Senna McLaren’s Most Powerful Street-Legal Supercar

WOKING, U.K. – McLaren publishes comprehensive technological details of the new McLaren Senna supercar ahead of its global debut at next month’s Geneva auto show.

The Senna is the most powerful road-legal McLaren ever released, boasting 789 hp and 590 lb.-ft. (800 Nm) of torque from its 4.0L twin-turbo V-8, a dry curb weight of 2,636 lbs. (1,198 kg) and an aerodynamic package delivering 1,760 lbs. (800 kg) of downforce.

Naturally, performance claims are impressive with a 0-62-mph (100 km/h) sprint time of 2.8 seconds, 0-124 mph (200 km/h) achieved in 6.8 seconds and a standing quarter-mile in 9.9 seconds on the way to a top speed of 211 mph (340 km/h).

The engine, codenamed M840TR, features a flat-plane crankshaft, race-inspired dry sump lubrication and lightweight connecting rods and pistons. One of the engineering highlights is the use of ion sensing with individual sensors per cylinder, allowing higher pressures and temperatures than with other McLaren engines.

There’s also a unique Inconel and titanium exhaust to reduce weight, and it uses two valves rather than four in the triple-exit system. A twin-exit exhaust is fitted in markets that do not require valves to meet noise legislation, the muffler silencer box being removed along with the third exhaust exit.

The car employs McLaren’s Monocage III, a racing technology that can trace its lineage back to 1981 and the McLaren MP4/1, the first carbon-fiber Formula 1 car. It’s the strongest carbon-fiber monocoque ever created by McLaren for a road car and features a double-walled rear assembly that provides a built-in protective roll cage.

Carbon fiber and Alcantara microsuede are used extensively throughout the interior, and the dashboard, doors and visible elements of the Monocage III all are in exposed carbon fiber.

“The McLaren Senna is a car like no other: the personification of McLaren’s motorsport DNA, legalized for road use but designed and developed from the outset to excel on a circuit,” says McLaren Automotive CEO Mike Flewit.

The McLaren Senna is priced at £750,000 ($1.05 million) including local taxes. Just 500 will be built, each hand-assembled in a 300-hour process at the McLaren Production Center in Woking, Surrey, England. All have been assigned to buyers.