McLaren F1 LM

McLaren F1 LM

Manufacturer	McLaren Automotive
Production	1995 5 produced (plus one prototype)
Class	Sports car
Body style	2-door 3-seat coupe
Layout	Rear mid-engine, rear-wheel drive
Engine	6.1 L V12
Transmission	6-speed manual
Wheelbase	2,718 mm (107.0 in)
Length	4,365 mm (171.9 in)
Width	1,820 mm (71.7 in)
Height	1,120 mm (44.1 in)
Kerb weight	1,062 kg (2,341 lb)
Designer	Gordon Murray

For the standard McLaren F1, see the McLaren F1 article.

The McLaren F1 LM is, in short, a track oriented edition of the McLaren F1. The LM is based on the McLaren F1 GTR with the necessary modifications in place to allow the modified GTR to be a road legal car, however without the engine intake restrictions imposed on the GTR racing edition by racing regulations.

Background

In late 1995^[1], five McLaren F1 LM (LM for Le Mans) were built in honour of the five McLaren F1 GTR's which finished the 1995 24 Hours of Le Mans, including taking the overall win.^[2]

Whereas the standard McLaren F1 was designed to be the ultimate roadcar in the sense that it should be comfortable and usable in everyday conditions despite being a very potent sports car, the LM edition is a lower and stiffer more track machine oriented vehicle, due to i.a. the very stripped down, bare interior, inserting solid aluminium bushings in place of the rubber bushings in the suspension system and omitting the Ground Plane Shear Centre system seen on the standard F1.^[1][3]

Although only five F1 LMs were sold, a sixth chassis exists in the form of XP1 LM, the prototype for modifications to the existing F1 to form the new F1 LM. This car is also painted Papaya Orange and is retained by McLaren. This car, reportedly worth $4 million, has been promised by McLaren CEO Ron Dennis to his driver Lewis Hamilton if he should win an additional two Formula One World Championship titles.^[4]

The F1 LMs can be identified by their Papaya orange paint. The F1 LM's were painted in this color in memory and tribute to Bruce McLaren, whose race colour was Papaya orange.^[3]

It has been discovered however, that contrary to the official word from McLaren at the time, only four (including the prototype) of the LMs were originally painted 'Papaya' Orange, with two of the three delivered to The Sultan of Brunei being painted black with graphics.

Specifications and modifications

Weight

The weight was reduced by approximately 60 kg (132 lb) over that of original^[5], through the removal of various pieces of trim and use of optional equipment, i.a. no interior noise suppression, no audio system, a very stripped down base interior, no fan assisted ground effect and no dynamic rear wing—giving the McLaren F1 LM a total mass of 1,062 kg (2,341 lb).^[3]

Engine

The F1 LM also used the same engine as the 1995 F1 GTR without the race-mandated restrictors. The engine has a compression ratio of 11.0:1 and produces (680 bhp/500 kW) at 7800 RPM.^[3] It has a peak torque of 705.0 Nm (520.0 ft·lbf) at 4500 rpm; the redline is at 8500 rpm. The total weight and horsepower of the car gives it a weight to power ratio of 3.4 lb/hp ^[6]

Aerodynamics

The aerodynamics of the LM is directly derived from the GTR race car aerodynamic configuration.

The bodywork of the vehicle has the addition of a larger cooling duct at the nose of the machine and cooling ducts on either side of the car for the brakes where the storage lockers are seen on the standard F1. In the place of the small dynamic rear wing seen on the regular F1 there is a considerably larger, adjustable (but not active, i.e. automatically adjusted) CFRP(Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic) rear wing mounted on the back of the vehicle, it has a CFRP splitter at the front, side skirts and extensions for the wheel arches in order to attempt increase downforce and thus give the car more grip.^[5] The car also features the diffuser from the GTR edition.^[7]

Tires

The McLaren F1 LM uses Michelin SX-MXX3 tires and features specially-designed 18-inch (457 mm) magnesium alloy wheels.^[7]

The tires at the front are 275/35 ZR 18, while at the rear 345/35 ZR 18.^[3]

The front wheels are 10.85 x 18 inches and at the rear 13.00 x 18 inches.^[3]

Brakes

The carbon ceramic brakes on the GTR are not present on the LM, the front and rear calipers on the brakes are 4 pot monobloc light alloy calliper, ventilated using the GTR95 Brake Cooling System.^[7]

Gearbox, clutch and miscellaneous

The LM has an upgraded gearbox with gun drilled driveshaft from the Le Mans specifications, tripod CV joint and straight cut gears, although the gear ratios are identical to the standard F1, i.e. 3.23:1, 2.19:1, 1.71:1, 1.39:1, 1.16:1, 0.93:1, with a final drive of 2.37:1.^[3][7] The magnesium casing for the gearbox which first appeared in the second generation GTR is not seen in the LM.^[1]

The clutch of the LM is a hydraulic remote actuation triple plate carbon/carbon clutch, the clutch is 200mm (7.87") in diameter.^[7]

The McLaren F1 LM has a fuel tank capacity of 90 litres.^[7]

The fact that the idle noise level inside the car is loud enough to prevent verbal communication is the reason that the car comes with a headset, which features ear protection and a means of communication through microphone, for the occupants.^{[citation needed]}

Performance

The F1 LM is regarded to be the fastest incarnation of the McLaren F1 roadcars through the gears and in overall track performance.^[5] It has a 0-60 mph (97 km/h) time of 3.9 seconds, 0-100 mph (161 km/h) in 6.7 seconds and was once the holder of many world records, including the 0-100-0 mph record which it completed in 11.5 seconds (over a distance of 828 feet) when driven by Andy Wallace at the disused airbase RAF Alconbury in Cambridgeshire.^[3][8]

Acceleration

• 0–60 mph (97 km/h): 3.9 s^[9]
• 0–100 mph (160 km/h): 6.7 s^[9]

Top speed

• 225 mph (362 km/h), which is less than the standard version due to added aerodynamic drag.^[9]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} "Ultimatecarpage on the McLaren F1 and its derivatives". http://www.ultimatecarpage.com/car/349/McLaren-F1.html. 
2. ^ "McLaren Automotive - LM history". http://www.mclarenautomotive.com/cars/f1lm_introduction.htm. 
3. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h} "McLaren F1 LM". Supercars.net Publishing. http://www.supercars.net/cars/1180.html. Retrieved 2008-05-05. 
4. ^ Piecha, Stan (2008-03-26). "The Sun - Hamilton promised $4m supercar if he wins 2 titles". London. http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/motorsport/article964102.ece. 
5. ^ ^{a b c} "McLaren Automotive - LM introduction". http://www.mclarenautomotive.com/mclarenf1/f1-lm-introduction.php. 
6. ^ "McLaren Automotive - LM specifications". http://www.mclarenautomotive.com/cars/f1lm_specifications.htm. 
7. ^ ^{a b c d e f} "McLaren Automotive on detailed specifications for the LM". http://www.mclarenautomotive.com/mclarenf1/f1-lm-specification.php. 
8. ^ "McLaren F1 LM Roadcar - Track Record". McLaren Automotive Ltd. Archived from the original on 2008-04-21. http://web.archive.org/web/20080421151212/http://www.mclarenautomotive.com/cars/f1lm_track-record.htm. Retrieved 2008-05-05. 
9. ^ ^{a b c} "Autozine, quoting CAR Magazine, December 1999". http://www.autozine.org/classic/mclaren.htm.