Luxury and Exotic Car Reviews

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

By Michael Van Runkle – April 25, 2026

Review: 2026 Land Rover Defender Octa

When Land Rover axed the classic Defender SUV in 2020 after 37 years of production – depending on how one interprets the model’s extended timeline – the controversial next generation entirely overhauled the iconic SUV’s characteristics. No more solid axle suspension, no more clattering diesel and underpowered gasoline engines, and no more boxy steel body panels. Instead, the new Defender takes a solid step into the modern luxury arena, with a playfully plasticine exterior design hiding plenty of tech on the inside and underneath the hood. The Defender then reached entirely new heights with the 2025 debut of a range-topping Octa trim, which swaps in a 626-horsepower BMW V8 and supercar-derived suspension. Fender flares over bigger tires and a wider track bulk up the Octa’s beefy stance, hinting at perhaps even more off-road capability than the venerable Defender Classic. And then, Land Rover entered an even more hardcore variant of the new SUV into the grueling Dakar Rally, as a testament to this newfound performance. While the Dakar raged in Saudi Arabia, I took an Octa loaner in Los Angeles, curious to discover where in the spectrum between luxury SUV, supercar, and rock-crawler the Octa winds up, especially after an admittedly disappointing first experience in a base Defender 130 from the new generation just over two years prior. As good as the Octa looks, with the improved proportions playing up that rally-racing aesthetic, the powertrain proved impossible to ignore. Land Rover actually sourced the twin-turbocharged 4.4-liter V8 from BMW, where the internal-coded “S68” engine motivates the current M5, X5M, and X6M. Paired to the same ZF eight-speed automatic, in this case 626 horsepower and 553 lb-ft of torque unlock a claimed 0-60 time of four seconds flat – not bad considering the Octa weighs in just shy of 6,000 pounds. Every time I pushed the start button early in the morning, I felt a twinge of pity for my neighbors as the grumbling exhaust fired up. Any sense of sorry immediately evaporated when I punched the gas pedal, though, which inevitably sends the rear suspension into a strong squat. Suffice to say, I fully believe rumors that with enough grip for a hard launch off the line and the airbags set to Comfort, the Octa can actually wheelie the front two tires off the line. Luckily, an enormous set of six-piston front and four-piston rear brakes can haul down that speed and weight with surprising ease. Now imagine a Defender Classic trying to rip around like a supercar. Guess again. At the moment, the Octa package only comes on the 110 chassis, not the longer 130 (which unlike the Classic, actually shares the same wheelbase but adds a longer trunk for increased cargo capacity and a third row of seats). Nor on the short-wheelbase Defender 90. Using the 110 as a base results in impressive approach and departure angles of 40.2 and 42.8 degrees, respectively, or a steep line from the tires to the Octa-specific front and rear bumpers – all the better for conquering obstacles without scraping. <- Gallery -> To test the Octa’s off-road cred, I headed out to familiar trails in the Southern California desert for some high-speed ripping and low-speed rock-crawling. Unlike the Defender Classic, the new generation switched to independent suspension all around, which typically means less articulation and reduced traction when the trail gets tough. But the Octa’s model-specific hydraulic roll control system, which Land Rover dubbed “6D” because it manages body motion in all directions by replacing the sway bars used on lower trims, maxes out potential wheel travel as much as possible. Especially with the air suspension pumped up to the tallest ride height, I rarely noticed a tire lift off the dirt. Though in fairness, doing so lifted the body so much that even at six-foot-one with long legs, I often struggled to climb in and out of the driver’s seat. Unlike my legs, the Octa never struggled too much going up a steep incline with plenty of ruts and rocks exposed after recent Southern California rainstorms. Provided that is, I found the proper mode and setup. But that was easier said than done, because in typical British automaker fashion, the user interface left me more than frequently frustrated. For one thing, physical switchgear for off-road settings inexplicably hide within the climate control panel. Other settings can only be accessed via the central