McLaren F1 (1994). 
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 On March 31, 1998, it set the record for the fastest production car in the world, 240.1 mph (386 km/h). As of April 2009, the F1 is succeeded by faster cars in sheer top speed, but it is still the fastest naturally aspirated production car built. The car features numerous proprietary designs and technological innovations. It is lighter and a more streamlined structure than most of its modern rivals and competitors.Despite having one more seat than most similar sports cars, with the driver's seat located in the middle of the cockpit. It also features a powerful engine and is somewhat track oriented, but not to the degree that it compromises everyday usability and comfort. It was conceived as an exercise in creating what it's designers hoped would be considered the ultimate road car ever produced. A modified race car edition of the vehicle won several races on it's debut, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1995, where it faced purpose-built prototype race cars. Coming from the likes of McLaren, a already successful F1 Team this was not a real shock. Production began in 1992 and ended in 1998. In all, 106 cars were manufactured, with some variations in the design. Chief engineer Gordon Murray's design concept was a common one among designers of high-performance cars: low weight and high power. This was achieved through use of high-tech and expensive materials like carbon fibre, titanium, gold, magnesium and kevlar. The F1 was the first production car to use a carbon-fibre monocoque chassis. Performance The carbon fibre body panels and monocoque required significant heat insulation in the engine compartment, so Murray's solution was to line the engine bay with a highly efficient heat-reflector, gold foil. Approximately 25 g (0.8 ounce) of gold was used in each car. The road version used a compression ratio of 11:1 to produce 627 hp (468 kW; 636 PS) at 7400 rpm. Considerably more than Murray's original specification of 550 BHP (404 kW).Torque output of 480 ft·lb (651 N·m) at 5600 rpm. The engine has a redline rev limiter set at 7500 rpm. In contrast to raw engine power, a car's power-to-weight ratio is a better method of quantifying acceleration performance than the peak output of the vehicle's powerplant. The standard F1 achieves 550 hp/ton (403 kW/tonne), or just 3.6 lb/hp. Compare with the Enzo Ferrari at 434 hp/ton (314 kW/tonne) (4.6 lb/hp), the Bugatti Veyron at 530.2 hp/ton (395 kW/tonne) (4.1 lb/hp). |
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