FiestaST
Honorary Master
McLaren Senna 2018 UK review
Should I buy one?
Well, two a day are currently in production and deliveries have already started, so if you want one, I’m afraid you’re rather late. In fact, they picked who’d be allowed one a while ago. But is this – the same character of chassis, of transmission, of engine, of handling – a problem?
One ex-chief exec of a rival supercar maker once said he thought it might be: “I couldn’t sell the same kind of sausage,” he said, “and charge twice as much for one that was only 10% longer than another.” He hasn’t since left to become a butcher, but I knew what he meant. But the Senna steers around this accusation in two ways.
One is its faintly astonishing corner speeds, and specifically the fabulous high-speed stability. It is so absurdly reassuring and stable – yet still wildly exciting – that you will drive it faster and faster and feel like you want to drive it faster and faster again. Like GT-spec 911s, it feels like it has the integrity to be thrashed day after day while you learn more about it and yourself. The second thing is the way it stops. It’s a bit of a cliché to talk about the way track or race cars brake – single-seaters are the bomb in this respect – but I’ve never known anything with more than one seat that brakes like the Senna.
McLaren reckons it can stop from 124mph in 100 metres – 16m less than a P1. But that doesn’t really mean anything until you learn that you can stand, as hard as you possibly can, on the brake pedal, from high speed, and it sheds speed like it has driven into a vat of treacle.
Ultimately it’s those two things – and they are addictive, significant things – that take the Senna from being another, faster McLaren and turn it into another kind of McLaren. One that might just be the world’s fastest production road car. For how long? Aston Martin and Mercedes-AMG will be along presently.
McLaren Senna specification
Where Silverstone and France Price £750,000 On sale Now Engine V8, 3999cc, twin turbocharged, petrol Power 789bhp at 7250rpm Torque 590lb ft at 3000rpm Gearbox 7-spd twin-clutch automatic Weight 1198kg (dry) Top speed 211mph 0-62mph 2.7sec Rivals Aston Martin Valkyrie, Mercedes-AMG Project One
Should I buy one?
Well, two a day are currently in production and deliveries have already started, so if you want one, I’m afraid you’re rather late. In fact, they picked who’d be allowed one a while ago. But is this – the same character of chassis, of transmission, of engine, of handling – a problem?
One ex-chief exec of a rival supercar maker once said he thought it might be: “I couldn’t sell the same kind of sausage,” he said, “and charge twice as much for one that was only 10% longer than another.” He hasn’t since left to become a butcher, but I knew what he meant. But the Senna steers around this accusation in two ways.
One is its faintly astonishing corner speeds, and specifically the fabulous high-speed stability. It is so absurdly reassuring and stable – yet still wildly exciting – that you will drive it faster and faster and feel like you want to drive it faster and faster again. Like GT-spec 911s, it feels like it has the integrity to be thrashed day after day while you learn more about it and yourself. The second thing is the way it stops. It’s a bit of a cliché to talk about the way track or race cars brake – single-seaters are the bomb in this respect – but I’ve never known anything with more than one seat that brakes like the Senna.
McLaren reckons it can stop from 124mph in 100 metres – 16m less than a P1. But that doesn’t really mean anything until you learn that you can stand, as hard as you possibly can, on the brake pedal, from high speed, and it sheds speed like it has driven into a vat of treacle.
Ultimately it’s those two things – and they are addictive, significant things – that take the Senna from being another, faster McLaren and turn it into another kind of McLaren. One that might just be the world’s fastest production road car. For how long? Aston Martin and Mercedes-AMG will be along presently.
McLaren Senna specification
Where Silverstone and France Price £750,000 On sale Now Engine V8, 3999cc, twin turbocharged, petrol Power 789bhp at 7250rpm Torque 590lb ft at 3000rpm Gearbox 7-spd twin-clutch automatic Weight 1198kg (dry) Top speed 211mph 0-62mph 2.7sec Rivals Aston Martin Valkyrie, Mercedes-AMG Project One
