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Official Release dates = 23rd Oct Au/Eu/Nz/UK – 27th Nth America

by XboxOZ360

©2009 Grant Smythe

Forza 3 Update 3rd October #3

OXCGN Forza 3 October Update #3 – Daily Vehicle News

Black Beast – #41 Gulf McLaren F1 GTR

Most gamers dealings with the McLaren are somewhat limited and many have really only been familiar with the McLaren F1 in such games as Forza, Forza 2, PGR 3, PGR 4, and several others that have had the rights to use licensed vehicles in their games.

Not many have actually known the real history behind the F1 GTR and the fact that that series only had 100 cars ever built for both sale and use as racing rigs, of which only 28 were ever the F1 GTR’s. What follows will help Forza 3 fans understand a little more about the great cars that will be circulating around the 100 odd tracks in Forza 3.

• The Current McLaren MC 12 – a Glorious beast

This is what awaits you at the McLaren showroom these days . . . aaahhhh drool.

The 1998 #41 Gulf Team Davidoff McLaren F1 GTR is one of the cars we’ll have a chance top ‘fang-around in’, and we’ll need to do so gently, just like all of the R2 class cars. Not as much as the R1′s of course, but still a handful at a respectable PI rating of R2-846 and in the hands of the unsuspecting game-racer or novice racer, it will no doubt test their abilities.

Many of whom will no doubt blame the game (ie developer) for the cars over-active tail-end or lack of traction and skitishness these class of racers exhibit in the hands of any novice. Actually, this is true of all of the R Class vehicles, as they are all purpose built with racing in mind, and race drivers are not lead-footed hoons, they treat their rides like an extension of themselves, and know how to squeaze every last 1000 second out of each lap.

Something many ardent Forza 3 fans will be doing when they lay their backsides in these cars once the game is released.

The History

A thing of pure beauty

The BMW powered, British-built F1 from McLaren International, Ltd, is arguably the fastest and most expensive production car ever made.

McLaren is known more for its F1 racing efforts where it won the 2008 world championship with Lewis Hamilton than its manufacture of road cars. The F1 team founded in 1963 by New Zealander Bruce McLaren merged with Ron Dennis’ Project Four Racing in 1981 and soon thereafter Dennis negotiated taking control of the enterprise.

The specially commissioned BMW engine allows the driver to be centrally situated in the cockpit, affording a more equal weight distribution. With it’s 627 normally aspirated horses pouring through a bespoke six-speed transaxle gearbox, the ultra-light F1 leaps from 0 to 60 mph in a matter of a few scant seconds.

Click to view specs

The McLaren F1 holds several records, including the highest top speed (240.1 mph) and the fastest lap speed on a UK circuit (195.3 mph).

In 1995, McLaren debuted the F1 GTR at the Le Mans endurance race. The McLaren took first place, taking it’s place in history as doing so on it’s first race. In addition to taking the checkered flag, the F1 GTR also took 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 13th places in that race.

To celebrate this extraordinary achievement, McLaren produced five F1 LMs, one for each of the F1 GTRs that finished the 1995 Le Mans race, with the goal being that the LM was a 1995 F1 GTR modified as little as possible to make it a street legal supercar. Consequently the F1 LM sported a more powerful 680 bhp V12, and now owns the 0-100-0 mph world record for a production car by ripping through the tach in a gut wrenching 11.5 seconds while travelling a distance of only 828.4 feet!

The final version of the F1 production car was the F1 GT. It was designed to attain downforce equal to that of the LM, but to do so with lower drag. Thus, the front bodywork was extended and the rear deck was redesigned to create a stunning, yet functional, new look.

Model makes and specs

Several racing versions of the McLaren were produced, including the highly successful 1995 F1 GTR, the 1996 F1 GTR, and the 1997 F1 GTR.

Developed by McLaren cars LTD, a subsidiary of the McLaren Formula One Team, the McLaren F1 GTR is the fastest, most powerful and most expensive production car in the world.

It is powered by a BMW 6.1 Liter V12 engine producing 627 hp with a 0-60 mph time of 3.1 seconds and a top speed of 230-240 mph, which is by no means a slug in anyone’s books.

The original McLaren F1 was started in 1991 of which only 64 cars were ever made. The LM model was introduced in 1993 with 5 cars built. The GT model had 3 cars. Finally, in 1995, the GTR was introduced, and over the next 3 years, 28 cars were built.

