New Super Mclaren?

[TotalF1 Jens 0]

The Mclaren MP4-18 is reportedly coming along better than expected in all areas. The aerodynamic drag has been reduced while downforce has only increased in wind tunnel tests, and a new suspension has done extremely well in stress testing.

The revelation though seems to be from Mercedes. Reportedly, the new V10, will be reliable while it will also dish out a nail-gripping 930bhp (!!!) and be capable of 19,700rpm (!!!), only weighing 90kg!!!

That is a bloody powerful engine, and Mercedes-Ilmor did not deny saying when asked if these numbers were very close to actuality. I was about to drop the phone when I heard of it, it seemed even better to hear it in Finnish first, for some reason, way more dramatic.

I have to say that if this turns out true, then we will be seeing the end of Ferrari domination. Even the F2003-GA does not match this, and I think it will be the first Mclaren since the MP4-15 that will be able to outrun the Ferrari!

[Sato 0]

God please let this be true...anything to stop Micheal Schumacher

i dare say if this is true kimi would win the DWC and coulthard would be 4th

i have been turning into a bit of a kimi raikkonen fan lately this will help lol

[GaySchumi 0]

Just wondering, I know no official figures are given, but any idea how that stacks up against BMW ?

[nichosnz 0]

It takes more than a slightly better engine it beat the opposition, BMW proved that last year. I do hope however it does bring McLaren closer, I bet Schumi would love a title fight.

Is 90kg really that impressive, Cosworth had a GP winning engine at 93kg is 1999, has it really taken that long for a weight loss of 3kg to be considered impressive.

[TotalF1 Jens 0]

Well the 3kg is impressive considering the reliability they claim to have with that sort of power and revs! BMW are about 500-700rpm behind this new Merc if it's true, to my knowledge that is..

[nichosnz 0]

But four years of improvement, I would expect as much!

[DJC-Grafix 0]

its all sounding great!

that engine might be due to one of the main guys from the BMW engine department going accross to Merc

[TotalF1 Jens 0]

Werner Laurenz is the man in question, also Mclaren nabbed the guy who designed the fantastic Ferrari gearbox so that shall help complement the whole thing His name eludes me right now though...

[nichosnz 0]

BMW had the best engine and Ferrari the best gearbox, so if McLaren have acquired men in both they stand in good stead.

[GaySchumi 0]

Will there be any 'smuggled' pics of the MP4/18 sometime soon, as happened with Williams ? I'd love to see what aero changes they might've made ... I wonder, can designers get any more innovative ? These cars they've made can run upside down with the amount of downforce they create !

[nichosnz 0]

And they don't need to go very fast to do so, only about 80mph, 130km/h.

[TotalF1 Jens 0]

I doubt anybody will get even so much as a blink of the MP4-18 until it hits the track. The Woking HQ are like a military zone, so extremely secretive that you'd be surprised. When I was there last I was showing a clearance pass every minute it seemed, and there were checks of everything I was carrying to make sure not a single camera was present. Crazy.

[Rohan 0]

OH HOLY GOD!!!...thats light and fast....well i had feeling that the new BMW was the best but apparently not...hopefully Mclaren work everything out real good....i am hopin to see some change.....the only bad part is probably that DC is part of Mclaren.........and this is time after reading the stats by jens....i really wish Mika got to drive this new Merc....oh man....

haha the new beamer is joke....it was soo over glamorized for no reason....i havent seen anything too much special yet.......and even though the new merc sounds excellent everybody know the magic of the Ferrari...although i despise the team.....its true how good they are

yea jens i think everyone is really curious to see the new MP4-18 even though you may be the biggest Mclaren fan....

[GaySchumi 0]

The 'Beemer' is still tops in the HP category, one only needs to see how effortlessly JPM was pulling away on the straights, but downforce seems to be as pitiful as reported. Oh well, ... when you have an opponent like Schumacher who can run competitve laps with one dangling bargeboard, and a missing one, there's only so much you can do

Really, much as I despise the man, one really has to admire his ... ahem ... cojones , with regards to his uber-late-braking style, sorry dunno how to put umlauts in 'uber'

[nichosnz 0]

Use another program, word processor for example, and copy and paste into TotalF1.com forums post editing window.

I think though that Ferrari may still have the overall advantage though.

[TotalF1 Jens 0]

Well, it's the overall 'package' that counts (or in full Ronspeak, "The deciding factor in overall performance levels is the completeness of the entire constrution of the full package.")

But I think Mclaren may get it this year, put one over Ferrari for a change. I dont really know, I'm hoping for Kimi to do it, but we must see!

btw. GS, you can get the umlauts on the u by opening Charmap. Just go to your start menu (this is of course assuming you're using any version of Windows), click on run, and type in charmap. From there it will be quite selfexplanatory!

[daz 0]

I think the Ferarri is still going to be the car to beat. Coulthard even said that its still the team that all the others are meausuring themself up against. However I do hope that Kimi has a good season and at least gives the red machines a run for their money.

[Rohan 0]

well true the Montoya was pulling away in the straights.....even though hes my favorite driver you can never trust him...hes not that reliable.....keeps making stupid mistakes (not reading the pit boards last year) etc etc and thus costs him everything that he could have won!!

i personally dont think that mclaren would score over the ferrari but who knows..anything can happen..i hope people like JPM, kimmi, JV have a good season to make racing more exciting........well we just have to see ..... Malaysian GP 1st round qualification in 2 days ... a good clean and wide track.....best time to see who can pull away and who cannot....... i guess more importantly if Kimmi is infront of MS this time....can he stop the world champ on this track???

[nichosnz 0]

Kimi didn't do so well here last year. Not that it was his fault, it was the first of his string of mechanical failures. Hopefully his Mac will last long enough this time, that we can see how he handles the circuit in race conditions this time around. 2nd to MS, with RB third, would be nice, to emulate how the final DWC result will stand (according to the way my fingers are crossed).

[TotalF1 Jens 0]

True, though Kimi was on a strong run for a podium before his Mercedes gave up at the end of the last straight before the hairpin... Merc seems to have gotten its act together, but they're forecasting 36 degrees centigrade for Sunday!

[eff1 0]

   

sorry dunno how to put umlauts in 'uber'

 

The easiest way, I believe, would be to hold the ALT key, and type 0252.

This is the ASCll code for u.

Thusly;

[nichosnz 0]

Hot hot hot, the engines don't like that. A good test for Mercedes new-found and Honda apparent new-found reliability. BMW, not so reliable, but seem less prone to the heat, must have a good cooling system.

[pumpdoc 2]

Well-Well ( That's what I do ) So what's the Mclaren lad's going to do with all this HP-MEGA REV'S when the BAN!!! take's effect at the B.GP???? Up in a cloud smoke that's what !!!!!! Over the course of the season-16 GP's is what it's all about ( IN-N-OUT great burger's ) So this is where the GUY's in RED come out ahead-Nuff Said ???

[TotalF1 Jens 0]

What ban at the British GP? Only things going then will be traction control, launch control, and other drivers aids.. It's not like they're banning engines!