touchscreen. But sometimes, to activate off-road modes, playing around in the gauge cluster via the steering wheel controls becomes necessary – including to adjust the tire pressure monitoring settings to then turn on Octa mode via the big button at the bottom of the steering wheel. The logic loop of so many settings and features will boggle the minds of even experienced off-roaders who know what every term means. Why not use dedicated buttons for each individual mode? Or at least make everything accessible via the touchscreen, rather than prompting to other menus that take forever to find? Well, Land Rover seems to want to inspire trust in the machine – no matter how much I wanted to control each individual setting without having to stick in Custom Terrain mode and fiddle through the menus constantly. Best practice, instead, was to give up on trying to lock the rear differential via the icon that looks just like a button. Just set it and forget it via the drive modes, and let the powertrain do the work. That made me a little nervous while trying to find the four-wheeling limits of a $170,200 SUV (as tested). But even though the computer needs to react to changing terrain, traction, and driver inputs, the powertrain and suspension do work together to get the job done. If not particularly pleasantly, precisely because the driver’s ability and vision get entirely removed from the equation. Also, because the stiff hydraulic pressure in the suspension and the overall weight resulted in plenty of clunks, crashing sounds, and unwelcome trundling up harder aspects of the climb. I barely needed low range, which improves the crawling capabilities thanks to a shorter 3.73:1 rear axle ratio, because the BMW V8 simply puts out so much torque. The transmission refused to stay in first gear when in four-low anyhow, which kind of makes the exercise futile in the first place. And the whole rig seemed much happier at higher speeds to completely unlock the booming BMW engine’s horsepower. Still, we’re a long way off from Land Rover’s D7X-R Dakar racecar, which skips out on the hydraulic 6D suspension in the name of custom Bilstein shock dampers and coilovers all around. The D7X-R also gets a roll cage, an absurdly enormous 145-gallon fuel cell, and steps up to larger 35-inch tires, too. On my tester, a set of Khaki and Ebony “Ultrafabric” seats played up the off-roady theme, and the same for the optional 20-inch wheels that I believe should be mandatory versus the larger 22-inchers that then rule out BFGoodrich’s mid-tier Trail Terrain A/T tires. I found the suspension actually preferred running the tires at slightly lower pressure, 42 psi front and 44 psi rear, but personally, on my own Octa I figure a set of bigger and beefier KO3s should do much better. Just don’t ask about fuel economy – I averaged almost exactly 13 mpg over the course of a week and a few hundred miles, which sets this Defender into solid full-size pickup truck territory. At this level of aspirational adventure SUV, the Octa more accurately splits the gap between Mercedes-Benz’s stalwart G-Wagen and Ford’s impressive Bronco Raptor. But the base G only comes with a hybrid inline-six now, and stepping up to the AMG G 63 in the name of a V8 engine then ups the price tag nearer to $200,000. The Bronco Raptor, meanwhile, stickers well below six figures with a bit more rugged and truly hardcore trail-ready capability thrown in. Yet both the G and the Bronco feature similar interior volume issues as the Octa, which never feels roomy or comfortable despite the larger footprint compared to the “base” Defender 110 that start at a much more reasonable $63,500. For the 2026 model year, Land Rover will add a 1.7-inch bigger central touchscreen across the lineup, a blacked-out exterior package, and new headlights. When those options arrive, they won’t change too much of the Octa’s character as mall-crawler extraordinaire. For those who truly know what they’re looking at, the Octa might pique the right amount of interest from 4x4 fans, too. It can certainly do the off-roading capably, if not enjoyably – and from style points alone, clearly takes the cake in the Defender lineup. Now, if only Land Rover took the next logical step to bolt those fender flares and the bigger tires onto a short-wheelbase Defender 90 with the supercharged V8, the more traditional suspension, and a starting price tag more reflective of true capability, then the Octa might occupy a more appealing and unique slot in the off-road market. View All Land Rover Defenders For Sale Images: Michael Van Runkle

