McLaren has just teased it’s first proper Grand Tourer prior to its launch. The British supercar manufacturer has been hyping us about a new car in their lineup for a long time now. Using the hashtag #newrules, the company is surely signifying whatever it is, will be out of the ordinary.
We did get to see the rough shape of the new car 2 months ago when McLaren uploaded a video on YouTube, showing the car in a camouflage wrap, which you can watch here. Now, it’s normal for manufacturers to do this. Chevrolet did this with their C8 Corvette. It’s purely for the intent of generating hype and I must say it has worked pretty well.
Rule #1 – Never let tradition hold you back. The new McLaren GT, see more on the 15th May. #NEWRULEShttps://t.co/eEDUBakZCf pic.twitter.com/lIBm0hNEgr
— McLaren Automotive (@McLarenAuto) May 7, 2019
Although, we still don’t know any specification about the new car, however, we can guess with what we already have. For starters, we know that it’s going to be a grand tourer but it’s going to be different hence the hashtag #newrules. Now for those of you who don’t know, a grand tourer is referred to a sports coupé that prioritizes luxury over performance. You can basically travel long miles in out without getting fatigued, as you would in a serious performance car.
The standard layout for grand tourers is front-engine, rear-wheel-drive. Some examples include the Ferrari F12 Berlinetta, Aston Martin DBS Superleggera, Bentley Continental GT, and even the Chevrolet Corvette ZR1. All have engines in the front and are propelled by their rear wheels, except for the Bentley, which uses a rear-biased all-wheel-drive.
We are expecting the new McLaren GT to have a rear-mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout, much like every other McLaren car. It can be seen clearly in the official images and videos that the body styling of the car is similar to that of any rear-mid-engined car. It even has a side intake behind the doors which is used for rear-mounted radiators.
As far as the engine is concerned, I believe McLaren will use a detuned version of the one 3.8-liter twin-turbo V8 used in the 600 LT. This would mean that the new car will make somewhere around 500 bhp. In today’s standards that would be considered incredibly underpowered considering that the competition makes well over 700 bhp. Maybe McLaren will go all out and use the 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 that powers the 720S.
It’s highly unlikely that Mclaren will develop a new engine for this car when their current ones can do the job wonderfully. Same can be said about the transmission. It will probably use McLaren’s tried and tested 7-speed Dual-clutch transmission that debuted with the MP4-12C back in 2011.
That’s all that we know and can safely guess about the new McLaren GT. I, personally, am a huge McLaren fan and would love to see their lineup expand with the introduction of the grand tourer. However, know more, we’ll have to wait for the official reveal that’ll happen on May, 15th.