LaFerrari vs McLaren P1 vs Veneno: Aero Battles
Hypercars? They're all about the aero, say representatives
They weren't talking about the amount of soft, Italian-leather bags you could squeeze into the boot. Rather, it was used to mean that all those swoops, wings, fins and splitters served a real purpose. Each car was claimed to be an aerodynamic masterpiece and as far as the bigwigs were concerned, this was where the bragging rights were coming from.
In fact, it was the first thing Ron Dennis told us when we collared him on the Ferrari stand as he got his first good look at The Ferrari. "It's obviously a very different approach to the one we've adopted, ours is more dedicated to aerodynamic performance," he said. "We are using the underbody to create downforce."
McLaren Automotive's acting boss Mike Flewitt said something similar. "Their approach looks to be far more conventional," he told us.
There's a host of active aerodynamics on both cars, including a wing on the McLaren that extends 30cm and an automatically rising spoiler on the Ferrari. McLaren also throws in RaceActive Chassis Control that lowers the car by 50mm in race-mode and creates the 'sucking' ground effect Dennis was talking about.
The McLaren will make 600kg of downforce, says the firm, whereas Ferrari wouldn't comment on LaFerrari's figure. What it did say was that aerodynamics were at the heart of the car, "We integrated design with the aerodynamics from the first days of the development," Andrea Bassi, product marketing manager told us. He did have a little pop at McLaren after we told him what Dennis had said. "We try to make aerodynamics with the shape of the car, not to have bigger wings and things like that."
Actually, it was probably more aimed at Lamborghini, whose £3.1 million Veneno really looked like it made the 500kg+ of downforce claimed by the company thanks to its outrageous fixed wing, Le Mans-inspired fin and again, underbody downforce.
Just as with Ferrari, the aero team was involved right from the off. "The whole car started with a long discussion with our aerodynamics guys and we began with the underfloor," Lamborghini's head designer Filippo Perini told us. The reason? "We want our customers to be fastest on the track." All three of them.
Chief braggart though was McLaren. "Our car, I am certain, will be faster round a track, without a doubt," Flewitt said, comparing the P1 with LaFerrari. And at the P1's launch at the show, Dennis said he reckoned the P1 would break the Nurburgring's production car lap record with a sub seven-minute time. He also said he'd personally broken the Top Gear track lap time by 10 seconds in the P1.
Flewitt summed it up. "We have far more active aerodynamics. I think we have a better breadth of powertrain and quite honestly I think we have a far more beautiful car."
Gloves are off, Ferrari. But will it accept McLaren's Nurburgring challenge and go for the lap record?
http://www.topgear.com/uk/car-news/ron-dennis-on-t...
Apparently the P1 has been around the Top Gear track and is 10 seconds faster than a Hyuara on cut slicks.
If that's accurate it makes it insanely fast, and the biggest step forward in supercars we've had in a long time.
600kg of downforce at 350kph isn't all that impressive to be honest, with other cars (Pagani Cinque is above that I believe) matching or beating it
600kg of downforce at 160kph would be fantastic!
For years it was seen as marketing bks. Turned out to be true (sort-of).
http://www.topgear.com/uk/car-news/ron-dennis-on-t...
Apparently the P1 has been around the Top Gear track and is 10 seconds faster than a Hyuara on cut slicks.
If that's accurate it makes it insanely fast, and the biggest step forward in supercars we've had in a long time.
Each of these is both outrageous and a technical masterpiece in its own right and I love how each firm is going about it in their own distinctive way.
Hopefully posters of these will be coming to a schoolboys bedroom wall near you soon, ready to inspire and excite the next generation of PHers!
http://www.topgear.com/uk/car-news/ron-dennis-on-t...
Apparently the P1 has been around the Top Gear track and is 10 seconds faster than a Hyuara on cut slicks.
If that's accurate it makes it insanely fast, and the biggest step forward in supercars we've had in a long time.
What a pointless stat!
I also have no doubt the McLaren will be the fastest!
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