There are a million cliches out there. Why drink a $500 bottle of wine when a $5 six-pack will achieve the same buzz? Would you rather eat a grilled burger, or one cooked in a microwave? And, would you rather reach 60 in 2.7 seconds in a Corvette, or a McLaren W1?
What if that’s the wrong question?
What is the 2025 McLaren W1?
The successor to the McLaren F1 and P1. It is McLaren’s flagship model, the fastest car they’ve ever made, and it’s already sold out because just 399 will be made worldwide.
Price? How about $2.1 million dollars.
Now, before I tell you why this car is pointless, I should tell you what makes it special:
- There’s a 1,258-horsepower hybrid drivetrain, with a 4.0-liter twin turbo V-8 paired with a 342-horsepower electric motor
- The V-8 revs to a very nice 9,200 RPM, with an eight-speed automatic
- It weighs just 3,084 pounds
- It gets to sixty in 2.7 seconds.
- Six-piston front brakes will stop the car from 124 miles an hour in just 95 feet. How good is that? It would take a BMW M3 CS 200 feet more to stop going 24 MPH slower.
- The active aero wings produces 772 pounds of downforce at the front, and 1,422 at the rear.
- Carbon fiber chassis, with gullwing doors.
I’m sure it’ll lap the ‘Ring in well under seven minutes – the P1 was in the mid-six minute range. Needless to say, the W1 is fast – the fastest McLaren ever.
So why is the W1 pointless?
You and I will never drive one. I’m 99% sure you will never see one. And when you chase performance with technology, it’s just a matter of time before something even better comes out.
Want proof? A P1 was $1.15 million when new, and you can buy them all day long for slightly less than that now. A hypercar that depreciates? Compare those prices to the 20 million dollar F1.
The problem is exclusive to McLaren, because a Ferrari La Ferrari was $1.5 million new, and now they cost $5 million.
I feel as if this McLaren is like an iPhone – disposable. It’ll be fun and cool when you get it, but how long will that last. Looks generic too, like one of those make-believe cars you get in a video game. If I took the badge off, would you even know who made it?
But there’s one even larger problem.
The Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 exists
If I may:
- The ZR1 puts out 1,064 all-natural horsepower from a twin turbo 5.5 liter V-8, with an 8,000 RPM redline
- A top speed of over 215. The McLaren is limited to 217
- Acceleration times aren’t known, but a Z06 already gets to sixty in 2.6 seconds (faster than the McLaren), so what will an additional 300 horsepower do?
- One problem is that it’s 4,000 pounds – a full half-ton more.
- Fully loaded, the Coupe will cost $200,000
The McLaren will be faster, but it won’t be $1.3 million faster. Yet the issue here goes beyond speed, because I believe the Vette will offer a more visceral and exciting experience than the McLaren.
Of course no one is cross shopping these two cars. But if I had $2 million to spare, the McLaren wouldn’t be an automatic slam dunk.
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