Wild McLaren Solus GT hypercar revealed

McLaren has taken the Monterey Car Week in California by storm, unveiling the 25-run £3 million ($A4.3m) McLaren Solus GT that was originally inspired by a hypercar created for a video game.

Featuring a wild single-seat closed cockpit inspired by a jet fighter, the all-new 2022 McLaren Solus GT has been created for wealthy track day fans and will not be road-legal.

Without needing to comply with emissions regulations, the striking British hypercar is fitted with a naturally-aspirated 5.2-litre V10 that revs to more than 10,000rpm and delivers 618kW and 650Nm of torque.

Thanks to the GT’s ultra-light carbon-fibre monocoque and the clever use of the V10 and seven-speed single-clutch sequential transmission as a stressed member within the structure, weight has been kept to less than 1000kg.

As a result, the Solus GT delivers an exceedingly rapid 0-100km/h sprint of less than 2.5 seconds and a top speed of more than 322km/h, according to McLaren.

But it’s when you’re hot-lapping you can really exploit its hypercar performance.

The single-seat cockpit is accessed via a jet-plane-inspired sliding canopy. Within the extreme McLaren’s cabin there’s a fixed-backrest carbon-fibre seat that’s moulded to the owner, an F1-derived carbon-fibre steering wheel and a digital rear-view display.

McLaren says it will make just 25 examples of the Solus GT, all of which have been sold for more than £3 million ($A4.3m).

As part of the deal, the company will throw in a special ‘travel case’ for owners to help transport the Solus GT safely to some of the world’s finest racetracks.

Since the McLaren Solus GT will never race, it has aerodynamics developed free of any FIA regulations.

That explains why it comes with a huge front splitter and a floor that features ground-effect venturi tunnels. The air-bending trickery extends to a large twin-blade rear wing and individual wheel pods.

The latter is said to help drivers position the car more easily while helping to manage turbulent air around each wheel, contributing to a maximum 1200kg of downforce.

Aiding cooling of the mighty V10, which was actually developed by Judd and has real Le Mans racing pedigree, there’s a pair of side pods where the twin radiators were positioned.

Ensuring the Solus GT is as quick as possible around any given race circuit, the hypercar appropriately comes with an F1-inspired suspension that includes inboard pushrods up front and pullrod-activated torsion bars at the rear.

The dampers are also four-way adjustable, with further tinkering allowed for both the height-adjustable springs.

At the rear, the suspension is mounted direct to the transmission’s aluminium casing, saving yet more weight.

Maximising lap times, the 18-inch centre-lock race wheels come shod with the same slicks used on the prototypes that race at Le Mans. The brakes, meanwhile, are six-piston aluminium callipers that bite down on carbon-ceramic discs.

The straight-cut gearbox also comes with a multi-plate carbon-fibre clutch.

Originally developed back in 2017 as a concept for the Gran Turismo Sport, it’s thought the Solus GT was built not only as a track day tool for the rich but also a toe-in the-water exercise for developing a real prototype endurance racer for a future Le Mans challenge in the new hypercar class.

Currently, McLaren competes in not only Formula 1 but Indy Car and GT racing.

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