Lewis Hamilton has been promised a $4 million McLaren supercar for free - if he wins the world titles this year. The 23-year-old British driver told The Sun newspaper that he first clapped eyes on the ultra-rare McLaren LM in the team’s F1 factory ten years ago.
“When I first went to McLaren it was there and I fell in love with it,” he said of the orange LM, one of only five such cars in the world. Dennis, 60, says Hamilton can have the car if he wins the 2008 title, and McLaren is crowned constructors’ champion.
“Fortunately, our deal gives me a bit of time to save up!” Dennis joked.
Hamilton currently leads the drivers’ title from Kimi Raikkonen by three points, while McLaren sits five points ahead of BMW-Sauber in the teams’ standings. (GMM)
What is the McLaren F1 LM ?
The McLaren F1 LM (LM for Le Mans) was built in honor of the five McLaren F1 GTR’s which won the 1995 24 Hours of Le Mans. Thus, only five cars were built for the road.
The weight was reduced by approximately 75 kg (165lb) over that of original, through the removal of various pieces of trim and use of optional equipment. The car also had a different transaxle, various aerodynamic modifications, specially-designed 18-inch (457 mm) magnesium alloy wheels and upgraded gearbox. The F1 LM also used the same engine as the 1995 F1 GTR, however, without race-mandated restrictors to produce 691 PS (680 hp/508 kW). It had a top speed of 225 mph (362 km/h), which is less than the standard version due to added aerodynamic drag, despite identical gear ratios.
The LM is 76 kg lighter than the stock F1 — a total mass of 1062 kg - this is achieved through no interior noise suppression, no audio system, a very stripped down base interior, no fan assisted ground effect and no dynamic rear wing. In the place of the small dynamic rear wing there is a considerably larger, fixed CFRP rear wing mounted on the back of the vehicle. The fact that the idle noise level inside the car is loud enough to be unable to communicate verbally is the reason for that the car comes with a headset for the driver and passenger(s) which features ear protection and a means of communication through microphone. The conventional instruments are replaced with a LED implementation which feature more information than the former type.
The LM machine has the following performance figures: a peak torque of 705nm (520 ft lbs) at 4500 RPM and a peak power of 498.1kW (668bhp) at 7800 RPM, it has a redline at 8500rpm, the total weight of 1062kg gives the car a 110.16 bhp per litre ratio.
The F1 LM is regarded to be the fastest incarnation of the McLaren F1 roadcars through the gears and in overall track performance. It has a 0-60 mph (97 km/h) time of 2.9 seconds, 0-100 mph (161 km/h) in 5.9 seconds and was once the holder of many world records, including the 0-100-0 mph record which it completed in 8.5 seconds.
The F1 LMs can be identified by their Papaya orange paint. The F1 LM’s were painted in this colour in memory and tribute to Bruce McLaren, whose race colour was Papaya orange. Although only five F1 LMs were sold, a sixth chassis exists in the form of XP1 LM, the prototype for modifications to the existing F1 to form the new F1 LM. This car is also painted Papaya Orange and is retained by McLaren. Other F1s have been modified by McLaren with LM bodyparts at the behest of the owners, however these are not full F1 LMs since they do not use the race engine.
[Source : MotorAuthority.com, Wikipedia.com]
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