Just like the title says, here is a comparison of the new McLaren MP4-28 and its predecessor the MP4-27. Side on profile and overhead images have been compared, with the 2013 car appearing first.
There are differences, but you do have to look closely!
McLaren is celebrating its 50th birthday this year and to kick off the launch of their 2013 F1 car they dusted off some of their most significant racecars in their proud history to serve as a reminder of the great things the team has achieved in that time. Then, of course, it was time for Jenson Button and Sergio Perez to reveal the MP4-28 for the first time.
Here’s a list of the cars featured in the video:
McLaren has just taken the wraps off its new MP4-28. For the time being they’ve only published a selection of pics from the launch itself. With any luck there’ll be some clean studio images soon showing the car in a better light.
We do have for you a copy of the car’s press pack, available below in PDF form.
We can tell you the MP4-28 is visually very similar to its predecessor, however we’re told it’s a very different car under the skin. Interestingly, the MP4-28 does feature a stepped nose, but it’s hidden beneath a “vanity panel”.
“The MP4-28 isn’t merely a refinement of last year’s seven-race-winning car, it’s a deep and sweeping re-design of an already successful chassis in several key areas—most notably around the nose and front suspension, the sidepod profiles and the rear bodywork,” the official team statement reads.
Of course, as well as a new car, McLaren has a new driver pairing for 2013, with 23-year-old Mexican Sergio Perez to race alongside Jenson Button.
UPDATE: Three new studio images added below.
UPDATE #2: Think the MP4-28 looks just like last year’s car, then watch the new video added below with some great analysis from Peter Winsdor and Craig Scarborough.
The reason we’re about to see a rush of F1 launches is for the simple fact that pre-season testing is just around the corner. Indeed the first on-track action for the year kicks off early next week, on Tuesday 5 February.
5–8 February – Jerez
19–22 February – Barcelona
28 February–3 March – Barcelona
[Pic: Ferrari]
Lotus got in first with their E21 and McLaren has just taken the wraps off its brand new MP4-28 (we’re waiting on the official release of pics). And by this time next week all 2013 F1 cars, except Williams’ and Marussia’s, will be revealed.
Stay tuned to AUSmotive over the coming days as we’ll bring you the latest wallpaper sized pics and press material from the world of F1.
Lotus – Monday 28 January
McLaren – Thursday 31 January
Ferrari – Friday 1 February
Force India – Friday 1 February
Sauber – Saturday 2 February
Red Bull Racing – Sunday 3 February
Mercedes – Monday 4 February
Toro Rosso – Monday 4 February
Caterham – Tuesday 5 February
Marussia – Tuesday 5 February
Williams – Tuesday 19 February
Let’s forget for a moment that this stupidly named Kia pro_cee’d GT is powered by a comparatively meek 150kW 1.6 litre turbo diesel, on looks alone, could you see yourself ditching your Golf GTI (or similar hot hatch) for this rather snazzy looking Kia?
The three-door pro_cee’d GT and its mate, the five-door cee’d GT, will be revealed in full at the Geneva Motor Show in early March. For Kia’s part they’re rather proud of them too, and rightly so. They’ve labelled the GT models as their “most performance-focused production cars ever”.
Although, that comment does put things into perspective. The 150kW/265Nm engine is driven through the front wheels and exclusively coupled to a 6-speed manual transmission (when a low revving diesel is probably better matched to a dual-clutch jobbie). They have a claimed 0–100 time of 7.9 seconds.
Judged purely on performance, they’re not great numbers. And without even knowing how well the cars handle, it’s hard to see the Kia GT winning over too many hearts and minds in the lucrative hot hatch segment.
But in the minds of budget conscious buyers the pro_cee’d GT presents a more compelling case. Assuming, of course, that the price is right. It looks fantastic! European-based Chief Design Officer, Peter Schreyer, deserves a pat on the back.
For some years now Kia has improved its styling no end. Indeed, they make some of the best looking cars on the market; see current Rio and Optima models. Even the Cerato Koup looks pretty good. And the Track’ster Concept was on the right side of quirky to be very damn cool.
On the one hand, then, we applaud Kia for making inroads into the hot hatch market. Yet, while acknowledging they’re now very serious about style, we bemoan the fact they bottled it when it came to performance. Perhaps in time they’ll catch up there as well, but just imagine if the pro_cee’d GT had an engine with 180kW/400Nm or so.
