McLaren BC-03 leaked
McLaren's latest Bespoke Commission has emerged on Instagram...
It's been two years since McLaren unveiled its Vision Gran Turismo, the latest in a long line of futuristic concept cars designed by renowned marques for the virtual realm. The digital creations have already begun to cross over into the real world, though, with the styling of Bugatti's 2015 contribution said to have influenced the production Chiron which launched the following year. And now McLaren is the latest to join the party, unveiling a production car inspired by its original video game machine. Well, if you ignore the fact that is hasn't been unveiled but leaked, and that only a handful of examples are actually expected to be produced, that is.
So what're the actual similarities? Beyond the images you see below, we don't have a great deal of detail on the mechanical workings of the car currently known as the BC-03. The concept was powered by the same twin-turbo, 4.0-litre V8 found in the 720S, with the front wheels independently driven by high output electric motors for a total output of 1,150hp and 940lb ft of torque. With the BC-03 being derived from McLaren's Senna hypercar, which itself makes use of that same 4.0-litre V8, such a set-up isn't completely unbelievable, though those power figures may be a little on the high side.
For the concept, extensive use of carbon fibre was said to result in a projected kerbweight of just 1,000kg, with centrally mounted carbon-ceramic brakes keeping unsprung mass to a minimum. "Ultra-advanced active aero" improved cornering by opening a series of tiny apertures on external surfaces to create additional downforce without the need for large moving surfaces, and the driver was positioned head first inside the car for an unobstructed view of braking points and apexes.
Should the BC-03 indeed feature a hybrid set-up, it will likely find itself coming in heavier than the Senna's 1,309kg. The sculpted splitter and side skirts, Le Mans-style fin and enormous rear wing seen attached to the car in the leaked images, meanwhile, suggest that conventional aero still very much has a part to play in proceedings and, as for a head first driving position, don't hold your breath.
With the basis for the new design being so heavily reliant on an existing model, a more traditional approach ought to be expected despite the sci-fi styling, then. That doesn't mean the BC-03 won't be a mightily impressive machine, though, potentially sitting somewhere between the road-going Senna and its track-only GTR variant thanks to hybrid assistance and a whole lot of extra aero. Let us know what you think in the comments below.
Surely, unless the driver has eyes in the top of his head (and presumably, his helmet too), then the view of anything is going to be pretty limited
I'd also worry about the ability to brake hard - at least in a proper driving position, the weight transfer from braking will actually assist the driver....
The eventual car will look nothing like the concept or the renders, but it should be fairly interesting anyway
Surely, unless the driver has eyes in the top of his head (and presumably, his helmet too), then the view of anything is going to be pretty limited
I'd also worry about the ability to brake hard - at least in a proper driving position, the weight transfer from braking will actually assist the driver....
There are plenty of things to get excited about in the automotive sphere but McLaren's latest output isn't part of it for some people. 720S - not my cup of tea styling wise but appears to move the McL game on. 540/70? Reasonably priced and owners seem to like them. But...they're all just rehashing the same formula and I think despite being sofa-critics it does seem to some of us that they are chasing profit (and probably solvency) and not innovation (for perfectly sound business reasons). Incremental improvement is motorsport's bread and butter but it does nothing for owner (and prospective owner) confidence, murders residuals and makes for a confusing choice.
"This is the best we can do at the moment. Oh no actually this is. No this - a whole month has gone by and we've rehashed those components into yet another thing that newish but a bit like all the other things we've done. And now we've got more Halfords go-faster styling to add in."
There are plenty of things to get excited about in the automotive sphere but McLaren's latest output isn't part of it for some people. 720S - not my cup of tea styling wise but appears to move the McL game on. 540/70? Reasonably priced and owners seem to like them. But...they're all just rehashing the same formula and I think despite being sofa-critics it does seem to some of us that they are chasing profit (and probably solvency) and not innovation (for perfectly sound business reasons). Incremental improvement is motorsport's bread and butter but it does nothing for owner (and prospective owner) confidence, murders residuals and makes for a confusing choice.
"This is the best we can do at the moment. Oh no actually this is. No this - a whole month has gone by and we've rehashed those components into yet another thing that newish but a bit like all the other things we've done. And now we've got more Halfords go-faster styling to add in."
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