McLaren MP4-12C Spider Due This Year, No V12s in Future
Early speculation had the McLaren MP4-12C Spider set to make its debut this year, and now it’s been all but confirmed by the British automaker.
The roadster variant of the MP4-12C will sport a fully-retractable hard top made from carbon fiber and no other changes will be made. In more important news however, McLaren is focused on utilizing its potent 3.8-liter V8 with 593-hp in various McLaren models in the near future. Co-designed with Ricardo, a British automotive engineering firm, the V8 was designed to be used in “more than one car” according to Geoff Grose, head of vehicle development at McLaren. This all makes sense since we already knew that the F1 successor would be utilizing the powerplant from the MP4-12C.
But don’t expect it to push out the same 593-hp seen in the MP4-12C model. The engineering team at McLaren should have no difficulty in pushing more performance out of its V8 especially since the 3.8-liter was developed to be flexible with longevity in mind.
It’s still unknown when the F1 successor will make its official debut, but speculation has it pegged for 2013 even though McLaren would like a concept version out before the end of this year.
[Source: Car and Driver]
Jason Siu began his career in automotive journalism in 2003 with Modified Magazine, a property previously held by VerticalScope. As the West Coast Editor, he played a pivotal role while also extending his expertise to Modified Luxury & Exotics and Modified Mustangs. Beyond his editorial work, Jason authored two notable Cartech books. His tenure at AutoGuide.com saw him immersed in the daily news cycle, yet his passion for hands-on evaluation led him to focus on testing and product reviews, offering well-rounded recommendations to AutoGuide readers. Currently, as the Content Director for VerticalScope, Jason spearheads the content strategy for an array of online publications, a role that has him at the helm of ensuring quality and consistency across the board.
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