takes maybe a millisecond or two to gather its might (the gearing stretches to around 60mph in first, nearly 100mph in second, primarily to aid traction), but then lunges at the first turn with incredible ferocity. It instantly feels light, almost like inertia is no longer a thing. McLaren really does prize lightweight engineering, and at 3084lbs (dry) the W1 has a 278lbs advantage over the Ferrari F80. Plus, Ferrari uses figures for cars fitted with every single carbon fibre option. In reality, the gap is probably wider still. The impression of agility and stunning control continues as the track is unravelled at startling pace. The electric motor mounted to the side of the new 8-speed dual-clutch transmission is good for 342bhp and 324lb ft and it boosts any low rev lethargy the new flat-plane crank V8 might have (spoiler alert: It doesn’t appear to have any), so the W1 just feels massively, almost impossibly powerful at any revs. Even so, there’s real reward for wringing it out to 9200rpm and the power curve feels superheated but organic, too. In Race mode the steering – still hydraulically powered – has less assistance and it is noticeably heavier than other McLarens. However, that resistance is welcome as it gives you something to push against and imparts so much information about the front grip level. New Pirelli Trofeo RS tyres with a bigger front footprint than P1 or Senna really help. The front-end feels incredibly secure and the rear-axle follows with perfectly-aligned precision. The whole car feels super-stiff, completely locked into the surface and inspires confidence, but there’s an inherent agility and adjustability that means you’re quickly confident to push at its limits and really impose yourself on the chassis. It’s such a complex car but the driving experience is intuitive, and the driver feels a key contributor rather than just amazed (or terrified) observer, holding on for dear life. Every dynamic ingredient really is shockingly effective and yet has a subtlety and lightness of touch. From that delicious steering to the incredible brakes, the W1 just feels so mission-focussed, so hooked-up. Only the new 8-speed gearbox is a slightly disappointment. It’s fast and punchy, but after the scintillating energy of the Ferrari F80 ’box it feels competent rather than inspired. Other quibbles – it’s okay to quibble when the starting price is $2.1-million before tax and destination charge. Well, that new twin-turbocharged V8 sounds tightly wound and aggressive but if you have a P1 tucked in the garage you’ll miss the snorting, Darth Vader-style soundscape and all the drama that goes with it. Ferrari does this better, too. The F80 sounds deathly dull from the outside but is a riot of turbochargers, electric motors and all sorts of mechanical fury within the cockpit. Even so, the W1 is wildly entertaining on track, and the rear-drive configuration makes it more of a challenge and more satisfying than the F80 when chasing lap times or just sliding around for fun. In the Ferrari, you must second-guess what the front e-axle might do, whereas in the W1 it’s all on you. There are plenty of tools to help, including the ingenious Variable Drift Control, but somehow the W1 is more heroic. Or at least fools you into feeling more heroic – which is surely the point! On the road? Nimble, loaded with feel and sublime response. The ride is noticeably tougher than, say, a 750S but the control is ramped-up too, and with a bit more speed the whole car finds a delicious rhythm. Sport mode for the drivetrain brings some nice turbo whooshes and chirps, but the noise remains high-quality rather than extreme excitement. It is perhaps the one area the W1 feels just a little too tame. Of course, there’s nothing tame about the raw performance… which is genuinely shocking and literally hurts your neck muscles after a few hours. How McLaren has given the W1 such immense traction through just two driven wheels is beyond me. So, is it worthy of that ‘1’? I think so. Perhaps we won’t be talking about $25-million auction results for the W1 in 30 years from now, as we are for the F1. Perhaps it doesn’t quite have the amazing presence and jaw-dropping star quality of the simply gorgeous P1. But it is such an intense experience and the way it marries stunning track performance with delicate poise and entertainment on normal roads is something akin to magic. Maybe not ‘the one’ but definitely a searing, outrageous addition to McLaren’s fiercest family line. Just 399 W1’s will be built and they’re all sold. I’m not surprised at all. View All McLarens For Sale Images: McLaren Automotive

Bentley News

Bentley news from duPont REGISTRY News, updated as each story breaks, covering the Continental GT, the Bentayga, the Flying Spur and Mulliner's bespoke commissions. Our reporting takes in model reveals, first drives and the auction results that establish what these cars are worth. Bentley Motors news tends to move slowly and matter for years, so we follow how values hold across a generation. This is where the marketplace becomes useful. Many of the Bentleys covered here are listed for sale on duPont REGISTRY, placing the reporting and a genuine asking price side by side. For Bentley news today, and the luxury car market news that surrounds it, begin below.

