When you’re building one of the fastest, most powerful cars on the planet you want to make sure it can reach peak performance no matter what conditions it might face. In that spirit McLaren is taking its soon to be released P1 on a test circuit featuring the most unforgiving climates on the planet.
In a recently released video McLaren shows off its beautifully camouflaged P1 as it drifts and speeds through the snows of northern Sweden on the border of the Arctic Circle. According to McLaren the tests were undertaken to ensure the P1 “delivers on the target of being ‘the best driver’s car in the world on road and track’…or a frozen lake, for that matter.”
Armed with a 3.8 liter twin-turbo V8 engine the P1 will be capable of a 349 km/h (217 mph) top speed. If that isn’t impressive enough McLaren has also boasted that the P1 will accelerate from 0-100 km/h (0-62mph) somewhere just south of 3 seconds.
Over the course of the next few months McLaren will be showing off the P1 in what it calls a “number of dynamic displays” culminating in its participation in the Goodwood Festival of Speed. Presumably all of this showmanship is aimed at promoting the summer release of the scant 375 P1s that it will manufacture.
While McLaren believes that limiting the P1s production numbers will create an air of exclusivity around the super car I’m willing to wager it’s the car’s price that will keep most people away. McLaren is offering its P1s for $1,450,900.
Watch a Video of the McLaren P1’s Arctic Test:
Images and Video Courtesy of McLaren