McLaren P13 official details revealed

The first official details of the McLaren P13, the company's Porsche 911 rival, have been revealed ahead of the model going on sale in early 2015.

The model will have a twin-turbo 3.8-litre engine with 444bhp and will have styling directly influenced by the larger P1 hypercar.

This image shows how the P1 is likely to influence the P13 and is based on a sketch of a future McLaren coupé by the company’s design chief, Frank Stephenson. 

The P13, which is currently a codename rather than the car’s actual name, will almost treble McLaren’s volumes to about 4000 units per year from 2015. With the first 40 examples of the P1 hypercar due to be delivered by the end of the year, McLaren Automotive is expected to break even this year. 

“We expect to deliver 1400 cars this year, the same amount as in 2012,” new McLaren Automotive CEO Mike Flewitt told Dutch publication De Telegraaf Autovisie, with whom Autocar UK worked on this story.

“The development costs of the P13 have already been deducted and the production start of the P1 will make a positive contribution to the financial results. Make no mistake, though. McLaren has been around for 50 years. [McLaren] Automotive has only been here for three. Our goal is to be in a class-leading position — a position that we’ll have to conquer.”

At the heart of the new P13 will be McLaren’s carbonfibre MonoCell chassis, seen on the 12C and adapted into the MonoCage in the P1. The technology is able to be offered at a lower price point than the 12C because the P13 was factored into McLaren’s development costs and business plan from the start.

Power for the rear-drive model will come from a detuned version of the Ricardo-built twin-turbo 3.8-litre V8 engine used in the 12C. McLaren insiders have revealed that it will produce 444bhp in the P13. In the 12C, it has 616bhp.  

McLaren Automotive European sales chief David Brimson said the P13 would be “a true high-performance sports car with the same DNA as the 12C and P1”.

He also said: “Prices are going to start from around 30 to 40 per cent lower than the prices of a 12C.” 

Such pricing will place the P13 in competition with the 911 Turbo and Mercedes-Benz’s upcoming SLS AMG replacement, the AMG GT.

A reveal at the 2014 Paris motor show has been mooted, with sales due to start in the spring of 2015. The P1’s production is due to end at the same time as the P13’s starts.

The P13 will be offered first as a coupé, with a retractable hard-top Spider version to follow in 2016.

The MonoCell chassis is able to underpin coupé and convertible bodies with no loss in rigidity.
Stephenson’s image of a future McLaren shows a clear connection to the P1, with short overhangs, sculpted bodywork and the McLaren logo influencing the shape of the side scoops and headlight design.