A matte gold Bentley concept luxury SUV with large wheels, sharp lines, and a sleek, modern design is parked indoors under soft lighting—a glimpse into the future of elegant electric vehicles.

By Basem Wasef – July 08, 2025

EXP 15: Bentley’s First-Ever EV Concept Breaks Cover

While Bentley has flirted hard with hybrids and produced one of their most compelling drivers ever with the gas/electric Continental GT Speed, the British carmaker has slowed its roll on EVs… until now. The just-unveiled EXP 15 hints at the brand’s long-awaited entry into the fully electrified space, and it’s as much a design moonshot as it is an agitator along the lines of Jaguar’s internet-exploding Type 00. Wearing a broad, tall, and monolithic face, an expansive wheelbase, and a sculpted tail whose shapely haunches belie the two-dimensionality of the Jag design, this battery-powered Bentley concept presents a surprisingly controversial and pleasantly unexpected answer to the question many have been afraid to ask. Unlike Bentley’s former stablemates and now rivals, Rolls-Royce, which leaned on a familiar design language to create the Spectre EV, which offers a quantum leap into a space that purportedly leans on the past with an oblique homage to the 1930 Bentley “Blue Train” Speed Six, while embracing radical details like an LED-backlit grille that recalls seat quilting, a spacious 3-seat cabin that offers an ultramodern take on the Blue Train’s triple occupancy interior, and an overall exterior proportion that feels like a hallucinogenic vision of a limousine-like super touring crossover. The EXP 15 counters its avant-garde styling and all-wheel drive electrified drivetrain with old school touches, including a passenger seat that swivels and extends for easy egress. While the Pallas Gold exterior paint is modernist in tone, its golden white highlights are said to have been inspired by nickel components like the grille and door handles on the Speed Six. The rear of the cabin features silk jacquard textiles woven by Gainsborough, a fabric supplier that supplied the Queen from 1980. 3D-printed titanium surfaces are balanced out by thorn-proof wool by Fox Brothers, who have been In business for 250 years. Though the interior incorporates techy lighting and virtual reality software to help customers envision configurations, it also shuns a fully touchscreen-based user interface and relies on knurled wheels and physical buttons. The arrival of the EXP 15 follows a period when Bentley wisely postponed their entry into the premium EV segment while high-dollar competitors like the Spectre faltered. We’ll see how far the production version departs from the EXP 15’s bold vision; until then, there’s no accusing Bentley designers of taking no risks. View All Bentleys For Sale Source: Bentley

Press Release RCA Collaboration 1 Sustainable Luxury

By Tyler Rampersaud – November 23, 2022

Bentley And Royal College Of Art Students Create New Futu...

Bentley worked with design students to see what an earth-friendly luxury future would look like. With its Beyond100 strategy, Bentley has put forth an effort to completely turn itself around after over a century of being one of the world’s most desired automotive luxury brands. From making cars that were notorious for being over-the-top not just in luxury and style, but also at the fuel pump such as the Brooklands, Bentley has made an absolutely radical turn towards sustainable luxury, introducing a range of hybrid models, dramatically improving its manufacturing process to be more environmentally-friendly, and promising an all-electric model that will come very soon. MUST READ: The Bentley Flying B is A Historical Symbol Of Luxury Automotive Craftsmanship In order to see what the next steps of sustainable luxury will be even further in the future, Bentley looked to students at the Royal College of Art in London to design various concepts that have been shown at the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao and will be shown throughout Europe in 2023. The concepts all push luxury mobility further forward, with designs that holistically improve luxury and sustainability and ideas like a vehicle that actively improves the quality of the air around it, a vehicle that gives its occupants unique greetings, and a vehicle that can easily have its individual components replaced rather than the entire thing to reduce waste. Thanks to design students’ forward-thinking minds, and the commitment to sustainability from brands like Bentley, luxury can evolve and make for a brighter future. View All Bentleys For Sale Source: Bentley

