For the Formula One team, see McLaren.
McLaren F1
Manufacturer
McLaren Automotive
Production
1992–1998(100 produced)
Class
Sports car
Body style(s)
2-door 3-seat coupe
Layout
Rear mid-engine, rear-wheel drive
Engine(s)
60° 6.1 L V12
Transmission(s)
6-speed manual
Length
4287 mm (168.8 in)
Width
1820 mm (71.7 in)
Height
1140 mm (44.9 in)
Curb weight
1140 kg (2513 lb)[1]
Designer
Gordon Murray & Peter Stevens
The McLaren F1 was formerly the fastest street legal production car in the world, holding this record from 1994 to 2005, the longest period the record has been held by any street legal or production car in the history of automobiles. It was engineered and produced by McLaren Automotive, a subsidiary of the British McLaren Group that, among others, owns the McLaren Mercedes Formula One team. Today, it is still the fastest naturally aspirated car in the world.
The car features a 6.1-litre 60° BMW S70 V12 engine and it was conceived as an exercise in creating what its designers hoped would be considered the ultimate road car. Only 107 cars were manufactured, 64 of those were street versions (F1), 5 were LMs, 3 were longtail roadcars (GT), 5 prototypes (XP), 28 racecars (GTR), and 1 LM prototype (XP LM). Production began in 1992 and ended in 1998.[2]
The McLaren F1 was at the time the fastest production car ever built, eclipsing the Jaguar XJ220. A standard version of the McLaren achieved a top speed of 371 km/h (231 mph) in 1994, holding this record for more than 10 years until it was finally eclipsed in 2005 by the Koenigsegg CCR.[3]
Chief engineer Gordon Murray's design concept was a common one among designers of high-performance cars: low weight and high power. This was achieved through use of high-tech and expensive materials like carbon fibre, titanium, gold, magnesium and kevlar. The F1 was one of the first production cars to use a carbon-fibre monocoque.
The three seat setup inside an F1.
The idea was first conceived when Murray was waiting for a flight home back from the fateful Italian Grand Prix in 1988; Murray drew a sketch of a three seater supercar and proposed it to Ron Dennis, pitched as the idea of creating the ultimate road car, a concept that would be heavily influenced by the Formula One experience and technology of the company and thus reflect that skill and knowledge through the Mclaren F1.
Quote from Gordon:[4] "During this time, we were able to visit with Ayrton Senna (the late F1 Champion) and Honda's Tochigi Research Center. The visit related to the fact that at the time, McLaren's F1 Grand Prix cars were using Honda engines. Although it's true I had thought it would have been better to put a larger engine, the moment I drove the Honda NSX, all the benchmark cars—Ferrari, Porsche, Lamborghini—I had been using as references in the development of my car vanished from my mind. Of course the car we would create, the McLaren F1, needed to be faster than the NSX, but the NSX's ride quality and handling would become our new design target. Being a fan of Honda engines, I later went to Honda's Tochigi Research Center on two occasions and requested that they consider building for the McLaren F1 a 4.5 liter V10 or V12. I asked, I tried to persuade them, but in the end could not convince them to do it, and the McLaren F1 ended up equipped with a BMW engine."
Later, a pair of Ultima MK3 kit cars, chassis numbers 12 and 13, "Albert" and "Edward", the last two MK3s, were used as "mules" to test various components and concepts before the first cars were built. Number 12 was used to test the gearbox with a 7.4 litre Chevrolet V8 to mimic the torque of the BMW V12, plus various other components like the seats and the brakes. Number 13 was the test of the V12, plus exhaust and cooling system. When McLaren was done with the cars they destroyed both of them to keep away the specialist magazines and because they did not want the car to be associated with "kit cars".
The car was first unveiled at a launch show, 28 May 1991, at The Sporting Club in Monaco. The production version remained the same as the original prototype (XP1) except for the wing mirror which, on the XP1, was mounted at the top of the A-pillar. This car was deemed not road legal as it had no indicators at the front; McLaren was forced to make changes on the car as a result (some cars, including Ralph Lauren's, were sent back to McLaren and fitted with the prototype mirrors). The original wing mirrors also incorporated a pair of indicators which other car manufacturers would adopt several years later.
The car's safety levels were first proved when during a testing in Namibia in April 1993, a test driver wearing just shorts and t-shirt hit a rock and rolled the first prototype car several times. The driver managed to escape unscathed. Later in the year, the second prototype (XP2) was especially built for crashtesting and passed with the front wheel arch untouched
The three seat setup inside an F1.