That might make GTI buyers think twice.
Ferrari has confirmed the launch for its 2013 F1 car will take place in Maranello on Friday. They have also told the world their latest challenger will be called the F138. The numbers reference the year, 2013, and the final season F1 will use a V8 engine configuration.
Until the end of the 2005 season Formula 1 used 3.0 litre V10 engines, before switching to the current specification of 2.4 litre V8s. Next year will usher in new engine regs which specify all teams must use a turbocharged 1.6 litre V6.
We’ll bring you images and info from Ferrari following the unveiling of the F138.
Mark Webber has used his final column for the BBC, for the time being, to unload his thoughts on Lance Armstrong. The 36-year-old Aussie reveals he sought inspiration form Armstrong around 1999–2000 while reflecting on his grandfather’s battle with cancer.
“One of my biggest heroes, and one of the biggest influences on my life, was my grandfather. The last year and a half of his life was torturous. He had the most brutal finish to his life with cancer, and that knocked me around because it knocked my dad around. I was 14,” said Webber.
But rather than simply use the Lance Armstrong story, Webber looked deeper. In 2001 he made contact with the staff at the Indiana University Medical Centre who helped Armstrong through his recovery.
“Curiosity got the better of me. I wanted to see the people who had treated him and ask some questions about how he was, knowing full well I’d probably get as far as the reception and that would be it.
“But two days later I got a phone call from Latrice Haney, the nurse who worked very closely with Lance. She’s the one Armstrong describes as a real angel—it’s one of the things he did get right as she was a lovely, kind-natured person.
“She was super-professional throughout and said he had been very tough; he’d really fought the cancer hard,” wrote Webber.
After Mark gained entry into F1 and his profile grew, opportunities to meet Armstrong soon came.
“Then, through friends of friends, I got to spend some time with Lance, did some rides with him and went to his ranch when I was in Texas after the 2004 Brazilian Grand Prix.
“It was such a big thing for me at the time. I jumped into Dead Man’s Hole with him and some of his mates; it’s a place he describes in the book as making him feel alive after his cancer survival.”
As the first F1 car revealed for season 2013 it’s an opportune time to compare the new Lotus E21 alongside its predecessor, the E20. The image above is taken from the 2013 Lotus F1 Team media kit (see here) and for extra comparison we’ve compared old and new in a series of three images after the break.
Sounding more and more like an old BMW model, this is the E21, the car the Lotus F1 Team, hopes will propel them to greater heights in the 2013 season.
Here at Ausmotive HQ we were hoping to see the end of the terrible ‘platypus’ nose design from last year. But it seems as though Lotus thought the addition of some more red paint, further diluting the classic Lotus livery from the 1970s and 80s, would be enough to distract people’s attention that, really, this car looks pretty much like last year’s E20.
To be fair there’s not been a lot of regulation changes in the off-season. It’s the calm before the storm that the new 2014 regs will bring in, with the switch the turbocharged V6 engines being the major change.
There’s more pics for you after the break and some introductory motherhood statements from the key Lotus men. We’ll update this post a bit later with more fluffy text from Enstone as well.
UPDATE 29 January: Q&A interviews from Kimi Raikkonnen, Romain Grosjean, Eric Boullier and James Allison have been added below, along with a special bonus right at the end.
Cast your mind back to the middle of last year, when Volvo announced its 508hp S60 Polestar. You were probably thinking to yourself, I wonder what that would be like to drive. Well, in this relatively brief clip from Chris Harris we find out.
Kind of.
Conditions were a bit too extreme, insfoar as there was snow all over the place, for a truly objective test, but it looks like Chris had fun anyway. Which is why he also thrashed around in a Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG for good measure.
Proving even the best are not immune to simple errors the S60 is powered by an inline six cylinder engine, and a massive blowdryer, not a V6 as noted in the clip. Pretty sure we can all forgive him on that one.
Anyway, since the original release of the details Volvo has said they will make six of these S60 Polestar jobbies. If you have £200K (approx AU$300K) you can get your hands on one. Yikes!
In my period of relative inactivity I almost missed Chris Harris’ first video of the year, featuring the Singer 911. Shame on me. And, if you don’t know what a Singer 911 is, then shame on you. Thankfully, though, there’s almost 30 minutes of beauty for you after the break.
Generally speaking, I’m not a true fan of old 911s, and strictly speaking these Singer machines aren’t old cars, they just look like that way.
Want.