Giperkar:
Murray began with the principal - to find a suitable motor. The designer had no doubt that in terms of reliability and power characteristics of the best results can only provide an engine. Turbo, as well as mechanical compressor, complicate the design and operating characteristics make less predictable. So you have to look for a powerful atmospheric unit. Question - where? Opportunities to create their own engine from scratch at McLaren was not, so I had to knock on closed doors.
Elegant silver was the most popular choice among car buyers. Almost half of the clients prefer this shadeAt first, Gordon decided to turn to a partner McLaren - company Honda, which supplied engines for racing cars F1. However, the Japanese proposal to collaborate in the creation of road supercar reacted cool. Then, such a refusal might seem surprising, but now it is clear why experts Honda secretive. After less than two years after the Japanese presented to the world its own supercar - the magnificent Honda NSX. So they and their cases lacked.
Having turned down, Murray turned to Toyota, whose leadership was just thinking about your own program in Formula 1. The Japanese have even tested the 10-cylinder aspirated installed in the chassis racing Lotus, but in the end and there does not grow together. In the designer did not have confidence in the reliability of a brand new unit.
Despite the crazy dynamics, McLaren F1 road happily do without splashes
But Gordon's luck in Munich. Engineers racing BMW Motorsport department commissioned from Woking created a 6.1-liter 12-cylinder V-engine. Its design is based in part on the engine for the existing one-off supercar BMW M8, that is, if the Bavarians have only had the nerve, could be a contender road Ferrari. But the project M8 did not find understanding in the senior management of the company in Munich, but in McLaren got what we wanted!
Completely made of light alloys, including aluminum and magnesium, 48-valve V12 equipped with outlandish at the time the system dynamically adjusting the timing. Thus, for the sake of reliability Germans abandoned the controlled intake tract, as well as preferred chain drive belt. Anyway features impressive. The engine, designated BMW M70, completely fit into the requirements of McLaren, except for one thing - he was almost 15 pounds heavier than stated in the brief. On the other hand, the engine turned and significantly - by as much as 14% - more powerful, and Gordon did not object. 618 "horses" and 650 Newton was more than enough - in fact to the impressive and by today's added power is surprisingly low for a car of this class of weight.
The heart of McLaren F1 was the 12-cylinder naturally aspirated engine from BMW Motorsport
When you create a car Murray was always guided by the principle of another brilliant designer Colin Chapman, in a free translation went something like this: "just add a bit of ease." And in his crusade for weight loss Gordon did not miss the slightest detail. Suffice it to say that the road McLaren became the first production car world, the body and the chassis is made with extensive use of carbon fiber. And 20 years later, such models are literally few and far between, and for the early 90's it was just a blast!
What gave this innovation? First, the tremendous structural rigidity - is extremely important for any vehicle speed parameter. A typical example. Murray was so confident in the strength of body and strength chassis design that - unbelievable but true! - Volunteered to drive a prototype at the time ... crash test. That's just no insurance company did not go to such a risk. As a result, the test conducted on the old fashioned way - with a dummy, but the designer was right. After a head-on collision deformation of the body is not even reached the front wheels!
The racing version of the McLaren F1 GTR made its debut in 1995. It has a smaller mass, massive rear wing and the engine, for reasons of reliability derated to 600 hp.
Another important factor, which provided carbon fiber - low weight design, which we have already spoken. Curb McLaren only slightly exceeded the level of 1100 kg. Thus, the specific capacity was 550 hp per ton - even higher than the 1000-strong Bugatti Veyron, which debuted 13 years later!
With such an impressive power of surprises and another interesting point - the body, the design of which is the author of the Englishman Peter Stevens, happily do without wing, seemingly immutable attribute any solid supercar. But let's not forget that Murray is on the part of aerodynamics was considered a guru in the world of Grand Prix. In fact, the body of McLaren road was a so-called one-car fender, typical of Formula 1. Air entering the specially shaped cavity in the bottom-pressing machine to the surface.
A bomb from Woking
The true sensation was very uncharacteristic and layout of the cabin - the driver in the McLaren F1 sits exactly in the center, and two passengers were slightly behind and to the sides. However, not too logical to such a decision can only seem to the uninitiated. First, the pilot, located in the center, does not violate the overall balance of the weight of the car - can be especially important for the supercar. Again, like the location of the workplace for optimum visibility - that's two. Do not forget that the way McLaren, moreover, saved myself from having to create a version of the machine for right-hand drive markets.
Triple cabin F1 by today's standards looks pretty austere. However, in the early 90's supercar with air conditioning and a radio was a novelty. We have already said that Gordon Murray saw his creation, above all, the fastest and most perfect road car in the world. Because when you set up the suspension did not forget about comfort. F1 was to be the greatest extent possible, in a convenient daily operation and smooth running of the car was phenomenal - at least, for its class.
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