The idea was first conceived when Murray was waiting for a flight home back from the fateful Italian Grand Prix in 1988; Murray drew a sketch of a three seater supercar and proposed it to Ron Dennis, pitched as the idea of creating the ultimate road car, a concept that would be heavily influenced by the Formula One experience and technology of the company and thus reflect that skill and knowledge through the Mclaren F1.
Quote from Gordon:[4] "During this time, we were able to visit with Ayrton Senna (the late F1 Champion) and Honda's Tochigi Research Center. The visit related to the fact that at the time, McLaren's F1 Grand Prix cars were using Honda engines. Although it's true I had thought it would have been better to put a larger engine, the moment I drove the Honda NSX, all the benchmark cars—Ferrari, Porsche, Lamborghini—I had been using as references in the development of my car vanished from my mind. Of course the car we would create, the McLaren F1, needed to be faster than the NSX, but the NSX's ride quality and handling would become our new design target. Being a fan of Honda engines, I later went to Honda's Tochigi Research Center on two occasions and requested that they consider building for the McLaren F1 a 4.5 liter V10 or V12. I asked, I tried to persuade them, but in the end could not convince them to do it, and the McLaren F1 ended up equipped with a BMW engine."
Later, a pair of Ultima MK3 kit cars, chassis numbers 12 and 13, "Albert" and "Edward", the last two MK3s, were used as "mules" to test various components and concepts before the first cars were built. Number 12 was used to test the gearbox with a 7.4 litre Chevrolet V8 to mimic the torque of the BMW V12, plus various other components like the seats and the brakes. Number 13 was the test of the V12, plus exhaust and cooling system. When McLaren was done with the cars they destroyed both of them to keep away the specialist magazines and because they did not want the car to be associated with "kit cars".
The car was first unveiled at a launch show, 28 May 1991, at The Sporting Club in Monaco. The production version remained the same as the original prototype (XP1) except for the wing mirror which, on the XP1, was mounted at the top of the A-pillar. This car was deemed not road legal as it had no indicators at the front; McLaren was forced to make changes on the car as a result (some cars, including Ralph Lauren's, were sent back to McLaren and fitted with the prototype mirrors). The original wing mirrors also incorporated a pair of indicators which other car manufacturers would adopt several years later.
The car's safety levels were first proved when during a testing in Namibia in April 1993, a test driver wearing just shorts and t-shirt hit a rock and rolled the first prototype car several times. The driver managed to escape unscathed. Later in the year, the second prototype (XP2) was especially built for crashtesting and passed with the front wheel arch untouched
Chassis and body
The McLaren F1 was the first production road car to use a complete carbon fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP) monocoque chassis structure.[8] Aluminium and magnesium was used for attachment points for the suspension system, inserted directly into the CFRP. [9]
The car features a central driving position -- the driver's seat is located in the middle, ahead of the fuel tank and ahead of the engine, with a passenger seat slightly behind and on either side. [10] The doors on the vehicle move up and out when opened, and are thus of the type butterfly doors.
The McLaren F1 was the first production road car to use a complete carbon fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP) monocoque chassis structure.[8] Aluminium and magnesium was used for attachment points for the suspension system, inserted directly into the CFRP. [9]
The car features a central driving position -- the driver's seat is located in the middle, ahead of the fuel tank and ahead of the engine, with a passenger seat slightly behind and on either side. [10] The doors on the vehicle move up and out when opened, and are thus of the type butterfly doors.
Suspension
Steve Randle who was the car's dynamicist was appointed responsible for the design of the suspension system of the McLaren F1 machine.[13] It was decided that the ride should be comfortable yet performance oriented, however not as stiff and low as that of a true track machine, as that would imply reduction in practical use and comfort as well as increasing noise and vibration, which would be a contradictory design choice in relation to the former set premise – the goal of creating the ultimate road car.
From scratch the design of the F1 vehicle had strong focus on centering the mass of the car as near the middle as possible by extensive manipulation of placement of i.a. the engine, fuel and driver, allowing for a low polar moment of inertia in yaw. The F1 has 42% of its weight at the front and 58% at the rear,[13] this figure changes less than 1% with the fuel load.
The distance between the mass centroid of the car and the suspension roll centre were designed to be the same front and rear to avoid unwanted weight transfer effects – allowing anti roll bars to be omitted. Computer controlled dynamic suspension were considered but not applied due to the inherent increase in weight, increased complexity and loss of predictability of the vehicle.
Damper and spring specifications: 90 mm (3.5 in) bump, 80 mm (3.1 in) rebound with bounce frequency at 1.43 Hz at front and 1.80 Hz at the rear,[13] despite being sports oriented these figures imply the rather soft ride and will inherently decrease track performance, but again, the Mclaren F1 is not in concept nor implementation a track machine. As can be seen from the Mclaren F1 LM, Mclaren F1 GTR et al the track performance potential is much higher than that in the stock F1 due to fact that car should be comfortable and usable in everyday conditions.
