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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 Tyler Rampersaud – February 18, 2023

Christian von Koenigsegg, Mate Rimac, John Hennessey & Go...

This isn’t your average car talk. There are few opportunities to hear from any of the automotive industry’s greats, let alone a group of the greatest names in performance. However, Top Gear, one of the most eminent names in the automotive world, brought together a group of absolute titans from all over the world when it comes to designing and building cars, and making them go fast. This conversation was held between Christian von Koenigsegg, Mate Rimac, Gordon Murray, and John Hennessey. All of these legends are the minds behind some of the world’s greatest automotive performance. MUST READ: Shmee150 Finds The duPont REGISTRY Cover-Featured Aston Martin One-77 Their conversation was fueled by topics that were picked in an interesting way, which was through a bingo cage with a list of topics that each participant chose and discussed. The questions picked were controversial and interesting, starting with the debate of whether an EV can be more exciting to drive than a gasoline-powered car, and moving to things like their thoughts on Elon Musk, and the importance of failure, philosophically and within the car industry. The four were even posed with the challenging question of what car they would drive and where they would drive if they could only choose one car and one road. Watch the entirety of this incredible conversation above. View All Exotic Cars For Sale Source: YouTube/Top Gear

By Andrew Nabors – September 18, 2018

1000 HP Hennessey Jeep vs Ford GT Race Ends in Surprise

What happens when an aerodynamic supercar lines up against a Jeep Grand Cherokee? These notions normally keep us awake at night, so thankfully Hennessey Performance Engineering has the answer. In order to show the potency of their 1,000 horsepower Jeep Trackhawk, they chose Mr. Hennessey's Ford GT as a worthy opponent. The 3.5-liter twin turbo V6 makes 647 hp and 550 lb-ft of torque. The left lane is filled by an imposing Jeep, with the heart of a Hellcat under the hood.2018 Dodge Demon Price & SpecsHennessey knows how to make big power from the supercharged 6.2-liter, but the weight and aerodynamics offer diminishing returns at triple-digit speeds. On the dyno, it makes 1,012 horsepower and 969 lb-ft of torque. The supercharger measures in at 4.5 liters and it is set at 14 lbs. Limiting boost to 1 Bar saves on drivetrain life since the Jeep retains its AWD system. Tell us which one you would daily drive in the comments below, and click the link for great deals on this game-changing Jeep.Browse Jeep Grand Cherokee For Salehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2&v=ijaUf3Q_VMY

By Andrew Nabors – September 12, 2018

Hennessey Performance 1,200 HP Dodge Demon Shakedown

If 840 horsepower just doesn't cut it, Hennessey Performance has something for you. After building a forged bottom end, they port the heads and drop on a giant supercharger. Your 2018 Dodge Demon will have 1,200 horsepower and an unmistakable sound.2018 Dodge Demon Price & SpecsThe screams of the supercharger can be heard for miles. For an entry level contender, their first option is 1,000 horsepower. Now that several HPE 1200 examples have left their shop, John and his team are confident that 1,500 horsepower is the next goal. Options for the Demon include an NHRA-legal roll cage, parachutes, dyno sheet and an all-new stainless exhaust.Parts of the upgrade that are not optional are 200 miles of road and track testing, wideband fuel tuning, and a throttle response unlike anything you have driven before. Make sure to confess your sins before taking delivery, because you are in for a wild ride. The Demon was a one-year only special model, but the same methods can be applied to your Charger or Challenger Hellcat. Click the link below to find out more and stay with us for all your Hennessey updates.Learn Morehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=9&v=qb1-4XUQskA

