McLaren Automotive's CEO, Mike Flewitt, has confirmed the company is determined to 'win the weight race' with regards to its future philosophy of making super- and hypercars.
Lightweight future
Mr Flewitt's comments came as part of an abbreviated version of an address he was due to give at the 2020 Automotive News World Congress, an industry event which has been postponed due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and its attendant lockdown conditions. He said that McLaren will continue to pursue its engineering philosophy of reducing vehicle weight to further enhance the performance and efficiency of its products, citing the recently announced 765LT as a shining example of such an ethos.
He added: "Reducing vehicle weight is at the centre of our strategy for the next generations of McLaren supercars. We are already class-leading and committed to further driving down weight in order to be in the best possible position to maximise the efficiency and performance of hybridised models to be introduced by 2025.
"Vehicle mass is the enemy of performance, whether a car has a conventional internal combustion engine or a fully electrified powertrain, so winning the weight race is an absolute priority for us - and one of the reasons McLaren Automotive has invested heavily in the McLaren Composites Technology Centre, our own UK composite materials innovation and production facility."
As trim as trim can be
The 765LT was mentioned because it has an 80kg weight reduction to an overall dry-weight figure of 1,229kg when compared to its 720S source material. A big part of every McLaren's low weight is the carbon-fibre Monocage II structure, although the 765LT goes further with extensive use of carbon fibre for other panels and bodywork, lightweight side windows and motorsport-inspired polycarbonate glazing at the back of the car, and an exhaust system made fully of titanium - saving 40 per cent over an equivalent system made of steel.