Updated

Updated · Road & Track · Jun 29

McLaren W1 Delivers 1,258 HP With 3,084-Lb Weight as $2.1 Million Hypercar Stays Rear-Drive

Updated

Updated · Road & Track · Jun 29

McLaren W1 Delivers 1,258 HP With 3,084-Lb Weight as $2.1 Million Hypercar Stays Rear-Drive

Q: Is McLaren's new W1 a versatile masterpiece or a hypercar with an identity crisis?

The McLaren W1 looks more like a versatile masterpiece, though not without traces of an identity problem. On the evidence from the Florence first drive, the W1 clearly delivers the core brief McLaren set for it. At Mugello, its 1,258 hp hybrid system, active aerodynamics and 1,000 kg of downforce made it a serious track weapon, with reviewers highlighting its stability, speed and the F1-style “BOOST” function. On Tuscan roads, it was also praised for making huge performance surprisingly accessible, with strong steering feel, usable visibility and enough compliance to handle traffic, rough surfaces and speed bumps better than most cars in this class. That said, the criticism is not trivial. The car’s “Comfort” mode appears overstated, and its bucket-seat, carbon-heavy, hardcore character means it is not truly comfortable in the luxury grand-touring sense. Some journalists also felt that, unlike the F1’s top-speed mission or the P1’s hybrid-hypercar breakthrough, the W1’s attempt to be everything at once slightly blurs its identity. The occasional low-speed hesitation from the dual-clutch gearbox reinforces that sense of compromise. Still, those compromises seem secondary to the scale of the achievement. At roughly £2 million, with 399 units and performance that firmly places it in the hypercar elite, the W1 is best understood as a highly successful “two-car solution”: a road-usable hypercar that remains fundamentally track-focused, rather than a confused one.

3 articles · Updated · Road & Track · Jun 29

$2.1 million McLaren W1 impressed on road and track as a predictable, usable hypercar, with the reviewer saying its 1,258-hp output still feels intuitive rather than intimidating.
A new hybrid 4.0-liter twin-turbo V-8 and electric motor send power only to the rear wheels, while race-mode suspension and active aero generate about 2,200 pounds of downforce.
McLaren kept out all-wheel drive, front-axle electric motors and fully active suspension, helping hold dry weight to 3,084 pounds versus Ferrari F80's 3,362 pounds.
That lighter, less mediated setup made the W1 feel more natural than the Ferrari F80 in the reviewer's comparison, while still offering road comfort unusual for this end of the market.
The W1 extends McLaren's rare hypercar line after the F1, P1 and Speedtail; 399 examples are planned, all already spoken for in earlier reports.