RUMOR: Is A McLaren/Honda Tie-Up Coming Down The Pipe? Possibilities Are Limitless With NEW P15

McLaren's back with a vengeance. Since the launch of the MP4-12C we've seen the company roll out an all-new flagship product to follow up the legendary F1, and in addition, we've been presented with the 650S. But, there's more.

Although we've been reporting to you that McLaren has been working on a middler between the MP4-12C — we weren't talking about the 650S — more speculation about a more serious top dog has come to light. Though details remain slim, Car and Driver is saying it will cost about $500,000 and it may involve a tie-up with Honda.

Though it may seem peculiar, keep two things in mind:

1) Gordon Murray was obsessed with the Acura NSX.

2) Honda will be supplying McLaren's racing outfit with motors starting in 2015.

Could it be true? Well, we live in a world where BMW and Toyota are working hand-in-hand, so, anything's possible.

...

An intriguing possibility is the involvement of Honda, which will power McLaren’s Formula 1 cars starting in 2015. When the F1 road car was being developed in the 1990s, Honda declined to join the program because a large-displacement V-12 engine was required. But times have changed and engine downsizing is rampant. It now makes sense for McLaren to leverage Honda’s extensive hybrid technology experience as it moves forward with the P15.

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JDMUSMuscle - 3/22/2014 5:05:03 PM

+3 Boost

This article pretty much proves that the idiot who kept saying "Japanese cars are soulless" was indeed an idiot. In fact, there are many morons like those on this website. It's pretty sad.

Anyone educated would know that NSX had a huge influence upon Ferrari and McLaren.

The problem is that Honda nowadays is only interested in making cheap family cars. Why? In a way, two reasons.

Sports cars may not be that profitable. And the other reason is that, when the Japanese make supercars, every one of them turned out to be always ahead of its time. GT-R turned out to be the most advanced supercar in the entire world, LFA turned out to be the most luxurious, reliable and beautiful supercar in history and NSX? was simply the envy of the world.

So it's kind of like, the Japanese giving a room to breathe for the Europeans. They do not really want to focus on supercars, but just on practical vehicles in general. But in reality, in terms of engineering, the Japanese engineering is 10 times better than European engineering. It is not an easy task to build reliable cars and yet, Toyota/Lexus and Honda/Acura are able to do this, which is amazing to say the least.