By duPont REGISTRY – February 01, 2026

Review: Electrogenic EV-Swapped Land Rover Defender

by Michael Teo Van Runkle In a muddy, windswept airfield northwest of London, two classic Land Rover Defenders sit facing each other on a low hillock. One, an immaculately restored four-door replete with sumptuous leathers and lacquered woodgrain. The other, more of a rough-and-tumble two-door military truck entirely lacking any of its companion’s luxury trappings. Both ride high with lifted suspension over knobby tires, to enhance the classic Defender’s off-road capability – and yet neither clatters around with a clattering diesel engine or a primitive Rover V8. Instead, these two Landies both serve as testbeds for Electrogenic, a British firm that specializes in producing software-defined EV conversion kits for a wide range of classic cars. But how does a newly sustainable vintage 4x4 actually drive off-road? This past January, I battled my way through a frigid British winter to find out. Other notable makes and models in the Electrogenic portfolio include E-Type Jaguars, DeLoreans, Porsches, the Mazda Miata, and Mini Coopers – the latter of which won Top Gear’s “Retro Hero” award in 2024. Those low-slung sports cars might feature significantly better aerodynamics for an EV conversion than the upright Defender, and yet the opportunity to replace a sluggish, underpowered internal-combustion engine (and all of its deleterious emissions considerations) still proves highly popular among Electrogenic’s customers. The EV swap improves a Defender’s throttle response, low-end torque production, and ease of driving for city runabouts, exploration vehicles, or farm rigs where livestock might startle less easily, thanks to silent operation. The job sounds complex – and yet Electrogenic’s goal from the get-go involved making a swap and recommissioning as painless as possible. At the company’s shop, I ducked my head under the hood of multiple builds underway – many of them secrets, thus far – and witnessed how the bolt-in electric powertrain requires no cutting, sawing, or drilling into the original Defender body or chassis. Every part bolts into original mounting points, from the battery pack under the hood to the electric motor that mates with the four-wheel-drive transfer case. Electrogenic claims a conversion can take an experienced shop less than a week, a believable timeframe, especially given that Top Gear actually sent an inexperienced journalist to do the Mini Cooper swap in only one day. The kit comes with all high-voltage work handled for the 93-kilowatt-hour battery pack, controller hardware, and the 150-kilowatt motor. In more traditional terms, the electric motor pumps 201 horsepower and a prodigious 663 lb-ft torque into the transfer case, effectively replacing the internal-combustion engine and transmission with a single unit. All the modern electrical hardware and wiring harnesses still needed to communicate with the classic Defender components, though, so Electrogenic developed new wiring and running gear in-house, the latter of which passes 43 destructive tests for European road legality. Even the reduction gearsets, end caps, and output shafts come included. Electrogenic built this specific Defender 110 a year and a half ago, and uses the rig as a testbed for abuse. Other than the restored cosmetics and EV conversion, the truck also features a two-inch lift with Fox Racing shock dampers and a set of Wilwood brakes to haul down speed given the newfound power. Not that I drove particularly fast in the mud and muck. Instead, the electric motor’s throttle modulation quickly emerged as the most impressive part of the build. In slippery mud or when marching up gravel climbs, too much instantaneous electric torque might break the tires loose and cause slippage. Instead, rather than tuning for the kind of neck-snapping acceleration that makes a Lucid Air Sapphire or Tesla Model S Plaid so utterly brutal, Electrogenic let my right foot do the grunt of the work. In four-low, a stalk on the lower right side of the steering column even controls hill descent using regenerative braking. Meanwhile, the impressive articulation made possible by the Defender’s solid axles, front and rear, carries over. This allows for the use of locking differentials because the electric motor sends power to the transfer case, then on to the original axles – more articulation means the tires stay in contact with the ground more, which results in the electrons steadily pushing the Defender through challenging areas of traction. The full E93 kit adds about 150 kilograms (or 330 pounds) to the curb weight, due to the large battery pack. But the Landie never felt too top-heavy nor tippy, in deeply rutted “elephant tracks” this electric rig just kept silently carrying on, slow and steady at lean angles that brought out a few gasps, cross-axled to the max yet still able to find enough traction in the mud to put down that newfound power. I even enjoyed a bit of ripping around on wet grass, somewhat silly given that the Landie was not traditionally a