Duncan suggests we initially engage
the ‘Boost’ button, located alongside ‘Race’ and ‘Launch’. Contrary to what you
may expect, this does not enroll the afterburners. Rather, it holds back most
of the power from the electric engine, preserving those electro-horses for the KERS-like
IPAS boost system. So, rather than start with all 916PS, we begin our track
drive with ‘only’ 737.
Now, the day before this test, I drove
the P1 on the road, complete with all 916PS. I was not going to forget that
level of power in a hurry. So when we first venture out on the track, the P1’s
performance seems, well, a bit weedy.
‘How does it feel?’ asks Duncan, 30 seconds
and two corners into our test, over the helmet-to-helmet intercom. ‘A bit slow,
actually,’ I reply, semi-serious. Duncan must have thought he had the new Senna
alongside, for whom controlling 700-plus PS was as easy as riding a bike. Or,
more likely, he was sitting alongside a complete twat.
The McLaren P1 can do 0 to 60mph in
2.8 seconds, 0 to 124mph in 6.8 seconds
But when you’re used to 916PS, 737
just doesn’t feel quite enough. It was as though our P1 had been detuned overnight.
More positively, the driving position is superb, the visibility out the front
and side is panoramic, the brakes outstanding in stopping (usual for carbon-ceramic
discs) and feel (not usual for carbon-ceramic discs). It feels small, wieldy,
agile, a trustworthy ally in the art of very fast, controllable driving; a car
shrink-wrapped around you, the driver.
Okay, that’s the ‘placid’ bit out of the
way – it’s time for the fast stuff. We go into Track mode for the handling and
for the powertrain. The Boost switch is off.
There’s 916PS under my right foot and
there’s a car of such brilliant agility, predictability, comfort – yes, comfort
– and throttle responsiveness; such speed; and such superb brakes and steering
that the old supercar boundaries aren’t so much redefined as smashed to
smithereens. Throttle response is crackerjack sharp, thanks to the gutsy
electric engine filling in the torque holes that always plague turbocharged
cars. The paddle shift is now instant.
Special wheels made of military-spec
aluminium, plus brakes first used on Ariane rocket
No surprise that so much power makes
for fast laps; the surprise is just how controllable this car is. It’s no
unruly beast. Rather, it’s a friendly companion, its handling super-sharp, the
steering wrist-flick precise and beautifully linear. If you step out of line –
I once go into a hairpin far too fast – you can sort it all out with a bit of
judicious steering correction and careful braking.
On the limit, on fast corners, the electric
traction nannies give you plenty of leeway before they step in to spoil the
fun. You can balance the P1 on the absolute limit, with just a touch of drift,
all deliciously controlled by beautifully precise and linear steering, and a
chassis that talks to you with the utmost clarity.
Naturally, you have to be careful. You’ve
got 916PS to command, you’re doing 240 km/h+ so damn easily. This is car that
you have to drive. Those electro helping hands – ESC, ABS – always support, not
dominate, the drive. It’s a much more hands-on car than a Nissan GT-R or a
Porsche 918 Spyder.
The McLaren P1 is the long awaited
successor to the mighty McLaren F1 of 1994
McLaren shunned four-wheel drive,
despite all that power and torque, to prioritise feel over outright tyre-pawing
grip. It’s a better driver’s car for it, if not necessarily a faster one.
Time for the real fun I pull into the pits,
and push the Race button. This is an extraordinary switch, the equivalent of
employing a team of mechanics to change the spring rates, reduce the ride
height, attach a bigger rear wing and change the gear ratios (gear changes are
now even faster). In fact, the P1 does it all for you, at the push of a button.
