McLaren and BMW team up to make supercar (again)
Brit sports car-maker to help create BMW-badged 560kW mid-engined V8 supercarMcLaren and BMW will once again to unite make a supercar that be revealed at the 2017 Frankfurt motor show, according to a new report.
Unlike their last collaboration, the seminal record-breaking F1 that was powered by a BMW V12, this time the resulting partnership will birth both a McLaren and a BMW-badged supercar that will sit above the German car-maker’s existing i8 hybrid.
The revelation that BMW and McLaren are in talks come from the UK’s Car magazine following a leak reported to be close to one of the car-makers.
Said to have already won support from BMW chairman Harald Kruger and new M boss Frank van Meel, the project is thought to be based around sharing the McLaren’s carbon-fibre monocoque that will underpin its future coupe and roadster.
Key to part of the deal is both supercars will come with their own, individual powertrain with the BMW variant expected to have a mighty all-new 560kW quad-turbo 4.0-litre V8. The McLaren version is expected to boast an enhanced version of the brand’s twin-turbo 3.8-litre V8.
Both cars might also benefit from an advanced torque-fill hybrid system that claws back energy through brake regeneration and provide a 15kW power boost.
Suspension, steering and brakes will be jointly developed and shared by both car-makers.
Positioned and priced around $300,000, the BMW and McLaren will be natural rivals for the Ferrari 488 GTB and Audi R8.
Assembled by the British car-maker, the potential pooling of resources to create a supercar will substantially reduce research and development costs and benefit BMW who would struggle to adapt the i8 architecture to adopt a larger V8. The deal also mirrors BMW’s recent collaboration with Toyota to build a follow-up to the Z4 and the long awaited return of the Supra coupe.
According to Car, BMW originally had plans create its own supercar for the firm’s 2016 centenary celebration but the project was killed following former chairman Norbert Reithofer’s objection that a powerful conventional V8 supercar would damage the halo low-carbon i8.
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