The McLaren Senna might be coming up to its third Birthday, but it remains the most track-capable McLaren road car in the British marque’s arsenal. Still just as opinion splitting as the day it was revealed, the Senna has become an instantly recognisable member of the supercar establishment.
We actually have a review of the McLaren Senna on our website, so be sure to check that out.
While this potent performance machine is no spring chicken, it still has a few interesting features and little-known facts hiding beneath its carbon panels. Here’s five of them.
Why Senna?
It was a very bold move for McLaren to name this car Senna, after arguably the most famed racing driver of all time. Ayrton Senna was a supreme talent in the world of Formula 1 and won three world championships before his untimely death in 1994. He experienced huge success with McLaren, and will forever be associated with the legendary McLaren MP4/4 car that won all but one race in its season.
The Senna and McLaren connection is clear, but to name a car after such a great driver? It had better be quite a car! Beyond the marketing benefits, the McLaren Senna also helped raise money for the Instituto Ayrton, a family-run foundation to help disadvantaged children in Brazil. A percentage of each car’s £750,000 price tag went to the charity.
McLaren Senna 500
Sticking with the theme of charity, our next fun fact is that the very last McLaren Senna – or it’s build-slot at that point in time – was auctioned for charity. Car 500 of 500 had a winning bid of £2,000,000 when the hammer fell, a figure that’s more than double the other 499 examples. The good news is that every penny of that vast some went to the Instituto Ayrton.
Car 500 was built to the winning bidders exact specification.
McLaren Senna number 1
We’ve talked about the last McLaren Senna, but what about the first? Chassis 001 was handed over at the McLaren Technology Centre in July 2018. However, this was no ordinary Senna. Taking full advantage of McLaren Special Operations, David Kyte commissioned a bespoke car with an incredible design that took over 600 hours to create. There are many unique details on this car, but the Senna logos and championship years on the throttle pedal are particular highlights.
What did David do immediately after taking delivery of this car? He set off on a road trip to the Paul Ricard track in France to see what his new toy was capable of.
Aero
Most supercars are forged from a compromise between the engineers and designers. It has to work, but it also needs to be pretty. The McLaren Senna certainly isn’t a looker, but it is aerodynamically beautiful thanks to engineers taking the lead in this project.
We all know that this supercar is fast in a straight line, with its twin-turbocharged V8 packing 789bhp and rocketing the car from 0-186mph in an astonishing 17.5 seconds. However, it’s the trick aerodynamics gluing this car to the track that makes it truly special. It generates 800kg of downforce, 500kg of which is conjured by that vast rear wing.
Active aero elements continuously trim the car for optimum balance, and the speed you can carry through corners is truly remarkable. However, one of the best examples of how this supercar manipulates physics are its gurney flaps. The back of the Senna is pretty open and only covered by a series of slats. Just above these carbon pieces is a small flap that helps generate a vacuum at speed. This is used to suck hot air out of the car for better cooling than a conventional series of fans and radiators. Considering the Senna is track-focused, it’ll be generating a lot of heat a lot of the time.
Weight
Something else that’s a big contributor to speed, is weight – or lack of it. McLaren went to some extreme lengths to ensure the Senna went on a serious diet. The British manufacturer’s talent with carbon really shines through, with the Senna’s door weighing just 10kg, that huge wing tipping the scales at just 5kg, and the seats? A scarcely believable 3.3kg!
Keyword: 5 things you didn’t know about the McLaren Senna