McLaren Speedtail Concludes High-Speed Testing
Published on Mon, Dec 23, 2019
By: Collin Morgan
The Speedtail’s protoype ‘XP2’ reached 250 mph more than 30 times at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The McLaren Speedtail has had quite a tumultuous debut. The styling of the hypercar has divided car enthusiasts all over the world, yet the performance cannot be ignored. The Speedtail’s gas-hybrid powerplant effortlessly delivers the missile-with-wheels to a maximum speed of 250 mph thanks to 1,055 bhp and 848 ft.-lb. of torque. The straight-line acceleration is mind boggling, boasting a 0-186mph time of less than 13 seconds.
Of course, with a name like ‘Speedtail’, McLaren wants to be sure it has plenty of oomph to back it up. McLaren’s chief test driver, Kenny Brack, piloted the Speedtail prototype ‘XP2’ to its maximum speed over 30 times at the Kennedy Space Center, along with a few different locations, including Idiada in Spain and Papenburg in Germany.
McLaren’s Automotive CEO, Mike Flewitt, stated, “It’s fitting that the Speedtail’s high-speed test program concluded with multiple maximum-speed runs at a location so strongly associated with pushing the boundaries of extreme performance and engineering excellence. The Speedtail is a truly extraordinary car that epitomizes McLaren’s pioneering spirit and perfectly illustrates our determination to continue to set new benchmarks for supercar and hypercar performance.”
The Speedtail is 17 feet long, and is the most aerodynamically drag efficient McLaren ever and is a true testament to the excellent lightweight engineering consistently innovated by the marquis British manufacturer.
The 106 hand-built cars will be up for delivery in February 2020 and will cost roughly $2.25 million.
