McLaren Sports Series previewed… Again

The drip-feed of information from McLaren continues but the wait for its new Porsche 911 rival, dubbed Sport Series, is now almost over, the company confirming it will revealed the new supercar at the 2015 New York Motor show on April 3.

The McLaren Sports Series teaser video doesn't reveal much, save that the driver is having a lot of fun drifting the car in sub-zero conditions, although the brief shot of the engine virtually confirms the V8 will be a twin turbo like its siblings.

Expected to become McLaren's top-selling model – primarily by virtue of its (relative) affordability – the Sport Series will complete the company's three-tier product strategy. The Sport Series will be the British supercar company's entry-level models, followed by the Super Series – the 675LT et al – and topped by the Ultimate Series, the insane McLaren P1 hypercar.

McLaren is keeping specifications of the Sport Series a secret for now, but we do know the car will be based on a carbon-fibre chassis and will be powered by a mid-mounted V8 engine. The bent eight-cylinder donk is likely to be a de-tuned version of the Super Series' 3.8-litre twin-turbo V8 engines. And it will be fast, make no mistake.

As mentioned, the Sport Series engine appears to be turbocharged, a strategy that will also help lower CO2 emissions – a critical issue many supercar makers are now grappling with.

Ferrari, for example, has begun the switch to turbocharged engine with its new 488 GTB. Lamborghini is one of the few supercar makers to stick with naturally aspirated engines... for now.

Pricing for the new McLaren is expected to rival the stove-hot Porsche 911 Turbo, a $366,000 proposition, but could be even lower if it takes aim at the Mercedes-AMG GT.

McLaren sold a record 1648 vehicles in 2014 and the third model in its range is expected to deliver another record result for the company in 2015.

Stay tuned for full details of the car, which has been confirmed for Australia, at the 2015 New York motor show in April.