The suspension is a double wishbone system with an interesting design, i.a. that longitudinal wheel compliance is included without loss of wheel control, which allows the wheel to travel backwards when it hits a bump – increasing the comfort of the ride.
Castor wind-off at the front during braking is handled by Mclaren's proprietary Ground Plane Shear Centre – the wishbones on either side in the subframe are fixed in rigid plane bearings and connected to the body by four independent bushes which are 25 times more stiff radially than axially.[13] This solution provides for a castor wind-off measured to 1.02 degrees per G of braking deceleration. Compare the Honda NSX at 2.91 degrees per G, the Porsche 928 S at 3.60 degrees per G and the Jaguar XJ6 at 4.30 degrees per G respectively. The difference in toe and camber values are also of very small under lateral force application. Inclined Shear Axis is used at the rear of the machine provides measurements of 0.04 degrees per G of change in toe-in under braking and 0.08 degrees per G of toe-out under traction.[13]
When developing the suspension system the facility of electro-hydraulic kinematics and compliance at Anthony Best Dynamics was employed to measure the performance of the suspension on a Jaguar XL16, a Porsche 928S and a Honda NSX to use as references.
Steering knuckles and the top wishbone/bell crank are also specially manufactured in an aluminium alloy. The wishbones are machined from a solid aluminium alloy with CNC machines.[13]
[edit] Tires
The McLaren F1 uses 235/45ZR17 front tires and 315/45ZR17 rear tires.[6] These are specially designed and developed solely for the Mclaren F1 by Goodyear and Michelin. The tires are mounted on 17x9 inches and 17x11.5 inches cast magnesium wheels, protected by a tough protective paint. The five-spoke wheels are secured with magnesium retention pins. [10]
The turning circle from curb to curb is 13 m (42.7 ft), or two turns from lock to lock.
[edit] Brakes
Gordon Murray attempted to utilize carbon brakes for the F1, but found the technology not mature enough at the time. The F1 features unassisted, vented and crossdrilled brake discs made by Brembo. Front size is 332 mm (13.1 in) and at the rear 305 mm (12.0 in),[6][13] they are all four-pot, opposed piston types, made of aluminium.[13] The rear brake calipers does not feature any handbrake functionality, however there is a mechanically actuated, fist-type caliper which is computer controlled and thus serves as a handbrake. As carbon brakes have a more simplified application envelope in pure racing environments this allows for the racing edition of the machine, the F1 GTR, to feature ceramic carbon brakes.[1]
To increase caliper stiffness the calipers are machined from one single solid (in contrast to the more common being bolted together from two halves). Pedal travel is slightly over one inch. Activation of the rear spoiler will allow the air pressure generated at the back of the vehicle to force air into the cooling ducts located at either end of the spoiler which become uncovered upon application of it.
Servo assisted ABS brakes were ruled out as they would imply increased mass, complexity and reduced brake feel; however at the cost of increasing the required skill of the driver.
[edit] Gearbox and miscellaneous
The standard McLaren F1 has a transverse 6-speed manual gearbox with an AP carbon triple-plate clutch[6] contained in an aluminium housing, the second generation GTR edition has a magnesium housing,[1] both the standard edition and the 'Mclaren F1 LM' has the following gear ratios: 3.23:1, 2.19:1, 1.71:1, 1.39:1, 1.16:1, 0.93:1, with a final drive of 2.37:1.[6] The gearbox is proprietary and developed by Mclaren.[1]
The Torsen LSD (Limited Slip Differential) has a 40% lock.[6]
The McLaren F1 has an extremely light and thin aluminium flywheel in order to decrease inertia and increase responsiveness of the system, resulting in faster gear changes and better throttle feedback.
Steve Randle who was the car's dynamicist was appointed responsible for the design of the suspension system of the McLaren F1 machine.[13] It was decided that the ride should be comfortable yet performance oriented, however not as stiff and low as that of a true track machine, as that would imply reduction in practical use and comfort as well as increasing noise and vibration, which would be a contradictory design choice in relation to the former set premise – the goal of creating the ultimate road car.
From scratch the design of the F1 vehicle had strong focus on centering the mass of the car as near the middle as possible by extensive manipulation of placement of i.a. the engine, fuel and driver, allowing for a low polar moment of inertia in yaw. The F1 has 42% of its weight at the front and 58% at the rear,[13] this figure changes less than 1% with the fuel load.
