McLaren 650S replacement primed for 2017 debut

McLaren’s 650S replacement, known internally as P14, is set to make its debut next year, most likely at the Geneva motor show in March. It will be the first new model in a £1 billion, 15-car roll-out that was announced in Geneva this year and is due to be completed by 2022.

212mph McLaren 720S revealed at Geneva motor show

McLaren online forums have been full of speculation that the P14’s eventual title will start with a '7', indicating at least 700bhp, but a McLaren spokesman has said this is unlikely.

McLaren CEO Mike Flewitt confirmed in Geneva that the P14 will use a development of the firm’s existing twin-turbo V8. He also said the P14 will be based on a variation of the current MonoCell carbonfibre tub, probably incorporating many of the changes made to improve accessibility in the Sports Series.

The McLaren 650S replacement has been spotted testing - check it out here:

However, the new model will also be different from the 650S because it has been given aggressive performance targets intended to create clear space between it and the Sports Series cars, such as the 570S.

Flewitt said: “It’s about being smart with the component set, developing what you need to give unique character and definition to a vehicle, but equally being as investment-efficient and engineering-efficient as you can.”

Also expected are radical active aerodynamics, which have been designed into the car from first principles.

McLaren P14 Monocage II revealed ahead of Geneva debut

McLaren design director Frank Stephenson said: “It’s not about us creating something beautiful and then throwing it at the engineers and saying ‘build it’ and them saying ‘we can’t’. We’ve worked together at every step of the process. I can’t tell you how integrated we are. It’s like no other car company.”

Stephenson also revealed that the design will be a “big leap” for McLaren. He said: “It’s unpredictable. It will raise eyebrows. It’s got a lot of things that just haven’t been done in car design before.” Ultra-powerful LED lights will enable the P14 to shift to a completely new front-end graphic and the cabin has been completely rethought, with an intuitive control system.

Beyond the P14, McLaren said in a new investment announcement that half the cars it produces will be hybrids by 2022. Most people have taken this to mean that half of the company’s sales volume will be part-electric by that date. However, a McLaren insider has indicated that the figure should actually be seen as an aspiration to make half of the company’s models hybrids by that date.