McLaren M838T engine retains prestigious title at 2014 International Engine of the Year Awards

The 3.8-litre twin turbo V8 petrol engine has upheld the honour for McLaren Automotive, having won the ‘3-litre to 4-litre’ category at the 2014 Engine of the Year awards. The success marks the second consecutive year McLaren has claimed the prestigious title, having been named the first new winner of the accolade for five years in 2013.

The M838T engine, designed and developed by McLaren in collaboration with Ricardo, has recently undergone significant changes to produce a class-leading 650PS and 678Nm of torque in the McLaren 650S Coupe and Spider. Acceleration from a standstill to 62mph (100 km/h) takes just 3.0 seconds, with no compromises to efficiency or emissions, returning 24.2 mpg (11.7 l/100km) on the combined cycle, emissions of just 275g/km, and no gas guzzler tax in North America.

The International Engine of the Year awards were presented at Engine Expo 2014, and voted for by an independent panel of leading automotive journalists from around the world, including Auto Arabia editor and chief test-driver Mohamed Sheta.

Commenting on the engine, co-chairman of the Awards and one of the international judges, Dean Slavnich explained: ‘Supercar trailblazing in every sense: lightweight, twin turbocharging, reduced displacement and so very flexible with a wide power output – the M838T V8 is just a wonderful piece of powertrain engineering.’

Richard Farquhar, Head of Powertrain and Graham Langham, Engine Manager from McLaren Automotive received the award at a ceremony in Stuttgart, Germany.

On collecting the award, Richard Farquhar explained: ‘It is a real honour to collect this award for the second year in a row, and is credit to all at McLaren Automotive for the hard work and dedication to the continued progress and development that McLaren is famous for. The M838T engine has been extremely successful since it was first introduced, and redefined the benchmark in terms of performance, refinement, weight and efficiency. It has recently been further enhanced with the launch of the 650S, with the power and torque figures both increased to optimise driving engagement and further enhance performance. Despite these updates, the class-leading efficiency has been maintained and emissions levels have actually improved.’

McLaren Automotive is a British manufacturer of luxury, high-performance sports cars, located at the McLaren Technology Centre (MTC) in Woking, Surrey.

Following the company’s global launch in 2010, McLaren Automotive launched the groundbreaking 12C and 12C Spider and followed this in 2013 with the limited-run McLaren P1. In keeping with its plan to introduce a new model each year, the company recently unveiled the 650S Coupe and 650S Spider. The brand continues to expand, operating through a dedicated global network of retailers in every major automotive market.

To support the development, engineering and manufacture of its range of innovative and highly acclaimed sports cars, McLaren Automotive has partnered with world leading companies to provide specialist expertise and technology. These include Akebono, AkzoNobel, ExxonMobil, Pirelli, SAP and TAG Heuer.

The connection between Formula 1 and road cars at McLaren is a natural process of experience, knowledge, principles and process transfer. Through the integration of 50 years of Formula 1™ racing expertise and knowledge, and over 20 years of heritage in producing landmark sports cars, McLaren Automotive designs, develops and builds a range of technologically advanced and groundbreaking high performance sports cars which are designed to be a no compromise drive on both road and track.

McLaren has pioneered the use of carbon fibre in vehicle production over the past 30 years, and since introducing a carbon chassis into racing and road cars with the 1981 McLaren MP4/1 and 1993 McLaren F1 respectively, McLaren has not built a car without a carbon fibre chassis.

PR
03.07.2014