The Best Car I've Ever Driven: McLaren W1
In a Nutshell
The McLaren W1 is a 1,250-horsepower hybrid successor to the F1 and P1 that weighs just 1,399 kg dry and uses extreme aerodynamics, a radial-flux electric motor, and hydraulic steering to deliver near-F1 performance on both road and track. It reaches 190 mph at Mugello with downforce keeping it planted, while still offering usable street manners, storage, and a ride compliant enough for mountain roads. Only 399 units will be built at over $2 million each, positioning it as the new ultimate lightweight driver's hypercar.
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Cars have changed significantly, becoming smoother and more aerodynamically efficient. The question arises about what happened to the super inspiring, crazy supercar designs that people used to hang up on bedroom walls as posters. The McLaren W1 represents the continuation of those groundbreaking designs.
The video discusses hybrids and electrification in supercars. The holy trinity from 2015 was just the beginning. In 2026, the McLaren W1 arrives as the successor to the F1 and P1. The W1 carries all of the groundbreaking driving performance, technology, and experience that comes with every one car. The presenter gets to be one of the first people outside McLaren to drive it.
The greatest supercar of all time is considered by many to be the McLaren F1, still the fastest naturally aspirated car ever made at 240 mph. Its successor, the McLaren P1, is described as the presenter's favorite car of all time and a member of the holy trinity of the first three hybrid supercars. Most owners with 20 or 30 other cars still say the P1 is their favorite one to drive.
The W1 is closer than ever to a literal Formula 1 car with a license plate on it, from the powertrain to the aerodynamics to the track performance. A hypercar like this is built around being the most track capable machine possible, but on the street it still has to be a car.
Comparison to the Rimac Nevera: The Rimac is the world's fastest production car, all electric, all-wheel drive with instant torque. The Rimac is still faster in a straight line and beats everything, but that's not the whole story. McLaren appears to be following the trend of another brand new 1,000+ horsepower hybrid, but the W1 maintains McLaren's distinctive approach with extreme lightweight construction, rear wheel drive, hydraulic steering, and 3D printed aerodynamic double wishbone suspension. It remains a lightweight purist's driver's machine.
The McLaren W1 exterior is an aerodynamic masterpiece designed entirely to move air as efficiently and quickly from front to back as possible. Key aerodynamic features include:
- An active front splitter that moves up and down, opening for DRS and closing when not needed
- Air moving over the hood quickly, with air from the front piece coming out the radiator and keeping the hood piece glued to the top of the car
- Air channeled along the side through a massive inlet, with the door essentially being a bunch of holes
- A top piece that keeps air continually moving over the top of the car
- An active rear wing that does a lot of moving
- A huge rear diffuser that completes the ground force effects
- Air leaving the back of the car twice as fast as it entered the front
The McLaren W1 features their best looking and most interesting interior of all time. The seats are built into the carbon fiber structure of the car. The knit material is interesting and looks like concept cars seen at CES.
The floating display has wired Apple CarPlay. There's a display in the back, and the whole binnacle moves with the steering wheel. Suspension controls are on the left and powertrain controls on the right, both able to go up or down.
Bowers and Wilkins speakers are throughout the cabin, with the knit material over speakers being acoustically transparent. Carbon fiber aeroducts for air conditioning look fantastic. There's a fire extinguisher and a spot for the key that can move back to expose another cup holder, giving the car two cup holders total.
Pulling a button gives access to space behind the driver and passenger, good enough for one and a half duffel bags or a duffel bag and a backpack. Since there's no other rear visibility, there's a camera for rear visibility. When turned off, the mirror sees nothing, but when on, the camera is useful even though the bottom quarter is taken up by the rear wing.
The door handle is made of carbon fiber. There are little LEDs inside that are dramatic at night. The car is essentially a carbon fiber tub.
Since the seats are fixed, there's a latch to move the pedals towards or away from the driver to adjust seating position. The driver moves the pedals and steering wheel into place rather than moving the seat. Features include nice big carbon fiber paddle shifters, a little bit of glass on the roof, and the world's thinnest sun visors made of barely compliant thin carbon fiber.
The car starts in comfort mode. The first noticeable things are being lowered to the ground and that it rides really well. On tight Italian mountain roads, the car absorbs potholes well in comfort mode. It's not the loudest, and the accelerator pedal is not too twitchy. Visibility is pretty great with a big windshield and huge side window that splits so only the bottom half opens for paying tolls.
The hydraulic steering is felt even at lower speeds, and McLaren continues to have the best steering in any supercar. The double wishbone suspension is 3D printed.
In comfort mode, the battery does torque fill to give a responsive gas pedal at lower RPMs. The battery is tiny at 1.4 kilowatt hours but uses a radial flux e-motor straight from Formula E, making it super power dense. The car can go 1 to 2 miles on electric only before the engine turns on.
Benchmark comparison with the newest Porsche 911 Turbo S:
- Porsche 911 Turbo S: 630 horsepower from engine alone, plus 80 horsepower from electrical system, totaling about 700 peak horsepower
- McLaren W1: Brand new in-house twin turbo flat plane crank 4L V8 making over 900 horsepower by itself, plus 342 horsepower from electrical system
Weight comparison:
- Porsche 911 Turbo S: 1,700 kg normal car weight for a hybrid
- McLaren W1: 1,399 kg dry weight quoted by McLaren, estimated 1,450 kg with fuel, under 3,200 lbs
Acceleration comparison:
- Porsche 911 Turbo S 0-186 mph: about 22 seconds
- McLaren W1 0-186 mph: 12.7 seconds
The binnacle above the steering wheel changes powertrain and suspension settings. In sport mode for both, everything stiffens up, it gets louder, gear shifts become more aggressive, and the accelerator becomes more responsive. The sounds come alive more in sport mode, with the most prominent sound besides the engine being the flutter and blowoff sound.
The car has long pulls with eight gears in the gearbox. There is no reverse gear, only electric motors for reverse. The W1 represents both what's happening in the hypercar world with 1,200 horsepower and crazy numbers, but also maintains McLaren's lightweight philosophy at 3,000 lbs with amazing hydraulic steering and communication.
McLaren reserved Mugello Circuit, which has 15 turns, twisting S-curves, 50 feet of elevation changes, and a long one kilometer straightaway. The Tuscan Grand Prix was hosted here in 2020, making it an F1 grade track. In race mode, the suspension drops and the rear wing fully extends back by almost a foot, becoming an extension of the rear diffuser and no longer street legal.
At over 190 mph at the end of the straight, the same speed Lewis Hamilton hit during the Tuscan Grand Prix in his Formula 1 car. The car stayed locked to the ground thanks to aerodynamics and Trofeo RS tires. The only time it felt slightly loose was on the biggest braking zone from 190 mph into turn one with the carbon ceramic brakes.
After 3 hours total in the car between track and street, the highlights are:
- Aesthetics including anhedral doors, amazing interior, nice materials, and build quality even on a prototype
- The drive character that can split between a road-trippable car with storage to a track monster, aero monster, and power monster
Concerns include it being a hybrid with associated long-term reliability questions. The prototype had some weird door latch issues but gets a pass as it's not finished. McLaren has gotten way better with build quality.
The car reminds most of the McLaren P1. It sounds a lot like the P1, is ridiculously powerful and almost lag-free like the P1. The electric motor deletes turbo lag, with acceleration felt from the electric motor while hearing the engine spool up. 399 units being built at $2 million plus dollars. The presenter considers it their new poster car for the bedroom.
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