Three of Britain’s most prominent sports car makers, Aston Martin, Lotus and McLaren, will invade Switzerland next week with a trio of track-ready supercars set to make global debuts at the Geneva auto show.
From McLaren comes the P1 GTR, a race-ready version of the road-going P1 plug-in hybrid supercar sporting a raft of aerodynamic modifications, including an aggressive front splitter that required the front track be widened by 80 mm, and a fixed rear spoiler that towers 400 mm over the car’s tail. Along with aero-flaps ahead of the front wheels, McLaren says the P1 GTR boasts 10 percent more downforce than the street-legal P1.
McLaren says the P1’s powertrain—a twin-turbo gas V8 and electric motor—has been “thoroughly revised for optimum performance on-track” in the GTR, with some race-specific components swapped in, and others removed altogether to help save more than 50 kg compared to the standard car. The P1 GTR will be shown in yellow-and-green paintwork that recalls the company’s first Le Mans racers, specifically the F1 GTR chassis #06R, that competed in the 1995 24 Hours of Le Mans.
McLaren will also show the 675LT, a lightweight, track-ready version of the 650S, which boasts one-third new parts and a modified engine.
Aston Martin’s debut will be the Vantage GT3, a limited-production model that “combines all of A-M’s learning from its years of sports car competition to produce the most performance-focused road-going Vantage.”
Weighing in at 100 kg less than a standard Vantage V12, the GT3 boasts a new version of that car’s engine, bumping output to more than 600 hp from 565.
The GT3 is also the lowest and widest Vantage with broader front and rear track measurements, and loads of carbon fibre and “prominent” rear wing and “pronounced” front splitter. As in the McLaren, the aero add-ons are functional, and provide a significant increase in downforce. And if the weight savings Aston’s engineers have included isn’t enough, buyers can add optional carbon fibre roof and polycarbonate rear and rear-quarter windows.
Finally, Lotus is set to reveal the Evora 400, the latest iteration of its range-topping model, named for its supercharged Toyota V6’s power output, which rises to 400 hp from the previous version’s 345. Of the three, the Lotus is least overt about its performance intentions, with no big spoilers or splitters; the new look simply adds some sharper edges to car’s trim lines.
In spite of the extra power, Lotus says the Evora 400 is 22 kg lighter than the outgoing car, sticking to the brand’s philosophy of using lightweight engineering as a means to achieving supercar performance.
All three cars make their global debuts in Geneva on Tuesday, March 3.