The McLaren
Senna GTR has been revealed in final production specification. “Production” is,
of course, a word that doesn’t quite apply to the Senna GTR since we’re talking
about a track-exclusive hypercar here.
McLaren says the Senna GTR is “the quickest track
McLaren outside of Formula 1,” and that should tell you all you need to know
about it. It’s powered by a 4.0-liter twin-turbocharged V8 engine that produces
825 PS and 800 Nm of torque. That means it has 25 horses more
than the road-going Senna. Engineers extracted those just by engine control
recalibration and removing the secondary catalyst to reduce back pressure.
It might not sound like much, and it isn’t. But the
Senna GTR is also lighter: thanks to a carbon-composite body and carbon-fiber
safety cell, it has a dry weight of 1,188 kg. That gives it a
power-to-weight ratio of 694PS-per-tonne. Put into context,
that’s higher than the power-to-weight ratio of every McLaren car for road or
track currently in production — including the road-going Senna.
The engine is mated to the same seven-speed Seamless
Shift Gearbox (SSG) dual-clutch automatic that the road-legal Senna has,
including a Launch Control function. There are three powertrain models
available: Wet, Track, and Race. The Wet setting is new and receives greater
support from the ESP and ABS electronic systems. McLaren says it’s intended for
use with wet tires.
Obviously, a great deal of attention was given to
the aerodynamics of the Senna GTR, resulting in the same levels of downforce as
the McLaren Senna but at 15 percent lower speeds. Peak downforce exceeds 1,000
kg. On top of all this, the
track-exclusive hypercar uses suspension derived from McLaren’s GT3 race
program.
As a result of all these upgrades, McLaren says the
Senna GTR can lap circuits faster than any of its cars (road or race) outside
Formula 1. The most exclusive member of the British brand’s Ultimate Series will
be built in a limited run of 75 cars, all of which are already sold — despite a starting price of £ 1.1 million (US$ 1.44 million) plus
taxes. First deliveries will begin in September 2019.