The McLaren Speedtail supercar hit 250 mph on the Space Shuttle runway
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Speedtail lives up to its name.
( McLaren)
British automaker McLaren has revealed that its upcoming hybrid supercar reached 250 mph over 30 times during a recent test at the Kennedy Space Center with Indianapolis 500 winner Kenny Brack behind the wheel. The streamlined three-seat coupe made the runs down a 3.5-mile-long runway that was originally built for the Space Shuttle to land on and is now often used for automotive development and competitions.
(McLaren)
The rear-wheel-drive Speedtail’s powertrain combines a 4.0-liter turbocharged V8 with an electric motor to generate a claimed 1,055 hp, and the car’s bodywork features active aerodynamic elements that can be set to a low-drag configuration for top speed runs.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The peak speed beats the 243 mph mark set by the McLaren F1, which was the world’s fastest car in the 1990s and still holds the record for the fastest naturally aspirated vehicle.
(McLaren)
However, the Speedtail is far from the fastest production car today, the Bugatti Chiron having recently broken the 300 mph for an unofficial record.
Like the F1, the Speedtail features a three-across seating arrangement with the driver in the middle that makes it illegal to drive on the street in the U.S.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Nevertheless, the 106 examples that McLaren will build have already been sold out at $2.1 million each.