In its stock form, the McLaren Senna’s 4.0
litre twin-turbo V8 puts out a formidable 789 hp and 800 Nm of torque. While
that may be enough for most buyers, of which there are only 500 of them, some
might find the engine a little lacking in terms of grunt. As a result, German company Novitec has
released its tuning programme for the track monster, which offers three tuning
levels based on its N-Tronic plug-and-play module. This is adapted to the
electronic engine control unit and introduces new mapping for injection and
ignition, as well as a modified electronic boost pressure control.
The highest tuning level is the one that
gets the most attention, and it brings out an additional 100 hp and 88 Nm from
the V8, which now makes 889 hp at 7,100 rpm and 888 Nm at 6,300 rpm. For added
comparison, the Senna GTR, a full-on race car, only has 814 hp.
Aside from the N-Tronic unit, the level
three option also includes a Novitec Race GTR high-performance exhaust system
that is manufactured from Inconel, a material used in Formula 1 cars. The
company says its solution allows the engine to breathe more freely while
optimising the temperatures in the engine bay.
The setup also replaces the triple-outlet
top-exit exhaust outlets with two pipes measuring 95 mm, available either with
a polished stainless or matte black finish. Novitec says customers can order
the exhaust system independent of the engine tuning, if they wish.
With the added power, the Novitec-tuned
Senna takes 2.7 seconds to get from a rest to 100 km/h, which is a tenth of a
second faster than McLaren originally claimed. Sprinting to 200 km/h from a dead
stop is also achieved in 6.5 seconds, or 0.3 seconds less than stock. As for
the top speed, the car will hit 335 km/h.
The car’s aero-optimised bodywork remains
untouched by Novitec, but the company worked together with Vossen to develop
new centre-locking wheels for the Senna. Referred to as the Novitec MC3, the
wheels measure 20 inches at the front and 21 inches at the rear, with all of
them shod with Pirelli P Zero tyres (255/30 front and 325/25 rear).
Customers will get to choose from 72
different colours for the wheels, with either a brushed or polished surface. As
for the interior, the controls and displays remain unchanged from before, but
the rest of the cabin and be customised with the finest leather and Alcantara
in an endless variety of colours.
