The incredible McLaren F1 began its life as a concept car by Gordon Murray, with the backing of Ron Dennis while Peter Stevens was pulled in to design the exterior of the F1. The McLaren F1 revealed itself back in 1992, it was as though it had been created with no budget in mind and had, let’s just say, a lot of money thrown its way. It was ridiculously way ahead of its time and pretty much, made people revaluate the concept of a supercar and think completely differently about them.
Just like the F1, the Porsche 911 GT1 Strassenversion was also an immense motor, to get your hands on one now you’ll be looking at close to $10 million, which just goes to show what a beast it was and still is! Only twenty 911 GT1 Strassenversions’s were ever made, making them even more desirable. Designed and built to commemorate the Porsche 911 GT1-98 race car, it had to impress and push all the boundaries and boy did it do that! We compare these two outrageous supercars and see which one edges over the horizon.
Extremely advanced for 90s supercars, highly impressive, highly powerful, and outright incredible, but which one is better?
McLaren F1 Engine And Performance
Let’s begin with the sheer power and performance of the McLaren F1, it featured a 6.1-liter BMW S70/2 60-degree V12 engine accompanied by quad cams and 48 valves, which could accelerate you from 0-60 mph in 3.1 seconds, outputting a mighty 618 hp and take you up to speeds of 241 mph! This ridiculous engine with ridiculous statistics held a transverse 6- speed manual transmission and triple plate clutch and produced an impressive 479 ft-lbs of torque. Insane statistics for a car that was first introduced in 1992!
During the production run of the F1, which lasted from 1992 to 1998, the F1 had the best power to weight ratio of any car, in the entire world, not only that but the F1 shelved the most powerful naturally aspirated engine ever created, whilst it held the title for the fastest production car in the world, as mentioned before, exceedingly breathtaking.
McLaren F1 Was Surprisingly Bang For Buck
Now, $815,000 back in the 90s was an unimaginable amount of money, even more than how unimaginable it is now. But that was the starting MSRP of the F1, a lot of money even for the most powerful naturally aspirated engine, the fastest production car, and unbelievably beautiful body but McLaren felt as though they needed to offer their customers more and so with every purchase of a McLaren F1.
It included a lightweight stereo, a relatively sized luggage hold which could be customized, but most importantly the F1 held a little modem that could record your speeds and data which could be evaluated and sent to McLaren. Although it’s debatable whether these little gadgets warrant such a hefty price tag, it’s clear that their performance truly does!
Porsche 911 GT1 Strassenversion’s Racecar-Derived Performance
Jumping onto the Porsche 911 GT1 Strassenversion, which housed an all-aluminum, water-cooled, twin-turbo flat-6 engine, and had a valve train of 4 valves per cylinder and a longitudinal 6- speed manual transmission. 0-60 mph of 3.9 seconds was a bit slower than the McLaren F1, and it could keep creaming up to 191 mph! 442.5 ft-lbs of torque and 544 hp were outputted from the flat-6 engine which is fairly spectacular for a car released in 1997.
Tweaks On The Road-Going Porsche 911 GT1 Strassenversion
Fortunately, the engine of the 911 GT1 Strassenversion was only moderately detuned in comparison to the race version, steel brakes replaced the carbon discs, while the road-going version provided an elevated and softer suspension, with different gear ratios. However, the most obvious change was the new impressive and complete interior which included all new attractive sports seats and the 993-line dashboard.
McLaren F1 Vs Porsche 911 GT1 Strassenversion: Superiority Complex
While both these cars are highly impressive especially since both were first introduced more than 20 years ago, the McLaren F1 is certainly the front-runner here. The first indication of the McLarens’ win is that the F1 produced 66 mph more than the Porsche 911 GT1 Strassenversion, The F1 is more powerful, more fierce, and more aggressive, ultimately better in every way.
But in terms of exterior design, the Porsche 911 GT1 Strassenversion is more aggressive-looking, but that’s all it got. Back in the day, the McLaren F1, priced from $815,000, was pretty hefty but great for what you got. The 911 GT1 Strassenversion retailed for $912,000 when new, an extra $97,000 for a less powerful and more uncomfortable car. It seems like a no-brainer, the F1 is superior.
Sources: Cars.mclaren.press, Newsroom.porsche.com