‘Breathtakingly Fast’ McLaren W1, a $2.1 Million Hybrid, Sets a High Bar for Supercars
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‘Breathtakingly Fast’ McLaren W1, a $2.1 Million Hybrid, Sets a High Bar for Supercars

By JIM MOTAVALLI
Sun, Oct 13, 2024 7:00amGrey Clock 4 min

Every street McLaren since the F1 in the 1990s has been, of course, a supercar. But now the British company is hitting a new and higher mark with its W1, which has a 1,258-horsepower hybrid drivetrain—producing the most powerful McLaren to date. It’s a successor to both the F1 and the P1, and was revealed on Sunday.

Auto makers worried about the ups and downs of the battery electric car market are hedging their bets with hybrids and their plug-in variant. McLaren is no different. It has electric range, but only 1.6 miles.— he W1 will be priced at US$2.1 million, and only 399 will be sold globally. Unsurprisingly, all of them have already been allocated to customers.

Many familiar McLaren build traditions are in place, including rear-wheel drive, lightweight carbon-fibre unit construction and uplifting gullwing-type doors hinged only at the roof. The company says the W1 doors are of “anhedral” design and optimised for aerodynamics. The doors also “allow optimisation of airflow from the front wheel arches into the high-temperature radiators, providing extra cooling space that allows the size of the radiators required to cool the powertrain to be reduced, optimising packaging and saving weight.”

The interior carries over the two-tone colour scheme.
McLaren

This is a breathtakingly fast car. The all-new twin-turbo, four-litre aluminium V8 engine produces 916 horsepower, and the company’s electric motor module (coupled to a 1.38-kilowatt-hour battery) adds another 342, yielding the aforementioned 1,258 horsepower and 988 pound-feet of torque. The car revs to 9,200 rpm before hitting redline, and power flows through an eight-speed transmission with electronic reverse and a technically innovative hydraulic electronic differential. In a car weighing only 3,084 pounds, this produces zero to 60 miles per hour in 2.7 seconds, zero to 124 in 5.8 seconds, and attainment of 186 mph in less than 12.7. The top speed is electronically limited to 217 mph.

The W1 is slower off the line than a US$89,990 Tesla Model S Plaid edition (1.99 seconds to 60, the company claims), but off-the-line acceleration is a big advantage of electric cars. The McLaren’s power plant is, without doubt, impressive. About that engine, Richard Jackson, chief powertrain engineer, said in a news release, “We’ve designed it to be much more power-dense than our previous V8—generating 230 horsepower per litre and capable of revving higher…with supreme driver engagement.”

The driver will have the option of choosing Race mode, which stiffens the suspension (via Race or the more bone-jarring Race+ setting) and extends downforce wings at the front and rear. The motorised wings aren’t there because they look cool—they’re capable of putting 772 pounds of downforce on the road at the front and 1,433 pounds at the back. Racing cars have to stop, so the car gets six-piston brakes up front and four-piston units in the rear. From that 124 mph, the W1 can be at a standstill in 95 feet.

The side view-in road, not race, mode-reveals the slippery shape.
McLaren

The W1 will spend a lot of its time among civilians on the road, and there’s the choice of a Comfort setting that smooths out the ride for unstressed cruising around town. Comfort uses the hybrid system only for occasional torque applications. Sport is the interim choice, with full hybrid availability and faster throttle response.

Photographs of the W1 show an exceptionally aerodynamic two-door supercar, shaped by the preferences of the wind, in a gold-and-black two-tone color scheme, with that pattern carried over into the seating. The bottom cushions are gold but the black gradually intrudes in what might be called a Jackson Pollock thrown-paint effect. The mid-mounted engine, just behind the driver, is part of the design.

The side view-in road, not race, mode-reveals the slippery shape.
McLaren

In keeping with the trend toward owner customisation, McLaren says there are “virtually unlimited bespoke options” for the W1, including a new lightweight knitted-to-fit interior material called InnoKnit. The company claims that visibility is “best in class,” which is good if it means the driver can actually see what’s happening behind the supercar—a notorious issue. The driving position is said to be fairly reclined, with plenty of thigh support—useful when these cars corner at high speeds. The aluminium pedals are adjustable.

Start/stop buttons, the gear selector, window controls, and Race-mode switch are all mounted overhead the driver, with the Boost button on the steering wheel. The 8-inch centre screen offers USB-A and -C, as well as Apple CarPlay. Supercars aren’t known for storage space, but the W1 has small stowage and a sliding cup holder between driver and passenger. Weekend bags (or crash helmets) can be stashed behind the seats if the headrests are moved aside.

The W1’s fuel economy will undoubtedly be helped by its hybrid drive, but an actual figure has yet to be announced. It wasn’t a make-or-break figure for customers in this league.

Even aficionados of the marque who already own a McLaren Senna will want a W1, because it has 102 horsepower more. Keep in mind that 102 horsepower was considered perfectly adequate for British sports cars of the 1950s. In that same era, racers would drive to the track, compete, and then drive home again. The W1 appears ready to bring back that era.



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How to Pick the Perfect Souvenir When Travelling

It’s easy to buy clunkers when you’re caught up in the moment. But regrettable purchases aren’t inevitable.

