Michael Satterfield
McLaren’s chief test driver, Kenny Brack, has taken the new Speedtail up to its maximum speed of 250mph at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, concluding the final high-speed tests for lates hypercar from the UK manufacture. The Speedtail prototype XP2 reached 250mph more than 30 times on the runway at the Johnny Bohmer Proving Grounds, validating the car’s performance credit just months ahead of the first customer deliveries.
It’s fitting that the Speedtail’s high-speed test program concluded with multiple maximum-speed runs at a location so strongly associated with pushing the boundaries of extreme performance and engineering excellence. The Speedtail is a truly extraordinary car that epitomizes McLaren’s pioneering spirit and perfectly illustrates our determination to continue to set new benchmarks for supercar and hypercar performance.
The Speedtail’s gasoline-electric hybrid powertrain delivers the greatest power and torque of any McLaren road car, with a combined 1,055bhp and 848lb ft. The straight-line acceleration and maximum speed of the car set new benchmarks for McLaren, with 0-186mph achieved in less than 13 seconds and the Speedtail able to reach 250mph.
The McLaren-developed battery pack has a power density of 5.2kW/kg, which is the best power-to-weight ratio of any automotive high voltage battery system. The batteries constantly self-charge when the Speedtail is driven – there is no ‘plug-in’ element – however, a wireless charging pad that trickle-charges and maintains the battery’s status when the vehicle is not in use is also included as standard.
