The McLaren F1 was the king of supercars in the mid-to-late 90s, and one of that car’s defining features was the BMW-designed and built 6.1-liter V12. This is why fans of the brand, and all petrol heads alike, were expecting the upcoming ‘spiritual successor’ to the F1 to also be powered by a V12.
However, according to telegraaf.nl, a V12 to power the F1 successor is definitely out of the question, due to the simple fact that more power can be extracted from a turbocharged V8, than from a normally-aspirated V12, an architecture which is considered obsolete by the firm’s engineers.
We expect the new car to share its engine with the MP4-12C (with some tweaks, we suspect), while also coupling it to a clever hybrid system which, in the tradition of all good such systems, will boost either performance or economy, depending on driver needs.
We expect the new car to share its engine with the MP4-12C (with some tweaks, we suspect), while also coupling it to a clever hybrid system which, in the tradition of all good such systems, will boost either performance or economy, depending on driver needs.