McLaren 12C: yellow copy in Andorra
The McLaren MP4-12C, later known simply as the McLaren 12C, is a sports car that was designed and manufactured by McLaren Automotive. It was the first ever production car wholly designed and built by McLaren, and their first production road car since the McLaren F1, which was last built in 1998. The car’s final design was unveiled in September 2009 and was launched in mid-2011.
The MP4-12C uses a carbon fibre composite chassis, and is powered by a longitudinally-mounted McLaren M838T 3.8 L (3,799 cc) twin-turbocharged V8 engine, generating approximately 600 PS (592 hp; 441 kW) at 7,500 rpm and 600 N⋅m (443 lbf⋅ft) of torque at 5,600 rpm.
The car makes use of Formula 1-sourced technologies such as “brake steer”, where the inside rear wheel is braking during fast cornering to reduce understeer. Power is transmitted to the wheels through a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission Seamless-Shift gearbox (SSG) manufactured by Graziano Trasmissioni.
A convertible version of the car called the MP4-12C Spider, renamed the 12C Spider in 2012, was also available. In February 2014, McLaren announced the related 650S, with revised bodywork, upgraded engine and other technical improvements. In April 2014, McLaren announced the end of production of the 12C.
DragTimes.com posted a YouTube video of a stock McLaren 12C accelerating from 0 to 60 mph (97 km/h) in 2.8 seconds and from 0 to 100 mph (161 km/h) in 6.0 seconds. DragTimes.com also recorded a quarter mile time for the McLaren 12C of 10.27 seconds at 218 km/h (135 mph), the 3rd fastest verified time for a stock production car at the time.
McLaren has claimed the vehicle’s top speed to be 207 mph (333 km/h) but a top speed of 346.6 km/h (215 mph) was achieved in the MP4-12C Spider, which is 3 mph “slower” than the coupe. The Coupe (in reality) can do 218.61 mph (352 km/h). It can brake from 200 km/h (124 mph) to a complete stop in under 5 seconds. Braking from 100 km/h (62 mph) to zero can be done in under 30 metres (98 ft), around seven car lengths.
2011 McLaren MP4-12C has a power-to-weight ratio of 2.39 kg (5.27 lb) per horsepower.
2013 McLaren 12C has a power to weight ratio of 2.29 kg (5.05 lb) per horsepower.
