THE NEW NORMAL
V8 lovers, brace yourselves. Three new ‘junior’ supercars from McLaren, Maserati and Aston are coming, all with V6 hybrid power
Progress in powertrain technology is a lot like London buses. Not painfully slow, often late and with a strong eau-du-vom, but tends to arrive in twos and threes. Of course, certain leaps in tech and off-the-shelf components will always unlock new applications at a point in time, but the fact that the first three hybrid hypercars – McLaren P1, Porsche 918 Spyder and LaFerrari – all went into production within a few months of each other in 2013 still baffles me.
As does BMW and Mercedes coming up with the idea for a switchable 4WD/RWD system for the latest M5 and E63 at precisely the same moment, or Gordon Murray and Aston Martin fancying a last hurrah, high revving, naturally aspirated V12 and asking Cosworth to do the honours… simultaneously. It can’t all be coincidence? The spy racket must be alive and well.
And so to the Next Big Thing: mid-engined, junior supercars powered by downsized V6 twin-turbo engines featuring some form of hybrid assist. Clearly, ‘junior’ needs to be taken with a fistful of salt, because we’re talking about new 600bhp-plus supercars from McLaren, Maserati and Aston here, all with 0–62mph times of around three seconds and capable of the scary side of 200mph – figures that not too long ago were very senior indeed.
We start with the new one from Woking – no confirmed name yet, but a reveal around September is thought to be McLaren’s first choice, although it could be 2021 until we see it, depending on how the pandemic, er, pans out. Are we talking about a straight replacement for the 570S? If it helps you get your head around it, then yes, but McLaren is believed to be planning a subtle alteration to its range structure.
While the Ultimate Series (Senna, Speedtail, P1 etc) will remain at the head of the table, the Sports Series and Super Series family labels could be ditched. That would still leave a two-tier arrangement – the ‘V6 hybrid’ family and the ‘720S’ family (much like Lamborghini has the baby Huracán and daddy Aventador) – but it would allow this new V6 hybrid to sit higher than the 570S. Make sense? Us neither. Sounds like someone in the marketing department has far too much time on their hands.
As you can see in our rendering, based on the latest round of spy shots, the look will be very much a more compact, marginally less aggressive 720S. Expect an output circa 650bhp, rear-wheel drive and a price of around £180k, initially at least, leaving enough breathing space for the 720S, or whatever astronomically powerful replacement McLaren is already cooking up. That would leave the £163k, 620bhp GT as the entry point to McLaren ownership.
But here’s where it gets interesting, because unlike both the Maserati MC20 and Aston Martin Vanquish, the
“WE’RE TALKING ABOUT NEW 600BHP-PLUS CARS FROM McLAREN, MASERATI AND ASTON”
McLaren is expected to be a plug-in hybrid from day one, with a genuinely usable electric-only range. Let’s say around 20 miles – enough for a zero-emission commute if you’re lucky (and brave) and shockingly low CO2 emissions of just over 100g/km. You can hear CEOs due a new company car smacking their chops from here. It should only weigh 30kg more than the outgoing 570S, too – remarkable when you consider the hybrid gubbins in the P1 weighed a total of 140kg.
Moving on to Maserati, a company that’s reinvented itself more times than Bowie. The latest masterplan, which was due to be revealed alongside the MC20 at an event in Modena in May, has now been pushed back to September. We’re expecting Maserati to announce a new smaller SUV and a new GranTurismo (remember the Alfieri concept? That’s grown and morphed into this) for 2021, a new Quattroporte in 2022 and a new Levante in 2023 – all offered with pure-electric versions.
But it’s this year’s MC20 we care most about – a full-fat mid-engined supercar from Maserati. The last time we saw one of those was the MC12, a car that we all fell for, hard, but was basically a reclothed Ferrari Enzo. Expect something unique this time around – a bespoke carbon tub, a new V6 twin-turbo engine (possibly a development of the motor Alfa was working on for the recently canned 8C and GTV projects) offered initially with RWD, mild hybrid boost, over 600bhp and costing from around £160k. A more powerful 4WD 700bhp plug-in hybrid should follow and, eventually, a pure electric version.
There’s meaning in that name. MC20 = Maserati Corse 2020, which confirms Maser is going racing. No details on when or where yet, but when a company’s racing CV includes Fangio winning the 1957 F1 championship in a 250F, it’s significant news.
Aston showed its cards earliest of the three – revealing the curvy Vanquish concept at the 2019 Geneva motor show alongside its more exotic brethren – the Valhalla and Valkyrie. But due to some well publicised financial trouble of late, you won’t be able to buy a Vanquish until 2023, after the other two. And unlike the carbon-tubbed hyper-Astons, the Vanquish will make do with aluminium underpinnings and less ballistic performance.
I say that, but Aston’s new in-house ‘TM01’ twin-turbo 3.0-litre V6, gamely supported by batteries and an electric motor, should deliver north of 700bhp to the rear wheels… as a starting point. But then, so it should when the price is expected to be £250,000 upwards. A plug-in hybrid version is tipped to join the range at some point in its life-cycle, but unlike the MC20, Aston isn’t interested in a pure EV.
Ferrari isn’t about to miss out on the action, either. It confirmed way back in 2018 that it was working on a V6 hybrid engine family to join V8 and V12. Smart money says it’ll definitely be an option on the Purosangue SUV, but it’s unclear whether an F8 Tributo successor will get a V6 option, or if Ferrari – which has repeatedly denied working on a more affordable ‘Dino’ – will introduce a new entry level mid-engined model line. Either way, heed the good news: sonorous, petrol-powered supercars, with a little help from electricity, aren’t done yet.
“YOU CAN HEAR CEOS DUE A NEW COMPANY CAR SMACKING THEIR CHOPS FROM HERE”