MP4-12C

Innovative solutions = class-leading power-to-weight

We’re obsessed with weight at McLaren. With every gram added, the balance of power-to-weight is tipped, the CO2 emissions increase, and the fuel efficiency decreases. So we prefer to avoid adding it in the first place.

The 5% rule

From the wheel nuts to the door handles, our engineers have to keep the weight of their components as low as possible, while still meeting their tough functional targets. Once they’d finished designing, having removed every fraction of weight possible, they were told to find a way to reduce the weight by another 5%. It is this obsession that led us to some of the 12C’s most ingenious and innovative weight-saving solutions:

Carbon MonoCell

The Carbon MonoCell at the heart of the MP4-12C weighs less than 80kg – substantially less than an all-aluminium chassis. This lightweight structure at its core plays a vital role in the 12C’s class-beating power-to-weight ratio.

Lithium ion battery

The 12C uses a battery based on Nanophosphate™ lithium ion technology – the same type of battery we have used in our Formula 1 cars’ KERS system. It provides the level of power we demand, but is half the weight of a standard battery.

Single-hinge doors

When designing the 12C’s distinctive dihedral doors, the engineers reduced the mechanism to a single hinge in order to save weight.

Bespoke electrical architecture

The 12C has an electrical system created uniquely for McLaren, which features an aluminium power distribution system instead of the industry standard copper. This saves us in excess of 5kg.

Exhaust system

We’ve designed a unique mixing box for the exhaust system that means we avoided having to use a conventional heavy silencer box. We also added a sandwich layer heat-shielding system, which is capable of reducing exhaust gas temperatures from 900˚C to 300˚C in just an 18mm gap.

Active Airbrake

The active Airbrake’s hydraulic system was designed to actually use the pressure of the air flow to help raise it to its maximum angle. This weight-saving ‘something for nothing’ principle took almost 50% of weight out of the mechanism.

A healthy obsession

Applied to each part of the MP4-12C, this 5% rule was responsible for reducing the car’s weight by a further 70kg – the weight of an average adult.