NEXT LEVEL

Thought the 750S was fast? The McLaren P1's successor - the W1 is ready to spread its wings

- JASON BARLOW

This is the new W1. The difficult follow up album to the untameable P1. The hypercar that needs to make the ballistic 750S seem merely pedestrian. The one that lines up against the new Ferrari in a once-ina-decade face off. McLaren’s mic drop moment. 

Forgive me if we start with a stream of big fat numbers, but the W1 is that kind of car. It’s powered by an all new V8 hybrid powertrain with a combined system output of 1,257bhp. The 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 makes 915bhp by itself (which is more than a P1 made in total), aided by what McLaren refers to as an ‘e-module’ that throws another 342bhp in the direction of the rear wheels (and the W1 is strictly rear-wheel drive, this is important).

With a quoted dry weight of 1,399kg, that translates into a jaw dropping power to weight ratio of 899bhp per tonne. Obviously the W1 will weigh more with fuel and fluids, probably closer to 1,500kg, so we’re talking something like 838bhp per tonne. That’s still bonkers. For reference, and using dry weight figures, the McLaren P1’s power to weight ratio was 647bhp per tonne, the GMA T.50’s 666bhp per tonne, and the Mercedes-AMG One’s 618bhp per tonne. The W1 has them all licked.

It can also accelerate to 62mph in 2.7secs, 124mph in 5.8, and 186mph in “less than 12.7 seconds” (increments matter here, as do marginal gains). That makes it faster accelerating than the cartoonishly streamlined Speedtail, if intergalactic pace is your thing. Top speed is 217mph. Here’s another: it’s three seconds per lap faster round McLaren’s reference test track (at Italian proving ground Nardò) than the aerodynamically savage Senna. We repeat: the W1 is rear drive only.