By Andrew Nabors – December 16, 2020

2022 Bentley Bacalar Prototype Testing Begins

A dozen lucky owners are in for a treat. The 2022 Bentley Bacalar prototype testing has begun in order to deliver the ultimate British roadster. This project serves as the first car from Bentley's Mulliner Coachbuilt portfolio. The top brass gave their custom shop a blank check, and work began on "Car Zero". Comprised of 750 unique parts, 40 new carbon fiber bits are found inside and out. Bentley Bacalar Rainbow is a Symbol of Community Support The shakedown procedures have already subjected the car to 20 weeks of flogging. High-speed runs, bumpy roads, hot and cold soak chambers, and the skidpad have been used to find any faults. Now the team has a schedule of simulating how the dozen production cars will be used in the real world. It shares no body panels with their other offerings, and if you need a roof you're out of luck. The twin-turbo W12 offers 650 horsepower and 667 lb-ft of torque to all wheels. The closest Bentley we have to offer is a new Continental GT for sale, so click the button below and stay with us for all your Bentley news. Browse Bentley Continental GT For Sale Images: (C) Bentley Motors

By Andrew Nabors – August 07, 2020

Bentley Teases Their Electric Future

High voltage and sustainability are the buzzwords from every automaker. With Europe's mandate for all production cars to have hybrid technology, Bentley has given us a glimpse of their electric future. A 3-year project named OCTOPUS has culminated in a breakthrough in electric-powered axles. The acronym stands for Optimised Components, Test and simulatiOn, toolkits for Powertrains which integrate Ultra high-speed motor Solutions. Bentley Bentayga Gets Four New Accessory Collections Using electromagnets instead of rare earth elements, the motor is able to be recycled and rebuilt for the ultimate in sustainability. Engineers also eliminated copper from the motor. This costs a bit of efficiency, but who knows how much copper our planet has left. To see the big picture, they plan to have their first EV on the road by 2026. Because Bentley is part of the VW group, they also have access to Rimac, as Porsche owns 20% of the hypercar builder. Browse Bentley For Sale " width="680">

By Andrew Nabors – July 10, 2019

Bentley EXP 100 GT Unveiled Live

They have come a long way in their first century, so here is their vision for the future. Imagine a car that is a member of the family. That is what we witnessed as the Bentley EXP 100 GT was unveiled live on YouTube. CEO Adrian Hallmark invited the world to view the future of Bentley. This stunning electric concept has the most advanced Artificial Intelligence we've seen. Sensors throughout the cabin monitor your vital signs to predict your mood. The car adjusts accordingly by either going into "cocoon" mode or performance mode. Insulating you from the outside world, cocoon handles the driving while using the latest in sound and visual isolation. Fiber optics are woven throughout the cockpit to provide a relaxing ambiance. But all that can change with a gesture of your hand. You can take command at an instant, and the car's personality changes. Light and sound are allowed in to connect you to the world outside. Another gesture allows the car to take a snapshot of your journey, these memories are stored in the AI system as memories of each experience. Seating can be configured for 2, 3, or 4 passengers, with each having an interactive display. If you rent a Bentley while on vacation, your AI is pre-loaded from the cloud. This car was inspired by customers to attend to every need and incorporate sustainable materials. Therefore, the designers used rescued hardwood and hammered copper for the finer details. Each wheel has its own electric motor, and the battery can be charged to 80% in 15 minutes. This is probably the same 800-volt system developed for the Porsche Taycan, as Volkswagen owns Bentley. The event concluded with Adrian mentioning the imminent adoption of plug-in hybrids followed by pure electric models. Fuel cells were also mentioned, but hydrogen and hardwood is an odd combination. Tell us what you think of this concept in the comments below, and click the button for great deals on the new Continental GT. Bentley Continental GT FOr Sale " width="680">

By Edward Jones – July 01, 2019

Bentley to Reveal Autonomous and Electric Grand Tourer Co...

Bentley's 100th birthday is coming up quick. In fact, it's right around the corner and happening on July 10th. To celebrate their centenary, Bentley has been releasing a myriad of new exclusive editions cars and even pens. Now, Bentley Motors has announced that they will be unveiling the "future of grand touring" on their 100th birthday. What do they believe is the future of grand touring? Well, whatever it is, it will be found in the new Bentley EXP 100 GT. This concept car will showcase everything that Bentley has in store for their future models. Included in the car are technologies like autonomous driving and zero emission drivetrains. Be sure to check back with us on July 10th for all of the Bentley centenary news. That's on a Saturday, by the way!

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