cars news 10: McLaren Confirms Next-Generation Super Series

The Geneva International Motor Show is a highlight every year because it doesn’t deal with standard pedestrian cars; it deals in supercars, hypercars, and everything exotic and rare. This year will be no different with a host of supercar reveals planned. However, McLaren has preempted the show to give us a sneak peek at its upcoming replacement for the 650S.

Building upon the success of the last Super Series; which encompassed the 12C, 650S, and 675LT, McLaren is building the new car on a brand new carbon fiber monocoque, called the Monocage II. The carbon fiber passenger cell appears to adopt much of the same architecture found on the Monocage I used in the P1 hybrid hypercar.

Yet, using a new engineering method, the ultra-lightweight carbon fiber structure is more rigid than the previous 650S, but it weighs 40 pounds less. McLaren unfortunately didn’t say how it stacked up to the P1’s chassis, however, that omission might mean that it’s on par with the hypercar. But even compared to its competitors like the Ferrari 488 GTB and Lamborghini Huracan, the new McLaren chassis is the lightest in its class.

McLaren states that the development of the Monocage II “has allowed McLaren to incorporate a wider cabin entrance and lower sill to improve access into the driver environment that will offer “excellent all-round visibility.” The new chassis additionally allowed the engineers to lower the car’s already considerably low-slung center of gravity, thereby improving its dynamics and performance.

“Super Series is the core of the McLaren business and personifies the blend of extreme performance, crafted luxury and unparalleled driver involvement that is the McLaren heartland,” said McLaren Automotive CEO Mike Flewitt, in a release. Furthermore, “This is the first time we have replaced a product family and the new Super Series will be absolutely true to McLaren’s pioneering spirit in being a revolutionary leap forward, both for our brand and the supercar segment.”

Up until now, McLaren has been mum about what the new car will be called, with rumors ranging from the 750S to P14 to some undisclosed new name. But we may now know thanks to a slip-up of file naming. The press release’s filename is “P14 tease 1_USA FINAL.” If this can be trusted, and we think it can, the new Super Series will adopt the P14 nameplate, bridging the gap between the P1 Ultimate Series and the P14 Super Series.

The “P14” will debut this March in Geneva.