McLaren’s road-car division plans to use racing simulation technology from Formula One and IndyCar racing to fine-tune its high-performance hypercars.
McLaren will use a new simulator to help develop its next generation of road-going vehicles, including its successor to the P1 hypercar.
McLaren Automotive – part of the broader McLaren Group containing its Formula One and IndyCar operations – has announced a partnership with UK-based Dynisma on simulation technology to help develop its road cars.
The partnership will see a Dynisma Motion Generator (DMG) simulator – with Dynisma also used by the Ferrari F1 team – installed at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, UK.
According to a statement from McLaren Automotive, the simulator – expected to come online in mid-2024 – will enable better road-car testing and development across key areas.
This includes vehicle dynamics – handling, braking and the overall responsiveness of the driving experience – as well as aerodynamics and powertrains (engines and hybrid systems).
It will also enable virtual testing of future vehicles, claimed to reduce the number of expensive, one-off real-world prototypes needed for new models, and speed up development while reducing costs.
McLaren has confirmed it is working on a successor to its P1 hypercar sold from 2013 to 2015 to go head-to-head with the follow-up to the 350km/h Ferrari LaFerrari.
French hypercar brand Bugatti is also expected to unveil its replacement for the Chiron in the first half of 2024, with V16 hybrid power.
The new McLaren flagship – due in 2024 and codenamed ‘P18’ – will reportedly switch from the traditional butterfly door design used by the brand since 1992, to top-hinged gullwing doors.
McLaren’s new simulator will also enable development on interior refinement – referred to as Noise, Vibration and Harshness or NVH – as well as the design of the interior controls.
It can likewise be utilized to test pilot Help Innovation (DAT) and independent innovation, McLaren says, and could show a particular tire for virtual testing.
In the cutthroat universe of Equation One – where each 10th of a second can have a major effect on a vehicle’s beginning network position – test systems are a basic device for groups, which use them to calibrate components of their race vehicles.
Test systems empower both trial and error as well as important, boundless ‘virtual’ track time – given rules limit how much certifiable testing – while additionally assisting more youthful drivers with acquiring experience.
McLaren Auto says the DMG test system offers world-driving innovation contrasted with different brands – working on the exactness of its virtual trying for move to the last creation vehicle.
This incorporates lower ‘inertness’ – how close the virtual vehicle’s way of behaving is to the constant reactions of an actual vehicle – to cause the driving experience to feel nearer to this present reality.
McLaren’s F1 team – which includes Melbourne-born driver Oscar Piastri – has been using an older simulator compared to key rivals, including Red Bull Racing, Mercedes-Benz and Ferrari.
The new partnership with Dynisma comes as the company’s operations are in a state of flux.
Recent reports suggested Bahrain’s state-owned investment fund, Mumtalakat Holding Company, was to gain full control of the loss-making McLaren Group after shareholders unanimously voted for a full recapitalisation of the business in December 2023.
However, according to website GPFans, the Bahrain fund is now looking to sell its majority stake in the company, with a March 2024 order to find a new buyer coming from King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa.
