Dubai, UAE. McLaren announces that its new P1 produces 903bhp and 900Nm from its mid-mounted 3.8-litre twin-turbo V8 ahead of the production model’s debut at next month’s Geneva Motor Show.
903bhp.
That’s the magic number we’ve been waiting for from McLaren ever since the brand new P1 poked its nose out from under the covers at last year’s Paris Motor Show. But now it’s official. Powered by the same mid-mounted 3.8-litre twin-turbo V8 that has been a staple of McLaren’s previous 12C models, the new P1 produces 903bhp and 900Nm (around 664lb ft) of torque.
In a word, biblical.
We’re still being kept in the dark with regards performance, but we’re well in Bugatti Veyron territory here. 176bhp and 260Nm (around 192lb ft) of these figures is produced by the lightweight electric motor which is mounted directly onto the engine. The remaining 727bhp and 720Nm (around 531lb ft) being chucked out by the twin-turbo V8.
Other notable pieces of info to have been released? Well the P1’s Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS) hardly comes as news, given that this was the first piece of technical wiz-kiddery to make the grade, nor does the 600kg of downforce, but the Instant Power Assist System raises an eyebrow or two. As the name suggests, the system is designed to deliver high performance acceleration, well, instantly.
So, we’ve seen the P1 on-track at Bahrain, we’ve caught a sneaky glimpse of the interior, how Woking’s newest behemoth will likely perform on-track (and you can see how it fares below), spent some alone time before the model’s Dubai debut, and even taken spent the day exploring the region with the P1 app.
That only leaves the Geneva Motor Show. We’re packing our bags even as we speak.