The 95 GTR was originally developed for shorter, 4 hour Global GT Endurance series races in response to demand from customers who wanted to race their own modifications of the standard production F1. However demand quickly came about to make it into a 24 hour car to run in the Le Mans endurance race. In 1995 McLaren became the first manufacturer ever to sweep the board, scoring four of the top five places, upon its Le Mans debut.

In 1996 McLaren revised the 1995 GTR to meet new BPR GT series regulations, capping the engine power output to 600 bhp. This allowed the designers to shed 100kg from the car, making it as light as the 1,000kg minimum weight limit would allow.

The insides of the latest McLaren

McLaren also developed an upgrade for 95 GTRs to move them to 96 GTRs in spite of the fact that the 96 model was 70% new components. New features included a larger rear wing for markedly improved downforce.

In 1997 the GTR was once again revised to meet new racing regulations, this time from the FIA GT Series and the Le Mans 24 hour race. The modifications focused on engine refinement, the inclusion of an all new sequential transmission, extensive aerodynamic changes, and substantial weight reduction.

The chassis and power train were the prime candidates for weight reduction along with small weight improvements made throughout the car. In 1995 the F1 GTR weighed 1,100kg. The 96 model reduced its weight to 1,000kg, and in 1997 the GTR was able to further reduce its curb weight to a mere 915kg.

Davidoff’s old 1998 McLaren F1 GTR Longtail went under the hammer, what a prize to own.

More Forza 3 news

Make sure you check out the great Fantec Sports Wheels and the set that OXCGN will have up for grabs later on when Forza 3 arrives in October 23rd (Aust Release date) . . . as well as other OXCGN Forza 3 pages of info on the game.

• Forza 3 October Info #11 Curvaceous Chevy Camaro SS
• Forza 3 250 Gig Xbox 360 Bundle Official – OXCGN News & Special Offer
• Forza 3 October Info #10 Classic American Muscle ’79 Z28
• Forza 3 October Info #9 Saleen S331 Supercharged Supercab
  
• Forza 3 October Info #8 Build Your Own Chevy-Dodge-Ford
• Forza 3 October Info #7 Sleek, Sexy & Swift 2009 Scriocco GT
  
• Forza 3 October Info #6 – Complete car listing
  
• Forza 3 October Info #5 Primetimes’s #11 Vioer R3 Class
  
• Forza 3 October Info #4 2006 Slippery Evo & HKS Time-Attack Mitshubishi
  
• Forza 3 October Info #3 Black Beast – #41 Gulf F1 Mc Laren GTR
  
• Forza October Info #2 Mad Mazda Lola #16 Comin’ Through
  
• Forza October Info #1 Here Comes The BMW E34 Z4 Coupe
• Forza 3 September Info #12 Bell Motor’s #11 DB9 Aston Martin R2 Coupe
• Forza 3 September Info #11 Presenting The Koenigsegg CGT
• Forza 3 September Info #10 Skyline Driftin’ Madness
• Forza 3 September Info #9 Fugimi Kaido Returns
• Forza 3 September Info #8 2nd DLC Pack – Ferrari’s & 2010 Italia 458
  
• Forza 3 September Info #7 More Ferrari Mayhem
  
• Forza 3 September Info #6 250 gig Forza 360? & Farrari Madness
  
• Forza 3 September Info #5 Forza Dyno Tunes Ford GT400
  
• Forza 3 September Info #4 Bugatti Veyron & Avatar Cloths
  
• Forza 3 September Info #3 Media Update – V8 Supercars Event Slideshows
• Forza 3 September Info #1 & 2 V8 Supercars Officially Announced
  
• Forza 3’s V8 Supercars In-game screen & info V8 Supercar Image found
  
• Forza 3 August Info #5 Video Walkthroughs
  
• Forza 3 August Info #4 Forza Dreams, Gadget Show & Puma
  
• Forza 3 August Info #3 LE Information
• Forza 3 August Info #1 & 2 Cars, cars & more cars & Le Mans
  
• Forza 3 coming in 2009 OXCGN’s Official Major Forza 3 Page
  
• Forza 3 June info E3 Video Interviewwith Developer
  
• Forza 3 June-July Info screens & vids
• Official Australian Xbox Forza 3 site game info
• Fantec Porsche 911 Turbo Wheel for Forza 3
• Fantec Wheel Stand and Turbo Wheel kit up for grabs – info
• OXCGN’s Forza 3 on its way in 2009
• OXCGN confirms Aussie cars in Forza 3
• Fantec Prosche 911 Wheel for Forza 3
• Forza 3 Official – Gentlemen, Start Your Engines

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