2019 Mclaren 720s on 2040-cars

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McLaren GT revealed — a luxurious yet superlight supercar

WOKING, England — McLaren's short history as a road car brand leaves it unburdened by emotional baggage carried by its rivals, given a new Ferrari or Lamborghini can only ever riff on a well-understood theme. But McLaren is free to do what it wants, and can react quickly to feedback. The original 12C was criticized as lacking excitement, which later cars addressed with ducted-in engine noise, programmed exhaust pops, the track influenced LT range and, ultimately, the Senna. Hardcore cred established, McLaren is now making an abrupt pivot in the opposite direction with the McLaren GT, its new superlight grand tourer inspired by feedback from customers who enjoyed the more refined approach of the 570GT and taken to new extremes by the Speedtail. Certain McLaren constants are maintained: It has a carbon-tub frame, is accessed via dihedral doors and powered by a familiar twin-turbo V8. Likewise, it's lighter, faster and more driver-focused than anything you might consider an alternative. But for all that, the McLaren GT is a standalone product outside of the established Sport Series, Super Series and Ultimate Series model hierarchy. It's a car McLaren customers said they wanted. Consequently, it's the car McLaren is going to give them. The McLaren GT, in essence, slots a segment below the 720S but uses a version of its torquier 4.0-liter V8, dubbed M840TE and fitted with smaller, faster-spooling turbos for a flatter torque curve. A bassy, more sophisticated engine note is also promised. Its 612 horsepower and 465 pound-feet are mid-pack numbers for McLaren, but don't worry, it'll still break 200 mph and scorch 0-60 in 3.1 seconds and 0-124 mph in 9 seconds flat. At a curb weight of 3,384 pounds wet, it fulfills McLaren's "superlight" descriptor by coming in comfortably lighter than the 911 Turbo S, Aston Martin DB11 and Ferrari Portofino that McLaren sees as rivals. U.S. sales will kick off late summer to early fall, with pricing starting at $210,000 — around $80,000 less than a 720S and more or less in line with a 570S Spider. An image of a Ferrari 250 SWB in a McLaren presentation has folk looking up from their phones, product management boss Ian Digman clearly enjoying the provocation before going back on brand with an image of Bruce McLaren sitting in the road-going M6 GT. His point is clear — true GT cars are lightweight and pure in sporting intent while having enough refinement to rack up fast miles in comfort.

VW CEO Winterkorn happy with rebounding Seat, Skoda

Martin Winterkorn is a happy man: Volkswagen is putting up big numbers in North America, its latest field of dreams, Audi, is breaking records every month, there are exciting cars in the pipeline - from Bugatti down to the XL1, Porsche's digestion continues, and now Skoda and especially Seat are turning in no-questions performance.
It seems Skoda has been on the ups for years, making the most of keen pricing and modern redesigns of the chassis and tech it gets handed down from big brothers VW and Audi. Winterkorn predicts the Czech brand will just about double its 2010 sales by 2018, going from 762,000 to 1.5 million.
Seat, on the other hand, wasn't just on the hotseat a year-and-a-half ago, phrases like "uncertain future" - code for "possible demise" - were rumbling in the background. A new CEO was brought in, new money and new models were thrown against the wall, and the efforts have stuck. The Spanish brand has hit three strong chords with Winterkorn, with increased sales, strong performance in China and anticipated models due. If this keeps up there won't be much left for him to do but, a la Alexander the Great, break down and cry with no worlds left to conquer.

McLaren bringing unique P1 MSO to Pebble Beach

With only 375 examples to be made (170 of which have already been completed), you can bet that few of the McLaren P1s to leave the factory in Woking will be the same. But for those looking to further distinguish their supercar, McLaren Special Operations is glad to meet the customer's individual requests, and will be bringing two examples of its latest work to the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance this year, the same place where MSO was launched three years ago. The most noteworthy is a P1 commissioned by a North American customer who had MSO outfit his hybrid hypercar to unique specifications. It's done up in Stirling Grey metallic with a satin nickel Stealth Pack, gloss carbon fiber and McLaren's trademark shade of orange detailing everything from the brake calipers to the rear wing brackets. The buyer also had MSO install 24-carat gold heat shielding around the engine bay and inconel exhaust, just like the original McLaren F1, a custom aluminum grille and an interior decked out in carbon fiber, Alcantara, a custom steering wheel and more orange and satin nickel detailing. Alongside this unique P1, MSO will also be showcasing a unique 650S Spider commissioned by the Newport Beach dealership in Cerulean Blue metallic flake and satin carbon trim. See the press release below for all the details on both these bespoke takes on already-exclusive supercars. Of course the bigger news, however, is the P1 GTR track car that will be unveiled at Pebble this year as well. McLAREN SPECIAL OPERATIONS RETURNS TO PEBBLE BEACH CONCOURS D'ELEGANCE TO SHOWCASE THE LATEST MODELS Three years after launching at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, McLaren Special Operations (MSO) will return to the fairway of the 18th hole at the famous Pebble Beach automotive weekend with unique examples of the McLaren P1™ and the recently launched MSO 650S Spider. The bespoke McLaren Special Operations division was launched in 2011, and offers a full personalisation service for McLaren owners. The dedicated division grew out of McLaren's Customer Care programme, which goes back more than 20 years to the days of the McLaren F1 roadcar, and continues to look after servicing and maintaining cherished F1s for owners, as well as undertaking personalisation work for all McLaren models. Commissioned by a North American customer, the McLaren P1™ to be shown features a host of bespoke options which subtly mark this car out, and is on display publicly for the first time.