The distance between the mass centroid of the car and the suspension roll centre were designed to be the same front and rear to avoid unwanted weight transfer effects – allowing anti roll bars to be omitted. Computer controlled dynamic suspension were considered but not applied due to the inherent increase in weight, increased complexity and loss of predictability of the vehicle.
Damper and spring specifications: 90 mm (3.5 in) bump, 80 mm (3.1 in) rebound with bounce frequency at 1.43 Hz at front and 1.80 Hz at the rear,[13] despite being sports oriented these figures imply the rather soft ride and will inherently decrease track performance, but again, the Mclaren F1 is not in concept nor implementation a track machine. As can be seen from the Mclaren F1 LM, Mclaren F1 GTR et al the track performance potential is much higher than that in the stock F1 due to fact that car should be comfortable and usable in everyday conditions.
The suspension is a double wishbone system with an interesting design, i.a. that longitudinal wheel compliance is included without loss of wheel control, which allows the wheel to travel backwards when it hits a bump – increasing the comfort of the ride.
Castor wind-off at the front during braking is handled by Mclaren's proprietary Ground Plane Shear Centre – the wishbones on either side in the subframe are fixed in rigid plane bearings and connected to the body by four independent bushes which are 25 times more stiff radially than axially.[13] This solution provides for a castor wind-off measured to 1.02 degrees per G of braking deceleration. Compare the Honda NSX at 2.91 degrees per G, the Porsche 928 S at 3.60 degrees per G and the Jaguar XJ6 at 4.30 degrees per G respectively. The difference in toe and camber values are also of very small under lateral force application. Inclined Shear Axis is used at the rear of the machine provides measurements of 0.04 degrees per G of change in toe-in under braking and 0.08 degrees per G of toe-out under traction.[13]
When developing the suspension system the facility of electro-hydraulic kinematics and compliance at Anthony Best Dynamics was employed to measure the performance of the suspension on a Jaguar XL16, a Porsche 928S and a Honda NSX to use as references.
Steering knuckles and the top wishbone/bell crank are also specially manufactured in an aluminium alloy. The wishbones are machined from a solid aluminium alloy with CNC machines.[13]
[edit] Tires
The McLaren F1 uses 235/45ZR17 front tires and 315/45ZR17 rear tires.[6] These are specially designed and developed solely for the Mclaren F1 by Goodyear and Michelin. The tires are mounted on 17x9 inches and 17x11.5 inches cast magnesium wheels, protected by a tough protective paint. The five-spoke wheels are secured with magnesium retention pins. [10]
The turning circle from curb to curb is 13 m (42.7 ft), or two turns from lock to lock.
[edit] Brakes
Gordon Murray attempted to utilize carbon brakes for the F1, but found the technology not mature enough at the time. The F1 features unassisted, vented and crossdrilled brake discs made by Brembo. Front size is 332 mm (13.1 in) and at the rear 305 mm (12.0 in),[6][13] they are all four-pot, opposed piston types, made of aluminium.[13] The rear brake calipers does not feature any handbrake functionality, however there is a mechanically actuated, fist-type caliper which is computer controlled and thus serves as a handbrake. As carbon brakes have a more simplified application envelope in pure racing environments this allows for the racing edition of the machine, the F1 GTR, to feature ceramic carbon brakes.[1]
To increase caliper stiffness the calipers are machined from one single solid (in contrast to the more common being bolted together from two halves). Pedal travel is slightly over one inch. Activation of the rear spoiler will allow the air pressure generated at the back of the vehicle to force air into the cooling ducts located at either end of the spoiler which become uncovered upon application of it.
Servo assisted ABS brakes were ruled out as they would imply increased mass, complexity and reduced brake feel; however at the cost of increasing the required skill of the driver.
[edit] Gearbox and miscellaneous
The standard McLaren F1 has a transverse 6-speed manual gearbox with an AP carbon triple-plate clutch[6] contained in an aluminium housing, the second generation GTR edition has a magnesium housing,[1] both the standard edition and the 'Mclaren F1 LM' has the following gear ratios: 3.23:1, 2.19:1, 1.71:1, 1.39:1, 1.16:1, 0.93:1, with a final drive of 2.37:1.[6] The gearbox is proprietary and developed by Mclaren.[1]
The Torsen LSD (Limited Slip Differential) has a 40% lock.[6]
The McLaren F1 has an extremely light and thin aluminium flywheel in order to decrease inertia and increase responsiveness of the system, resulting in faster gear changes and better throttle feedback.
