AUTOMOTIVE DESIGN
LIGHTER BY DESIGN
L
aunched in April, McLaren’s 750S comes with impressive official performance figures. From a standstill, 60mph can be achieved in
2.7 seconds. Te power-to-weight ratio is 587PS/tonne, and its dry lightest weight is just 1,277kg - light for a supercar. In fact, it’s the lightest and most powerful series production vehicle ever made by the firm at its HQ in Woking, Surrey, in the Southeast of England. Sandy Holford is Chief Engineer for the 750S. He says the original brief was, “to build on the success of the definitive supercar – the 720S – with sharper dynamics, updated design and increased power and performance. To consolidate our position as building the lightest car in its class with the best analogue driving experience for any supercar.” Understandably, the project started with a long, hard look at the 720S. Holford continues: “We set attribute targets for the 750S using each area of the 720S as the baseline. Our goal was to improve across the board, with particular focus on reducing overall weight, increasing performance and driving
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With an emphasis on weight reduction, this is how one sports car manufacturer set about improving one of its best sellers. Jon Lawson reports
enjoyment through enhanced driver engagement and improved driver-centric cockpit and controls.” Te team scrutinised every aspect of the model, and quickly identified what could be made lighter and what could not, allowing appropriate allocation of resources. For example, the engine itself was difficult to make substantially lighter, but improvements with the stainless steel
exhaust system led to a 2.2kg weight reduction over the unit in the 720S. Holford explains, “It was a complete new muffler design for the platform with major input from our NVH team. We set out our package requirements with respect to volume and outlet position, and the engineering team optimised the design and use of materials and technologies like hydroforming to minimise the weight.”
The engine of the 750S
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