McLaren in October revealed a successor to its P1 hypercar in the shape of the W1.
The brand new hypercar is analogous to the P1 in that it incorporates a plug-in hybrid powertrain built around a twin-turbocharged V-8 engine, but in other areas it is totally different, especially in relation to chassis design.
One area where the W1 stands out is the usage of 3D printing to fabricate lightweight but strong suspension parts. The list includes the front upper wishbones, the aerodynamically shaped lower wishbones, and the front uprights.
To develop the parts, McLaren teamed up with America’s Divergent Technologies, an organization that makes a speciality of 3D printing of complex parts, including for sectors outside of automotive. Divergent’s founder, Kevin Czinger, also founded the hypercar brand Czinger, which is developing cars that use 3D-printed parts throughout.
McLaren W1 suspension
The 3D printing process involves metal in powder form being deposited layer by layer and fused into place using lasers. Accomplished parts then head to a heat treatment furnace to bake and eliminate residual stress. Specialized software is used to design the parts with the bare minimum of fabric, which ends up in the somewhat organic shapes the parts sometimes take.
On the W1, the front suspension parts, which also include pushrods with inboard dampers, torsion bars, and heave dampers, are mounted on to the automobile’s central carbon-fiber tub, eliminating the necessity for a front subframe. This helps to save lots of further weight while enabling the optimization of air flow under the automobile.
McLaren W1 suspension
McLaren and Czinger aren’t the one manufacturer sin the hypercar space using 3D printing for suspension parts. Ferrari also uses 3D printing for suspension parts for its rival F80 hypercar. Bugatti has also been using 3D printing for its hypercars for years, including for suspension parts on the newest Tourbillon hypercar.
The W1 is scheduled to begin deliveries in 2026. Pricing starts at $2.1 million but all the 399 examples destined to built have already been claimed, in response to McLaren.
This Article First Appeared At www.motorauthority.com
