Mclaren MP4-12C Spider: black color with 625 h.p.

Mclaren MP4-12C Spider

Mclaren MP4-12C Spider: black color with 625 h.p.

In 2008, McLaren hired Frank Stephenson as design director for their reborn production car project.

As with the McLaren F1, carbon fibre is used extensively in the vehicle to minimise weight. The MP4-12C weighs 1,301 kg (2,868 lb) dry.

The chassis is based around a F1 style one-piece carbon fibre tub, called the Carbon MonoCell, weighing only 80 kg (176 lb). The MonoCell is made in a single pressing by using a set of patented processes, using Bi-Axial and Tri-Axial carbon fibre multiaxial fabrics produced by Formax UK Ltd. with the MonoCell manufactured by Carbo Tech in Salzburg, Austria.

This has reduced the time required to produce a MonoCell from 3,000 hours for the F1 and 500 hours for the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren, to 4 hours for the MP4-12C.

The car has a conventional two side-by-side seating arrangement, unlike its predecessor the F1 which featured a three-seat formation (front centre, two behind either side). To make up for this, however, the car’s central console is narrower than in other cars, seating the driver closer to the centre. Interior trim and materials can be specified in asymmetric configuration – known as “Driver Zone”.

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