McLaren M81, the least desirable McLaren of all time
Posted on 19-04-2016 at 23:05 by Dizono – 25 Comments”
Yes, it is secretly a Ford Mustang, but that’s not all.
You think of a Ford Mustang, you think of a fat V8. Six – or viercilinders there over the years always been, but which wanted to you are actually not. Since the Mustang 2.3 EcoBoost you can about that contention, but certainly the old viercilinders in the Mustang II and III were a disgrace for the car. So you could visually thick decorated Mustang II Cobra with a 88 hp-vierpittertje…
The biggest engine in the Mustang III, better known as the Fox Body, the 5.0 Windsor V8. Sneak a 4.9, but with its 140 horsepower anyway, not really a winner. These were the years after the oil crisis, and in America they tried to engines more fuel efficient by making them extremely off to squeeze and not by the stroke volume to decrease. In 1980 had the 5.0 V8 to clear the field in favor of a ‘more economical’ 4.2 V8 with 120 hp. You can laugh about it, but you’ll so’n tin beast but in the forepeak.
That Ford downsize secretly quite seriously, which is evident from the fact that the sportiest Mustang III a 2.3 four cylinder with a turbo under the hood. This produced 132 hp and was due to his weight advantage faster than the achtcilinders. Ford foresaw that these viercilinders with supercharging the future would be for the Mustang, and decades later we can not do otherwise than they are partly right.
The consumer thought in 1980, however, very differently. They were accustomed to their gurgling V8’s and names to the low power of the purchase. To the sporting aspirations of the 2.3 Turbo to underline, was a phone call, committed to England and got a McLaren quest with limited resources, an extra-thick Mustang to build. The prototype was appreciated by the management of Ford and announced a further 249 copies of the McLaren M81 doped car to build.
Under the hood is a standard 2.3 Turbo with adjustable boost pressure, which allows the ability to temporarily boost could get to 175 hp. Best ok, but not what you expect when you see the quite developed body. The undercarriage was tackled by around fully adjustable Koni’s to fit and the thicker roll stabilizer were taken from Mustangs that police forces were delivered. The standard controlled gearbox was replaced by a manual vijfbak. Sounds in any case encouraging.
The performance of the McLaren M81? That prove to be more disappointing than his ability. From zero to hundred kilometers per hour takes exactly ten seconds. It will come as no surprise that Ford is the 249 planned McLaren M81’s not all sold got. Do not In the slightest, there were only ten copies (in addition to the original prototype) were built. The most typical of McLaren orange, a few in white or black.
