#10: 2014 McLaren P1
Jeremy Clarkson called it the widow-maker. There is no glovebox, no carpet, and the glass is about as thin as a human fingernail. Yes, next up on our list is a stripped-down monster of a track car, whose sole purpose in life is to attempt to rip the skin off your body in as little time (and with as many G’s) as possible. The engineering mania continues with such philosophies as leaving the cured carbon fiber bare – not painted, just to save 6.6 pounds (the 0.6 pounds matter). All that carbon fiber is pressed and fitted into just five body panels. This saves weight with fewer fasteners and glue. Yes, glue. Curb weight is just a hair over 3,400 pounds, making this entry on our list one of the lightest full-cab cars.
2014 McLaren P1
We’re talking about the 2014 McLaren P1. This monster hybrid makes a total departure on facts and figures from our previous entrants, thumping out a mind-boggling 903 brake horsepower and 723 torques. Normally, any car with such figures would surely kill its driver the moment he or she touches the go button with the big toe – but the P1’s insanity is measured equally by its science.
The angel hiding in the P1 takes the form of its massive rear wing, sporting dampers and pistons as large as a trophy truck’s suspension bits. Past 150 MPH, the rear wing must retract. Not doing so would create so much downforce that it would break the P1’s struts and control arms. A rear diffuser generates enough low pressure to literally suck the rear wheels to the pavement. Its disc brakes are coated in silicon carbide – the hardest substance known to man.
Oh yeah, it can do null to 60 in 2.6 seconds, though some have claimed to break 2.4 seconds with some (potentially dangerous) modifications to the P1’s generator and electric drive. Truly, this is the first hypercar on our list.
