No sooner had the new McLaren 570S been revealed than speculation started as to what the follow-up model in the Sports Series will be. Talking to senior executives revealed a surprise: The next Sports Series body variant to be launched won't be the Spider. Instead, it will be the quicker—and, we believe, differently shaped—"Longtail" version, which we can expect to see next year. The Spider will follow in 2017, which seems strange given the enthusiasm for open-topped supercars, but which we're taking as a tacit acknowledgement that McLaren doesn't want to risk the cheaper Sports Series taking sales from the existing 650S Spider. By the time the Sports Series Spider is out, the 650S will be nearing replacement by the "P14," which we expect will arrive by 2017.
-Before then, we can anticipate several other Sports Series variants, with confirmation that McLaren's Special Operations Division (MSO) will almost certainly work on its own limited-edition models, as well as offering the same level of customization that buyers can opt for with the company's bigger cars. A track-focused version hasn't been ruled out either, although the company thinks demand would probably be limited if its price started to overlap with the 650S. We're also told that, regardless of whether the cheaper 540C make it to the U.S, the company expects a significant majority of early Sports Series sales to be the 570S even in markets where the 540C is offered. As the S brings standard carbon brakes and more generous standard equipment we suspect that McLaren salesmen will find it a relatively easy upsell.
-We then asked what hints the 570S is dropping about the styling direction of other future McLarens, and the answer from McLaren's design director, Frank Stephenson, is "not many." Stephenson says that he doesn't want McLaren to develop a "me-too" aesthetic. "The cars have to look like McLarens, but they have to look different from each other as well," he said, adding that the Sports Series's heavily curved headlight graphic will likely remain its alone.
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What about the observation some had made that the shape of the air intake on the side looked like a bird's wing—more specifically the Black Swan referenced in the long-running saga of the car's teaser campaign? Stephenson was very keen to state that definitely isn't the case. Like all McLaren road cars, the Sports Series has been designed with extensive reference to its aerodynamic performance, and Stephenson says that if you look at the side intake you'll see it's actually half of a NACA duct. Which, as he points out, is about the best way to hurry up the passing airflow on its way to the intakes for the mid-mounted engine.
-from Car and Driver Blog http://ift.tt/nSHy27
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