A gull-winged 200mph supercar dubbed 'an F1 car for the road' was launched yesterday by UK racing specialists McLaren.
The cars will be made in a new £40million factory designed by Sir Norman Foster and will create 300 jobs.
The £150,000 McLaren MP4-12C is Britain's answer to Italy's legendary Ferrari and is the long-held dream of boss Ron Dennis to produce an 'affordable' supercar with the greenest credentials.
Using a one-piece carbon-fibre chassis McLaren plan to offer the car for around half the £300,000 price tag that would normally be expected of a car of this calibre.
McLaren expects to make up to 1,000 cars in 2011 with annual manufacturing of vehicles reaching around 4,000 by the middle of the decade.
The company plans to sell the 12C through McLaren retailers in 19 countries, with North America expected to account for around 30 to 40 per cent of the market.
With aerodynamic styling designed to keep it on the ground at high speed, the new McLaren two-seater will accelerate from rest to 60mph in just 3.4 seconds.
It is powered by a massive 3.8 litre V8 twin turbo engine which develops 600 brake-horse-power of pulling power - equivalent to about six Ford Fiestas.
The company plans to sell the 12C in 19 countries, with North America expected to account for around 30 to 40 per cent of the market
The new McLaren uses lightweight aluminium and carbon fibre to keep weight down and performance high.
Average fuel consumption is expected to be around 22mpg but emissions of carbon dioxide - the so-called greenhouse gas blamed for global warming - will be below 300g/km.
VITAL STATISTICS: MCLAREN MP4-12C
Length: 14ft
Width: 6ft 1in
Height: 3ft 10in (with gull-wing doors closed)
Height: 5ft (with gull-wing doors open)
Weight of chassis: 81kg
Total weight: 1,300kg
Acceleration: 0 to 60mph in 3.4 seconds
Engine: 3.8 litre V8 twin turbo, 600 brake-horse-power
Gears: Seven speed F1-style paddle-shift
Fuel consumption: around 22mpg
Cost: £150,000
0 comments:
Post a Comment