By KATHLEEN HUGHES
Sat, Nov 9, 2024 4 min

Trying to buy just the right souvenir on a trip is a risky business. You can wind up with a lifetime treasure—or an albatross you feel stuck with forever.

Consider the giant painting of a chicken flying out of Cuba that has been hanging over our couch in Palos Verdes, Calif., for the past 15 years. Buying it cheaply seemed to make sense when we were in Havana, since my husband’s family had fled the country after the revolution.

But the flying chicken just didn’t seem as, well, poignant by the time we returned home and hung the 4-by-7-foot painting. No guest has ever said a word about it. “I can’t help you with the chicken,” an art dealer told me long ago when I asked for help in selling it.

So, how do you find the right souvenir? Or is there even any such thing?

An everyday reminder

For many people, the answer to the second question is an unqualified “No,” and they have stopped trying. “Souvenirs never look as enticing or beautiful as they did at the time of purchase once you get them home,” warns Patricia Schultz, the author of “1,000 Places to See Before You Die.”

After collecting rugs on her trips, then Christmas ornaments, before running out of room at home for both, Schultz says, “I have gone cold turkey. I collect memories.”

But for others, surrendering just won’t do. “It’s intrinsic when people travel that they wind up bringing a keepsake of the journey,” says Rolf Potts, the author of “Souvenir,” a book that traces the history of travel souvenirs back to the earliest recorded journeys.

“It can be a way to show off,” he says. “Much like the envy-inducing travel posts on Instagram.” But for many people, he says, “It’s proof you were there, not only to show other people but also for yourself.”

For those who lean in this direction, there are ways to help avoid regrets. Tara Button , founder of the Buy Me Once website, and the author of “A Life Less Throwaway: The Lost Art of Buying for Life,” suggests focusing on practical items that fit your lifestyle and double as mementos.

As an example, she once bought a “very affordable” baby blanket made from alpaca fiber on a trip to Peru and now uses it every day. The blanket not only reminds her of “the time pre-children when I was traveling,” she says. “It goes over my 2-year-old son every night. It’s always soft and always gorgeous.”

She has a friend who collects one cup from each destination. “Those are perfect memory keepers,” she says. “A small item that is used every day.”

Finding the right scale

One obstacle to finding the right souvenir is that it can be hard to think practically when you are swept up in the excitement of a new culture. Consider the Burmese puppet, 15 inches tall, that has spent about two decades in the closet of Liz Einbinder , head of public relations for Backroads, an adventure-tour company.

“We saw a lot of puppets everywhere and just got caught up in all of the Burmese art and culture,” she says. Now she wonders, “Why did I bring this back? It sits in the back of my closet and I can’t seem to get rid of it. It creeps me out when I see it.”

When that buying urge sweeps over you, Button and other travel experts suggest pausing to consider your lifestyle, taste, needs, and the scale of your home—you’re going back to the reality of your everyday life, after all.

But that doesn’t necessarily mean being entirely practical. Einbinder collects miniatures, mostly miniature houses, from every country, and has more than a hundred. Most are in storage, but she keeps a little London bus and a little Egyptian pyramid on her desk. For her, souvenirs aren’t just about memories, they’re also about the hunt. “It gives me something to search for” on each trip, she says. “That’s half the fun.”

Ignore the hard sell

Another way travelers often go wrong is by giving in to pressure, or at least persistence, from salespeople.

When Kimba Hills, an interior designer, went to Morocco, she hired a guide who took her to a rug store in Fez, where the dealers delivered a whirlwind sales pitch while serving tea. She wound up buying a $4,000 flat-weave Turkish rug, measuring about 13 feet by 9 feet.

“No one in my group could believe I got seduced,” she says.

When the rug finally arrived at her home in Santa Monica, “It smelled like cow dung,” she says. Washing the rug was going to change the color.

When she called the dealer in Fez and demanded her money back, he refused, offering to send her a different rug instead. “We got into a yelling match,” says Hills. “All my skills went out the window.”

Looking back, she says, “You are in a buying mode because you are there and feel like you should buy something.” On a recent trip to Mexico, she bought nothing, explaining, “I’m wiser.”

Sometimes, magic

Spontaneity can cut both ways. There’s the chicken painting. But waiting for inspiration to strike, rather than planning to go home with a souvenir, can still help.

Henry Zankov, a sweater designer, says that when he travels, he explores his destinations with the idea that he won’t buy anything unless he comes across something he loves. He still buys plenty, but says “I don’t have regrets.” At his home in Brooklyn, he has ceramics, vases and glassware from shops he found randomly in Spain, Greece, and Italy. “I buy what I have to have,” he says.

There are times he doesn’t find anything. “So I just give up,” he says. “It’s OK.”

Some souvenirs do become the treasure of a lifetime.

Annie Lucas , the co-owner of MIR, which offers tours to less-traveled destinations, became captivated by a mirror on a trip to Morocco. It was made with hand-pounded silver and pieces of camel bones.

She went back to the store three or four times, debating the cost and whether she would regret it once she got home. It was heavy and measured 24 inches by 40 inches.

“That was 15 years ago, and I still treasure it,” she says. “If I had to get out of my house and had only five minutes to pack, I would grab that off the wall.”

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This stylish family home combines a classic palette and finishes with a flexible floorplan

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