McLaren film lifts lid on MP4-12C testing and development
Author: MotorTorque Team
Published: 13 November 2009
McLaren has released a short film of the new MP4-12C supercar in testing and development at the McLaren Technology Centre (MTC).
The new British supercar is scheduled to go on sale in Spring 2011, but has a programme of testing to undergo first.
The film shows the (MTC) and the MP4-12C test programme by McLaren Automotive Technical Director, Dick Glover; Chief Test Driver Chris Goodwin talking on the how the 12C performs in extreme test conditions; an overview by senior engineers of the integrated approach to development on roads and tracks around the world; and 12C development prototypes on road and track in England and Germany, and extreme hot weather testing in Bahrain.
McLaren says the development programme has taken in some of the world’s most famous race circuits, including the Nordschleife Nurburgring and BBC Top Gear test track at Dunsfold Aerodrome, and most inhospitable driving environments; from the dry and cold, ice and snow of the Arctic, to the hot and humid, sand-soaked air of the Middle-East.
• Watch the McLaren MP4-12C in testing
The company says the range of exotic testing, along with thousands of miles of ‘real world’ on-road driving on the UK’s 'notoriously poor' tarmac surfaces, has resulted in a ‘pure’ McLaren: what it promises is a high-performance sports car that delivers new standards in comfort, driving dynamics, economy and performance in the core sports car market.
The MP4-12C will be pitched at a performance sports car market priced between £125,000 and £175,000
“Having to develop a brand new range of cars from scratch to the standards expected of McLaren, featuring ground-breaking new structures and powertrain is the ultimate challenge and one we are relishing," says Dick Glover, Technical Director at McLaren Automotive.
"Sure, we have challenges – that is why we go to these places that absolutely push the cars to their limits and beyond – but now we know just what the 12C is capable of, we are able to push on into 2010 and deliver cars of which McLaren will be rightly proud.”
“McLaren has always set itself the highest standards," says Chief Test Driver Chris Goodwin.
"We are the most successful ever motor racing team, we designed and built one of the world’s most iconic sports cars in the world in the McLaren F1, and pioneered carbon fibre development on race and road cars.
“We took those standards into the development programme for the MP4-12C in order to launch a new high performance sports car comparable with past achievements and offering new levels of performance for the future.
"For us, these targets were simply starting points and that attitude requires the most thorough development possible. We believe that our global testing is delivering incredible strides for the 12C.”
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