The McLaren M838T engine is a 90-degree twin-turbocharged flat-plane V8, designed and developed in collaboration with Ricardo.
Development McLaren bought the rights to the Tom Walkinshaw Racing developed engine, itself based on the Nissan VRH engine architecture, which was designed for the IRL Indycar championship but never raced. However, other than the bore, little of that engine remains in the M838T. In only 18 months, Ricardo went from a modified Nissan engine design to a running prototype.
The Ricardo-developed engine redlines at 8500 rpm, but 80% of the engine's torque is available as low as 2000 rpm. McLaren claims that the engine has the highest horsepower to emission ratio of any current production engine.
The engine is built at Ricardo's engine assembly facility in Shoreham-by-Sea, West Sussex. The turbochargers are supplied by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI), and are different units from those used in Mitsubishi Lancer Evolutions.
Applications
The engine was designed and built for the McLaren MP4-12C, where it produces at 7000 rpm and at 3000 rpm of torque. In 2012, McLaren released an update increasing power to at 7500 rpm. For the GT3 racecar, the engine produces less power at only .
The engine has a bore and stroke of and a bore spacing of .
McLaren and Ricardo redeveloped the M838T engine for use in the McLaren P1. The engine has been upgraded to optimise cooling and durability under higher loads. The engine block has also been modified to incorporate an integrated electric motor as part of a hybrid drive train. The petrol engine produces at 7,200 rpm with an additional from the electric motor. At 4,000 rpm the engine is said to produce of torque while the electric motor can produce a maximum of from 0 rpm upwards. ModelsYearsCodenamePowerTorqueMP4-12C2011–2012M838Tat 7000 rpmat 3000 rpm2013–2014at 7500 rpmMP4-12C GT32011–2015 -650S2014–2017at 7250 rpmat 6000 rpm675LT2015–2017at 7100 rpmat 5500 rpmMSO 688 HS2016–2017P12013–2015M838TQ at 7200 rpm Electric: Total: Electric: Total: P1 GTR/LM2015–2017 at 7250 rpmElectric: Total: Total: 540C2016–2021M838TEat 7500 rpmat 3500–6500 rpm570Sat 7400 rpmat 5000–6500 rpm600LT2018–2021at 7500 rpmat 5500–6500 rpm620R2020–2021at 7500 rpmat 5500 rpm
References
External links Official McLaren Automotive website