Here’s Why You Can’t Move the Driver’s Seat in a McLaren W1
The W1's fixed driver's seat demonstrates how one small change can net a wealth of design and engineering benefits in a purpose-built hypercar. The post Here’s Why You Can’t Move the Driver’s Seat in a McLaren W1 appeared first on The Drive.
McLaren isn’t the only hypercar maker to incorporate fixed seats in its latest masterpiece; rivals like the LaFerrari and Aston Martin Valkyrie have ’em, too. In the case of the McLaren W1, though, the company didn’t force fixed seats to show off, or charge customers even more money for bespoke seat padding. The W1’s seats don’t move because that helps it stay as light and aerodynamic as possible. A new video from McLaren explains the rationale behind the fixed seat, and it all revolves around the hypercar’s new Aerocell carbon-fiber chassis.
Back when the W1 was still a blank sheet of paper, McLaren’s engineering team knew it had to reach deep to achieve its weight and drag-coefficient targets. So when it came time to design the new Aerocell chassis, the crew was willing to make any changes necessary.
“Fundamental to this project was the aero story,” said Andy Sylvester-Thorne, McLaren’s head of body structures. “That meant we needed to shrink the Aerocell down in the key areas. One of the key facilitators of that was having a fixed seat because that allowed us to shorten the monocoque.”
It’s a compounding effect, too. With a fixed chair in place, McLaren was not only able to make the front structure more compact but also reduce the height and angle of the A-pillars and roof, improving aerodynamics. More efficient front-end packaging gained by the seats allowed McLaren to push the front axles even further back. They extend outwards through pre-built holes in the carbon fiber front impact pillars, shortening the dash-to-axle ratio and, again, improving aero. It’s all explained in the video below, starting at about the 1:10 mark.
Long before Sylvester-Thorne worked on the W1, he was also in charge of designing the chassis for the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren, a project that was led by the legendary and famously obsessive Gordon Murray. In other words, he understands what it means to agonize over the tiniest details to get things just right, and it seems that’s exactly what’s been done with the McLaren W1. Now, when are we going to get that W1 versus Ferrari F80 race?
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The post Here’s Why You Can’t Move the Driver’s Seat in a McLaren W1 appeared first on The Drive.
