Nothing drives like a McLaren because nothing has been designed like a McLaren. 

Because they were starting from scratch with no carry over parts from previous cars to cloud their vision, the McLaren engineers had the freedom to think without constraints. To overcome the compromises that had been accepted in sports cars for too long.  The freedom to innovate; creating new technologies that we believe give our car an unrivalled breadth of ability, and make it ‘Pure McLaren’. Here are some of the most significant.

MonoCell

Thirty years’ experience building carbon-fibre chassis for road and race cars culminates in this; the Carbon Monocell. Weighing just 75kgs, this unique one-piece moulded carbon chassis is the structural heart of our car. Its remarkable strength and lightness benefit every aspect of the 12C’s performance: from acceleration, braking and handling to refinement, emissions, safety and even repairability. A carbon chassis is unique in this market segment, but anything else would have been a compromise.

M838T Engine

No existing engine was good enough for the 12C. The targets were simply too high; the most power in its class, yet amongst the lowest emissions too. The only answer was to start from scratch, and the result is the M838T, the 12C’s 3.8-litre, twin-turbocharged, 600PS V8. But hitting those tough targets wasn’t enough; the engine had to integrate perfectly with the rest of the car. So it’s also light, at just 199kgs. Its dry-sump design means it sits incredibly low in the chassis, lowering the centre of gravity and improving handling. And its flat-plane crank and optional Sports Exhaust deliver an exhilarating howl as it spins to its 8,500rpm redline, because you won’t judge an engine by its numbers alone.

Seamless Shift Gearbox (SSG)

Our new engine demanded an equally ground-breaking transmission. McLaren was the first team to introduce Seamless Shift Gearbox technology to Formula One™, so it was a natural choice to bring this cutting edge technology to the road in the form of the 12C’s seven speed, dual clutch SSG.
 
Combining the near instant shift times of a pure racing transmission with the effortless ease of an automatic gearbox, the SSG’s characteristics can be precisely tailored to suit urban, open road and track driving at the twist of a switch on the 12C’s Active Dynamics Panel (ADP). 

Offering three modes – Normal, Sport and Track – the rotary Powertrain control switch changes the throttle response, gearbox shift strategy and overall shift times.

And the shift time can be reduced still further with the unique ‘Pre-Cog’ function. Applying moderate pressure to the rocker shift pre-loads the clutch and makes the gearchange virtually instantaneous when the command is issued. And by pulling and holding the left paddle on entering a bend, the SSG will select the correct exit gear and match the engine’s revs.

ProActive Chassis Control

The aim of building the first no-compromise sports car presented the greatest challenge to McLaren’s suspension engineers. They had to design a system that could deliver both race-car like grip and body control, and comfort to match some of the best luxury saloons. The only possible response was to innovate, and their answer is the ProActive Chassis Control system. It does away with traditional anti-roll bars in favour of hydraulically interconnected adaptive dampers controlled, like the gearbox, by the driver in three stages (Normal, Sport or Track) via the Active Dynamics Panel in the cockpit.

IRIS

Like every critical element of the 12C, its onboard entertainment, media and communication systems have been specially designed to McLaren’s exacting requirements. The result – whether you select the standard system or optional IRIS upgrade – is a bespoke, innovative and truly exceptional multimedia platform.

The IRIS option includes satellite navigation, 64GB hard drive storage and 1GB flash memory, complimented by a bespoke audio package, designed in partnership with world-renowned specialists, Meridian.  This 7-speaker surround sound system delivers a superior, pure and vibrant audio experience, incorporating the very latest Digital Signal Processing (DSP) technology in a compact, lightweight package.