Jay Leno Gives Us the McLaren P1’s First Drive and Review

Jay Leno is the first person not employed by McLaren to drive the new P1, a.k.a. the McLaren F1 for the 21st century. The Woking conglomerate set out to build the best driver’s car ever, and determining from Jay Leno’s reaction after a few laps around the Top Gear test track, McLaren pretty much nailed it.

If you have your doubts about the merits of a plug-in hybrid hypercar, consider this: the P1 can get to 186 mph five seconds faster than the McLaren F1. The P1 handles its 3,100 lbs. rather well, too.

There are 61 people who build McLaren’s new flagship, and from raw materials to finished product, the P1 is assembled in 10 steps. McLaren can build one P1 per day, on the way to a limited production run of 375, which is generous, seeing as they only made 64 road-going McLaren F1s.

McLaren P1 Specs

• 727-horsepower, 531-lb-ft turbocharged (up to 34.8 psi) 3.8L V8
• 177-horsepower, 192-lb-ft electric motor
• Combined system output of 903 horsepower and 664 lb-ft of torque
• 0-62 in less than three seconds
• 0-186 in less than 17 seconds
• Electronically limited 217-mph top speed
• 3,100-lb curb weight (approximate)
• 6.2-mile electric range

via [Jay Leno’s Garage]