New Holy Trinity: Ferrari F80 vs McLaren W1 vs Porsche Mission X

A decade ago, the holy trinity of hyper cars included the LaFerrari, P1 and 918 Spyder, how do the new ones compare?

Back in the waning days of Top Gear UK with Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond they were trying to wrangle Ferrari, McLaren and Porsche to bring their new hyper cars to the track so they could be compared where it mattered most. The LaFerrari, P1 and 918 Spyder were referred to as the Holy Trinity. Clarkson, May and Hammond did eventually get the cars together on their new show The Grand Tour. Spoiler alert, the Porsche 918 was the quickest. The car presenting trio has moved on, but Ferrari, McLaren and Porsche are still at it with a new trio of hyper cars set to do battle. It is the Holy Trinity Part 2.

Fittingly it is a video on the Top Gear YouTube channel that gives us our best look yet at the Ferrari F80, McLaren W1 and Porsche Mission X. For nearly 40 minutes we get up close and personal with the cars that represent the peak of performance from their respective manufacturers. Are they as good as their predecessors? Better? Well, one thing seems to be true about all three of them. They are not as good looking as the first Holy Trinity of cars. The newest generation may be faster, more powerful and more advanced. But the design of these cars screams function over form. Let’s take a closer look at each.

Ferrari F80

With 1,200 horsepower the F80 is the most powerful road-going car Ferrari has ever made. Each one has a starting price north of $3 million. Only 799 will be made and they are all sold out. So, this video is likely as close as you will ever get to one. From a design perspective, that might be OK, because it is not pretty. It is a brutal weapon of speed. There is an insane amount of active aero. The power comes from a combination of a combustion engine and electric motors. It borrows heavily from F1 tech and the Le Mans winning 499P. The chassis of the car is an all-new design. The active suspension system has also been re-engineered from the ground up. There is no doubt that this car will be fast. But will it be fun? We have to wait to find out.

McLaren W1

Like the Ferrari, there are few people that would call this car gorgeous to look at. But from a technological perspective, it has plenty to drool over. This car is even rarer than the Ferrari, with only 399 units to be produced. But like the Ferrari they are all sold out already despite the $2+ million price tag. The tub of the W1 is not shared with any other McLaren. It is called an Aerocell and it is all about air management around and under the car. The power is a hybrid solution like the Ferrari with the battery technology coming from the McLaren F1 program. The combustion engine revs to 9,200 rpm. That makes it the highest revving McLaren ever.

McLaren claims that the W1 is also the fastest accelerating road-legal McLaren ever. It can go from 0 to 200 kph (124 mph) in just 5.8 seconds and will be going 186 mph in 12.7 seconds.

Porsche Mission X

The Mission X is the biggest mystery of the new Holy Trinity. It is still in concept phase and Porsche has not revealed many details about it at this point. However, the one thing they have said is that the car will be fully electric. Porsche has been backing down on their EV strategy a bit lately, so perhaps that will change. One thing that probably won’t change is Porsche’s desired outcome for the car. They want this to be the fastest road car ever to do a lap around the Nürburgring. What will help the Mission X achieve that goal is downforce that is supposed to be well in excess of what the current 911 GT3 RS can muster. And as for power, the goal is for a 1:1 power-to-weight ratio. So, if the car tips the scales at 1,500 kilograms you can expect 1,500 horsepower. We shall see.

We shall see about all of these cars. This was a great look at them, but no one has yet had any seat time in them. Once that happens, we will really know how they compare to the last batch of Holy Trinity hyper cars.

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Joe Kucinski

Joe has been obsessed with cars since he got his very first Matchbox toy in the ‘70s. In 2003, he found a new obsession in track days that led to obtaining his SCCA competition license in 2015. In 2019, he became a certified driving instructor for the National Auto Sport Association. His love for all things four wheels has never wavered, whether it's driving some of the best cars in the world on the racetrack, tackling 2,000-mile road trips in 2-seat sports cars or being winched off the side of a mountaintop in a Jeep. Writing for the suite of Internet Brands Auto Communities sites, including Rennlist.com, Ford Truck Enthusiasts, 6 Speed and more allows him to share that knowledge and passion with others.