By Andrew Nabors – July 20, 2018

Hennessey HPE 1000 Charger vs Corvette Z06

Ok, we know what you are thinking: Unfair Fight! One car has 1,000 horsepower, the other has 650. Both have supercharged 6.2L V8 engines, but that is all they have in common. If you want a Hellcat that leaves Demons in the dust, both the Challenger and Charger can be boosted to 1,012 hp and 969 lb-ft of torque. The Corvette is 1,000 lbs lighter, so how do they compare at the Hennessey Performance Lonestar Motorsports Park?Hennessey Jeep Runs 0-60 in Under 3 Seconds…What?Chevrolet uses a 1.7L supercharger in the Z06 and a 2.65L in the Corvette ZR1. John Hennessey and his team use a 4.5L blower at only 14 lbs of boost. Think about having a supercharger that has more displacement than most production engines, 4.5 + 6.2 = FAST. The HPE 1000 reaches 60 mph in 2.8 seconds and it offers consistent 9 second quarter miles. A sedan with trap speeds over 140 mph would be a riot on the street. The build also includes their own stainless headers and exhaust, a new fuel system, and 200 miles of wideband tuning. All this is done without a custom camshaft or ported heads, so imagine what that would do to this setup. The Corvette is there for its transformation, so stay with us to see how it moves once they are done with it.Find Your Hellcat Here!https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=8FUbjDF5Hu0

By Andrew Nabors – April 11, 2018

Watch: HPE1000 Twin-Turbo GT350 Mustang In Action

No matter where you like your power, Ford builds a Mustang for you. Some of us like to shift above 8,500 rpm, and the GT350 is the first American car to offer a flat-plane V8. With the ability to rev beyond anything else, why not make use of that high rpm to spin a pair of turbos?John Hennessey and his team have already developed two flavors of the GT350. The first is able to make 575 horsepower and 511 lb-ft of torque without adding boost. Next up is the HPE850. It uses a 2.9-liter supercharger at 6 lbs of boost to make 858 horsepower and 673 lb-ft of torque.The only problem with superchargers is that they are great for conventional V8 engines. That is ones that reach max power below 7,000 rpm. They are spun by an engine belt, at a fixed ratio from the crankshaft. He explained this when I drove his HPE1200 Ford GT at the Orange County Auto Show back in 2012. Unless you have a top-fueled dragster, a supercharger is best suited for low-rpm (under 7,000 rpm) boost.Watch Hennessey Take Delivery of His New Ford GTOnce he added turbos to the 2005 Ford GT, they made boost more efficiently than the blower. So his team gutted the supercharger, essentially making it a pretty intake manifold. To unlock the high rpm potential of the GT350, they have added two modest-sized turbos to the already-potent V8. The result is over 1,000 horsepower along with a soundtrack that will make your mouth water. Turn up to volume and get ready for boost. The full details will be coming soon, so tell us what you think the torque number will be and stay with us for all your Hennessey Performance updates.Learn More

By Andrew Nabors – March 16, 2018

Hennessey Twin Turbo Audi R8 V10 Test Drive

At the end of every week, we try to find the best way to leave work for the weekend. Sure a V10 Audi R8 offers nice acceleration, but the 5.2 liter V10 leaves a lot of potential power on the table. John Hennessey and his team think about boost day and night. In the form of giant turbos or their own brand of supercharger, they are known for doubling the horsepower of their customer's cars.Top 10 Foreign Cars Illegal In The US If you thought Hennessey Performance only built domestic cars, think again. He admits they don't get many R8 or Huracan examples, and we agree that the R8 has a more understated interior between the siblings. So he strapped a few cameras in the passenger seat and headed to a part of Mexico that looks eerily like Interstate 10 west of Houston. Mufflers were eliminated in this kit because big turbos muffle engine noise just as effectively. At legal cruising speeds the cockpit is only 5% louder than stock. Rolling into the gas at the top end of his drag strip, the R8 went through the quarter mile at 151 mph. He also said its very close in performance to the Venom GT, which has a top end speed of 163 mph. With a 0-60 time of 2.4 seconds, this car will hang with the most exclusive hypercars and it costs a fraction of their price. This comprehensive package comes with 300 miles of tuning and a warranty. Where else are you going to find that? Click the link below for more info and have a great weekend.Learn Morehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=236&v=MF7RhEy6N0U

