McLaren Senna pays homage to racing legend with 789 horses

McLaren’s engineers have been working on a car that was unlike anything else in their lineup. After a teaser, McLaren finally revealed the McLaren Senna. Aptly named after the legendary Brazilian Formula 1 driver Ayrton Senna, this model is bred at the track for the road.

Only 500 of them will be made costing US$ 1 million apiece. And to no one’s surprise, all of them are sold. Some of the money that comes out of the eye-watering price tag will go to the Senna Foundation’s charity operations.

The McLaren Senna looks, in some areas, similar to the models in the current McLaren lineup but several design cues give it an absolutely unique appearance. The aerodynamics of the vehicle have been honed in the wind tunnel for many hours. There is a double rear diffuser and an underfloor scoop to aid the airflow under the car. Active aero bits on the huge rear wing adjust their orientation to give the optimum aero performance at a given moment. The signature elements of the design are the see-through glass panels on the doors.

Inside the cabin, the McLaren Senna employs carbon fibre everywhere and gives a minimalist vibe. There are goodies like infotainment system, rearview camera, foldable driver’s display and a stereo. The carbon fibre seats are tailor-made for each driver.

The McLaren Senna should be powered by a glorious powerplant to do justice to the heritage it holds in its name. It uses the 4.0-litre bi-turbo V8 from the 720S but it has been re-tuned to produce 789 hp and 590 Nm of torque. This registers a 79 hp and 30 Nm increase over the donor car. And at 1,198 kg, it is 85 kg lighter than the 720S.

The McLaren Senna will make its public debut at the 2018 Geneva Motor Show where it will join the P1 and the track-only P1-GTR in McLaren’s Ultimate Series. This will soon be followed by a three-seat spiritual successor to the iconic F1 called the “Hyper-GT” in 2019.