Performance
In terms of sheer top speed, the F1 remains as of 2008 one of the fastest production cars ever made; as of July 2008 it is only succeeded by the Koenigsegg CCR,[16] the Bugatti Veyron[17] and the SSC Ultimate Aero TT.[18] However, as stated at the head of the article, all of the superior top speed machines exploit forced aspiration to reach their respective top speeds – making the Mclaren F1 the fastest naturally aspirated production car in the world (as of September 2008).
Exploiting forced aspiration introduces a number of challenges and unwanted effects, some of which are noted and discussed here.
While many car manufacturers often promote their cars in terms of raw engine power, in terms of overall performance (acceleration, braking, and agility) a car's power-to-weight ratio is a better method of quantifying performance than the peak output of the vehicle's powerplant. The F1 achieves 550 hp/ton (403 kW/tonne), or just 3.6 lb/hp. Compare with the Enzo Ferrari at 434 hp/ton (314 kW/tonne) (4.6 lb/hp), the SSC Ultimate Aero TT with 1003 hp/ton (747.9 kW/tonne) (2 lb/hp), and the Bugatti Veyron at 530.2 hp/ton (395 kW/tonne) (5.1 lb/hp).
[edit] Acceleration
0-30 mph (48 km/h): 1.7 s[citation needed]
0–60 mph (97 km/h): 3.2 s[6]
0–100 mph (160 km/h): 6.7 s[6]
1/4 mile: 11.6 s[6]
[edit] Top speed
With rev limiter on: 231 mph (372 km/h)
With rev limiter removed: 243 mph (391 km/h)
See subsection on Record claims below for citations and/or discussion.
[edit] Cornering
When performing the lateral acceleration exercise around a 200 ft skidpad (for testing some aspects of cornering performance), the standard F1 machine performs 0.86 G; compare 0.99 G for the Saleen S7, 1.01 G for the Ferrari Enzo and 1.15 G for the Koenigsegg CC (all post year 2000 vehicles). [11]
Note that this exercise does not test all aspects of cornering.
[edit] Braking
As for the 60-0 mph brake exercise, the standard Mclaren F1 can come to a standstill in 127 ft, compare 125 ft for the Saleen S7, 109 ft for the Ferrari Enzo and 105 ft for the Koenigsegg CC (all post year 2000 vehicles). [11]
Note that this exercise does not test all aspects of braking
In terms of sheer top speed, the F1 remains as of 2008 one of the fastest production cars ever made; as of July 2008 it is only succeeded by the Koenigsegg CCR,[16] the Bugatti Veyron[17] and the SSC Ultimate Aero TT.[18] However, as stated at the head of the article, all of the superior top speed machines exploit forced aspiration to reach their respective top speeds – making the Mclaren F1 the fastest naturally aspirated production car in the world (as of September 2008).
Exploiting forced aspiration introduces a number of challenges and unwanted effects, some of which are noted and discussed here.
While many car manufacturers often promote their cars in terms of raw engine power, in terms of overall performance (acceleration, braking, and agility) a car's power-to-weight ratio is a better method of quantifying performance than the peak output of the vehicle's powerplant. The F1 achieves 550 hp/ton (403 kW/tonne), or just 3.6 lb/hp. Compare with the Enzo Ferrari at 434 hp/ton (314 kW/tonne) (4.6 lb/hp), the SSC Ultimate Aero TT with 1003 hp/ton (747.9 kW/tonne) (2 lb/hp), and the Bugatti Veyron at 530.2 hp/ton (395 kW/tonne) (5.1 lb/hp).
[edit] Acceleration
0-30 mph (48 km/h): 1.7 s[citation needed]
0–60 mph (97 km/h): 3.2 s[6]
0–100 mph (160 km/h): 6.7 s[6]
1/4 mile: 11.6 s[6]
[edit] Top speed
With rev limiter on: 231 mph (372 km/h)
With rev limiter removed: 243 mph (391 km/h)
See subsection on Record claims below for citations and/or discussion.
[edit] Cornering
When performing the lateral acceleration exercise around a 200 ft skidpad (for testing some aspects of cornering performance), the standard F1 machine performs 0.86 G; compare 0.99 G for the Saleen S7, 1.01 G for the Ferrari Enzo and 1.15 G for the Koenigsegg CC (all post year 2000 vehicles). [11]
Note that this exercise does not test all aspects of cornering.
[edit] Braking
As for the 60-0 mph brake exercise, the standard Mclaren F1 can come to a standstill in 127 ft, compare 125 ft for the Saleen S7, 109 ft for the Ferrari Enzo and 105 ft for the Koenigsegg CC (all post year 2000 vehicles). [11]
Note that this exercise does not test all aspects of braking
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