By Andrew Nabors – March 14, 2018

Jeep Trackhawk vs Hennessey HPE 800 Cadillac Escalade

In the old days, adding massive power to an SUV was hard to do. Automakers offered V8 powered family haulers, but their engines were low compression versions that didn't respond well to performance parts. Now that Jeep has stuffed the 707 horsepower Hellcat engine into the Trackhawk, Hennessey Performance decided to test it against their 800 horsepower Cadillac Escalade. Hennessey HPE1000 Jeep Trackhawk Gets Over 1,000 Horsepower Cadillac uses the same 6.2 liter V8 that is found in the base model Corvette Stingray and Camaro SS. It will make 450 horsepower all day long, but that is not enough for people like us So they swap in a 6.8 liter and top it with a 2.9-liter supercharger. The Jeep is based on the Grand Cherokee, which is a unibody design to offer a weight advantage. The big 'Sclade is based on GM's body-on-frame architecture shared with the Silverado and Sierra pickup trucks. So what happens when these two supercharged SUVs line up? Hennessey Performance decided to use this as a baseline for Trackhawk performance because it will surely be insane once they dig into it. Stay with Autofluence to see what a Hennessey Trackhawk will do, tell us your guesses in the comments below.

By Edward Jones – March 08, 2018

Hennessey Exorcist Blasts 1/4-Mile Quicker Than a Demon

When Hennessey Performance introduced the Exorcist, their take on the ZL1 Camaro, they aimed their sights directly at the Dodge Demon. The Exorcist comes in with 1,000 bhp and 966 lb-ft of torque, outdoing the Demon's 840hp and 770 lb-ft by a wide margin. So, the Exorcist would outperform the Demon in a quarter-mile, right? Correct. 217 MPH in the Hennessey Performance Exorcist Camaro Hennessey recently took their Exorcist out to the drag strip for some sprints and the results are in. After it ran down the 1/4-mile strip, the Exorcist recorded a time of 9.57 sec. @ 147 mph. That's faster than the Demon's reported 1/4-mile time of 9.65 sec. @ 140+ mph. I should also note that the Exorcist sprinted from 0 to 60 mph in 2.1 seconds and 0 to 100 mph in 4.7 seconds. Those numbers are quite unreal. Check out the action for yourself in the video below!

By Edward Jones – February 28, 2018

Hennessey Cadillac Escalade Races Stock Camaro ZL1 1LE

A race between a Cadillac Escalade and Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE should never be close to even. On one hand, there's a muscle car powered by a supercharged 6.2-liter V8 engine capable of producing 650 horsepower and 650 lb-ft of torque. Then you have a big luxury SUV. However, this specific Escalade happens to be equipped with Hennessey's HPE800 Supercharged Upgrade. What does that mean? The HPE800 upgrade puts the Escalade's power output up to 805 horsepower and 812 lb-ft of torque. That's enough to power the SUV from 0 to 60 mph in 3.7 seconds. Compare that to the ZL1 and it's only 0.2 seconds slower in a 0-60 mph run. That's impressive considering the size of each car. Hennessey Has their Ford GT Heritage Edition Delivered Check out the video below to see each of these vehicles race each other and see who wins in the video below from Hennessey Performance.

By Andrew Nabors – January 12, 2018

How To Build A Hennessey Exorcist Camaro

If you have Dodge Demons roaming your neighborhood, the only logical solution is to bring in an Exorcist. Clergy and laypeople alike will jump for joy because your Camaro has been blessed by the best. John Hennessey and his team enjoy pushing the limits of automotive engineering.How to Order the Hennessey Exorcist CamaroStaring at the solid foundation of the Camaro ZL1, your car will arrive in Sealy, Texas with 650 horsepower and torque. From there, the team begins disassembly. After protecting all painted surfaces, the technicians remove the cooling system, intake, supercharger, intercoolers, and the exhaust. The heads are removed and ported by hand to make use of more boost, and a top-secret camshaft is installed. Larger intake valves take orders from upgraded lifters and hardened pushrods.To see what all is involved, HPE uploaded a time-lapse transformation video to Facebook last night. As you can see, the new supercharger requires more cooling capacity. Full-length stainless headers make sure the exhaust doesn't choke the system, and finally, the computer is calibrated to deliver 1,000 reliable horsepower. Like all Hennessey builds, it is backed by a 2-year warranty. Only 100 examples will be produced, and each one has serialized badges along with a dyno sheet attesting to its power. If you are interested, click on the link below and stay with us for all your HPE updates.Learn More

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