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McLaren 650S successor will get twin-turbo V8 hybrid

The trickledown theory is central to an automaker's justification of auto racing. It's the idea that stuff developed in competition informs how production cars are built or what features are included. It's why today you can get performance cars with carbon fiber bodies and carbon-ceramic brakes – and thanks to Formula 1 and endurance racing, it's why you'll soon be able to buy high-performance hybrids. McLaren is all about the trickledown theory. The energy recovery system that started in the company's F1 cars inspired the hybrid drivetrain in the P1 hypercar. And now, the British company has confirmed that a similar setup will grace the replacement for the 650S and 675LT. Code-named the P14, Car and Driver reports an updated 3.8-liter, twin-turbocharged V8 will be the centerpiece, but a focus will be on reducing the weight of batteries and electric motors. In fact, McLaren CEO Mike Flewitt said shedding weight is central to all of the company's hybrid pursuits. "The P1 had 375 pounds of [batteries/motors] if you added it up; I think that today we're within a 70- to 110-pound weight penalty for hybrid," Flewitt told C/D. "I want to eliminate that, get it to zero – and then really hack off my engineers by saying we want to make it even lighter than a conventional powertrain would be. But that's in the future, it's something we're constantly driving." Just because the next mid-range supercar from McLaren will get bits of P1, don't expect this kind of hybrid technology to filter into the company's more affordable offerings. Part of the reason McLaren is making this move with the successor to the 650S/675LT is because it will much faster, and in turn allow the company to create an even greater separation between its so-called Sports and Super Series cars. Still, McLaren is making some very good decisions for drivers. Moving such an advanced piece of technology downmarket and focusing on cutting weight out of said tech is proof positive that the trickledown theory of motorsports works. Expect to see this new McLaren hybrid at the 2017 Geneva Motor Show. Related Video:

McLaren will fight to stay independent

Only one major manufacturer in the competitive set for McLaren cars is independent. The rest - Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Porsche - are owned by mass-market conglomerates. The sole exception is Aston Martin, a small company constantly overcoming the challenges of its independence, now partly with the help of Daimler. McLaren vows to stay solo, though. Its executive director of sales and marketing said that having no one else to answer to helps keep it "very quick to move," with "product development life cycles [that] are very efficient." The company wants to sell 4,000 cars per year by 2017, and it's more than a third of the way there before it's 'volume' model, the 570S, hits dealerships. Last year the company sold 1,648 cars around the world and pegs annual production of the 570S at 2,500 units. The automaking side has done surprisingly well, surprisingly quickly. It only started making cars in 2011 and it turned a profit in 2013. That first car, the MP4-12C, has already morphed into the even better 650S, and McLaren offered 12C buyers a free upgrade. Since then we've been introduced to the P1, the P1 GTR, the 670S, the 675LT, and the 570S, while markets like China get the 650S and the 540C. That's seven vehicles on sale right now, not including race-only options like the 650S GT3, on top of an expanding global dealer network, all done in four years. Having done so well this far, independence would indeed seem to be the only option. Related Video:

McLaren 570S GT and Spider on the way

McLaren confirmed to Autoblog on July 26 that it would launch a convertible version of the 570S in 2016. With it known that another bodystyle for the range is coming in 2017, one that McLaren wouldn't divulge, the question is: What we can expect in two years? Autocar reports that it will be a GT. We go back to the realm of rumor when it comes to how the transformation will be carried out. Autocar says it will be "an all-new bodystyle" that will offer more storage with "minor styling changes." If that's the case, it would quash the past year of rumblings that seemed to sketch out a shooting brake. A GT bodystyle has been scuttlebutt ever since last year, when the 570S was still called the P13, speculation at that time being that it would have "an unconventional trunk" behind the passenger compartment. Car and Driver gossip that came from a McLaren source, said the final car "looks more like an E-type than the Jaguar F-type does," with new cooling measures and a concave rear window. Another report earlier this year said that the luggage area can be accessed from the side. None of those rumors are compatible with "minor styling changes," so we'll find out which ones are true. Back to Autocar, the mag says the GT has "long-distance touring in mind," so the interior gets gussied up, too. Power will come from the 3.8-liter twin-turbo V8 that's done sterling work in the rest of the range, the 562 horsepower and 443 pound-feet of torque not expected to budge. If differentials are comparable to the 650S range, the 570S Spider will weigh about 90 pounds more and cost about $15,000 more in the US than the coupe. Performance should be comparable with its hardtop brother. Now the question is: what's the rumored fourth bodystyle for the 570S? Related Video: News Source: AutocarImage Credit: Copyright 2015 Brandon Turkus / AOL McLaren Coupe Future Vehicles Luxury Performance mclaren 570s mclaren 570s spider