In 2017, the McLaren F1 celebrated its 25th anniversary; the sports car in question was hailed by a Road & Track article as “the last great analog car.” The article went on to hail specifics about the F1, citing its status as “the fastest production car in history — 231 mph — and one of the least compromised road machines ever built.”
When McLaren announced the Speedtail, it was envisioned as a hybrid descendent of the F1. The automaker’s site for it describes it as “[o]ur most aerodynamically efficient car ever. And the fastest McLaren to date.” As bars to clear go, that might be a particularly daunting one.
Now, a new report from Jay Ramey at Autoweek suggests that McLaren has accomplished exactly that. Ramey reports that the Speedtail reached the 250 MPH mark over 30 times while being tested at the Kennedy Space Center’s Johnny Bohmer Proving Grounds.
Ramey’s article also puts this number in a global context:
McLaren has been testing the Speedtail at Papenburg in Germany as well as Idiada in Spain, so given the different road surfaces and atmospheric conditions, we’d venture that its top speeds—unless held in check by very rigid software—could have been different at all three locations.
The testing in Florida also led to one other notable achievement. “The long coupe hit 300 kmh (186 mph) from a standstill in just 13 seconds,” Ramey writes. “That’s quicker than any other McLaren model.” It’s an impressive start for a car with a prestigious lineage.
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