high-speed 4x4. Here, the nicely weighted and not terribly imprecise steering, for a solid front axle truck, helped with feel and confidence. The rest of the time when not in four-low, that same stalk on the steering column allows for the selection of three drive modes: Eco, Normal, and Sport. Electrogenic programs different regenerative braking levels for both, and the ECU even adjusts regen response based on how quickly I lifted my foot off the brake pedal. That’s a nifty detail, and reveals how much the firm believes in reaching an OEM level of thought – and software programming. <- Gallery -> Just about the single most critical detail, for a quintessential British January, the seat heaters still worked! The fit and finish also stood out as impressively refined. Under the hood, a big box of batteries replaces the original internal-combustion engine, with a clean and only modestly futuristic aesthetic. Orange high-voltage lines run visibly along the ladder frame, and inside, only the billet gear selector knob, with a very gentle shift action, differentiates this EV from any other restomodded Defender. On-road, the body proved surprisingly devoid of creaks and rattles, though I picked up a bit of wind and tire noise since the electric motor runs far quieter. A faint buzz from the electric power steering pump crept in at times, too, though the original geometry of the solid front axle leaves little in the way of improvement to the Defender’s abysmal turning radius. Still, I can definitely call the EV swap a worthy tradeoff from a powertrain perspective. This truck gets up to speed easily, and even puts out a solid punch in Sport mode to make overtaking on British B-roads a cinch – rather than formerly requiring miles of visibility ahead, planning, and downshifting to wrangle enough power and acceleration out of such a lumbering old truck. In that regard, the military build served as a project to explore how electric capability might be relevant to the troops. Of course, stealth and silence come to mind – as well as a reduced heat signature for nighttime operations where enemy combatants might use thermal imagery. But Electrogenic also claims the EV swap reduces driver fatigue, precisely because the powertrain takes so much less mental effort to actually drive. No more constant shifting, adjusting throttle, worrying about fuel economy, and Jerry cans and oil leaks (though arguably, the latter does detract somewhat from the original Defender experience). Narrower and knobbier tires hint at some of the rougher details, but a lower final drive ratio and top speed, plus revised tuning with a new knob for more discrete adjustment of regen using a dial for 1-10. This helps for farm life as much as the military, where owners might be towing or reversing down a hill rather than evading adversaries. On both, Electrogenic retained the original gauges to make driving as familiar as possible for buyers accustomed to ICE Defenders, though they’re now computer-controlled, which does provide the option to switch to a fully digital display. The sense of familiarity applied most to the more coiffed restomod. I didn’t need a lecture or lesson; I just climbed right in and drove for a few hours without worrying about range or modes or settings. Whether the military can run the risk of troops burning through charge remains another question—and I didn’t get to drive far enough, fast enough to truly test Electrogenic’s range claims. Still, no matter how much fun a Corvette V8 swap might sound for a Defender, that kind of raw power and roaring performance runs somewhat anathema to this iconic vehicle’s original character. Covered in mud, spraying flecks of grit and grime everywhere, cutting grass all day with the front skid plate and trailer hitch, the Electrogenic builds revealed exactly where the best aspects of a Defender can benefit from the best aspects of EV life. And though any shop with a semblance of know-how, as well as any backyard mechanic with the inclination, can perform the swap, Electrogenic recommends that American customers contact partners InoKinetic in Southern California and Whittam Engineering in New Jersey to discuss a potential build. Kits run around $65,000 with every single component needed to complete a swap included, or well north of six figures if a shop sources and helps to restore the donor vehicle. Alternatively, Electrogenic also takes on bespoke projects in the UK, including a Rolls-Royce Phantom II converted for actor Jason Momoa and British comedian Jimmy Carr’s electric Aston Martin DB6. I personally envision an electric Defender as perfect for running errands around town, or for a vacation house, either slope- or beachside. And the prospect of an EV-swapped vintage sports car definitely piqued my curiosity on site, even if I wound up surprised by how well an electric conversion of this caliber actually made a classic Defender significantly more appealing in the first place. View All Land Rover Defenders for Sale Images: Michael Teo Van Runkle

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