SPY PICS: Next McLaren 650S caught undisguised
Pictures of new P14 confirmed to be true, shaping up to be "even crazier" than P1McLaren's next-generation 650S replacement has been spotted completely undisguised.
The images, confirmed to be real by the British supercar-maker, surfaced late Friday night after what appears to be a completely undisguised P14 was photographed testing at a top secret proving ground.
From our first glimpses of the Ferrari 488GTB rival it's clear McLaren has radically rethought the aero package of the existing 650S aer package.
Its designer, Frank Stephenson, has already reportedly promised the P14 will be "even crazier" than the P1 and, from these first pictures, he appears to be delivering on that promise.
Note the new car's air-intakes that lived behind the front doors have been completely deleted, while McLaren's trademark front and rear lights redesigned.
It's not known how engineers are able to feed enough cool air to the P14's mid-mounted engine, but the smoother lines bode well for advanced aerodynamics likely to eclipse even the current P1.
Beneath the surface it's thought the P14 will be based around the 650S' existing Monocell II carbon-fibre monocoque tub and use the latest development of McLaren's twin-turbo 3.8-litre V8 that is likely to produce 500-530kW.
Factor in further weight savings over the current 675LT and the P14 will easily be the fasted Sport Series supercar the car-maker has made since road car production began in 2010.
Expected it to reach 100km/h in around 2.7 seconds and have a top speed approaching 340km/h.
The new P14 will be unveiled at the Geneva motor show in March 2017. Expect it to cost around $600,000 when it goes on sale shortly after its unveiling. A convertible based on the P14 will also follow.
The new spy shots of the P14 come hot on the heels of a recent motoring.com.au interview with McLaren's design director, Frank Stephenson, who admitted that 'leaked' or 'spy shots' published by the media were normally part of a long-lead PR campaign managed by the car-maker.
In most instances, Stephenson claims, images published as 'spy shots' are just photos leaked from the car-maker itself, said the McLaren design boss.
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