McLaren Solus GT is a V10 virtual track monster brought to life
It revs upwards of 10,000RPM and features a jet-fighter-like cabin ingress
The virtual world is certainly catching up to the real one. Don’t believe it? Last week Porsche unveiled the Sally Special, a real-life interpretation of the virtual character Sally from the movie ‘Cars’. If lifting cars off movies wasn’t enough, a British manufacturer pulled one out of a racing game. Say hello to the single-seater McLaren Solus GT.
The hypercar may have started in life as a digital-only render of a McLaren concept in the Gran Turismo SPORT video game a few years ago but now sees itself get fabricated in real life, a McLaren world first. Just 25 units will be produced, and McLaren has all units already called for. The design alone may demand upwards of a million dollars, but the mechanicals would leave the enthusiasts weak in the knees.
Being an exclusive car, McLaren has bettered itself by installing a 5.2-litre naturally aspirated V10 engine in place of its standard twin-turbo V8 units. Read that again, a naturally aspirated V10 engine, in 2022, in a hypercar! The engine is said to rev upwards of 10,000 RPM and develop an output of over 828hp and 650Nm torques. Performance figures get rated at 2.5secs for the 0-100kph sprint and an over 320kph top speed. McLaren has further embedded the engine within the chassis to negate the need for added structures, thereby saving weight, a traditional race car application.
The race car attributes extend to the gearbox, a seven-speed sequential unit. It gets manufactured from aluminium and magnesium panels featuring bespoke casting and casing. The entire hypercar design has evidently gone through its share of wind-tunnel time, resulting in the inclusion of the aerodynamic front wheel pods, a large front splitter and a diffuser along with the fixed rear wing. With a carbon fibre-centered chassis construction, the Solus GT generates downforce in excess of 1200kgs, 200 kilos more than the weight of the entire car itself!
There seems to be no shortage of drama with the McLaren Solus GT. While the exterior design is novel for the eyes, stepping inside the cabin is an occasion. Like a typical jet fighter, one jumps inside the single-seater racer by sliding the canopy roof behind. McLaren says, “the 25 Solus GT owners experience their own motorsport-style ‘seat fitting’” with a fixed seat and an adjustable pedal box. The steering sees its roots inspired by Formula1 with all car control settings embedded in it. Like the halo protection on F1 cars, the Solus GT gets a ‘bubble’ for itself with a rear-view display acquiring footage from a camera mounted within the roll hoop.
If an owner still manages to pinpoint a lack of F1 theatrics with the Solus GT, McLaren is offering a full ‘racing driver experience’. As per the British marquee, this includes “ a driving seat moulded to the driver’s individual body shape; an FIA-homologated race suit, helmet and HANS device bespoke to each owner, and radio-enabled ear inserts. A full driver-development coaching programme will also be available to help customers fully exploit the potential of their new track hypercar.”
With added help from McLaren’s bespoke McLaren Special Operations (MSO), every Solus GT is said to be unique to the owner’s style. Furthermore, customers have access to the development programme, allowing them to test and influence the prototype cars planned for production.
The McLaren Solus GT is currently at the track-testing stage of its development. The first of 25 customer cars will be delivered in 2023.
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