Goodwood's 2023 Festival of Speed: McLaren Solus GT Makes An Appearance

 It's the annual Goodwood Festival of Speed, which means manufacturers, enthusiasts, and after-market aficionados can finally rejoice together; peacefully. 

Currently, the folks down at Goodwood are livestreaming the entire event through Thursday (July 13th) to Sunday (July 15). The livestream is being broadcasted 24 hours every day, giving automotive enthusiasts from around the world to join in the action as supercars, electric cars, and historic racers hit the tarmac during this four-day action packed event. 

After looking at all the new vehicles that manufacturers have teased and announced throughout this year, one manufacturer in particular, McLaren, has certainly caught my eye. With newly announced replacement vehicles like the new McLaren 750s and ongoing models such as the Artura; McLaren is showing no signs of slowing down. In fact, just last weekend at Silverstone, F1 McLaren driver Lando Norris placed second just trailing close behind the dominant Red Bull driven by Max Verstappen. This is an incredible feat knowing that McLaren has the capacity to continuously hold out against it's main rivals as well as going against racing giants like Red Bull. 

 This competitive and innovative spirit has certainly carried on at Goodwood with multiple P1's, F1's, 720's, and Speedtails racing each other throughout the Hill Climb. However, McLaren has something else up it's sleeve this year. A rumour turned into fruition: the McLaren Solus GT. 

Now, originating in the Gran Turismo Sport and 7 game as a vision model, the Solus GT is making headlines as it will be a limited production car. Very few manufacturers have taken their submitted Gran Turismo Vision model and committed to making it a reality. The engineers have decided to stick with the roots of the car in terms of making it a single-seater, track-only supercar. This car closely resembles the design of it's Formula 1 car with a enclosed cockpit, fared wheels, and a high-revving engine. 

The Solus GT will be powered by a Judd V10 engine which is the most unique thing about this car. Revving up to 10,000 RPM and making up to 820 HP. No one makes V10 engines especially for cars probably within what the Solus GT would cost. Mostly because the world doesn't need V10's anymore. Cars that have V12's like the Aston Martin Valkyrie and Pagani Utopia are able to emitted high-revving engines and increased power without the complexity of a V10 motor. Also, with emission regulations and the fact that ICE motors will soon cease to be existent. The addition of a V10 in the modern world doesn't make sense statistically. The power from a Lexus LFA which is 552 HP can be outmatched by most modern-performance V6's and V8's like the Nissan GTR (565 HP) and BMW M8 (620 HP). 

So why decide to fit the McLaren Solus GT with a V10? 

One plausible answer is that no one is making them anymore and that creating a car featuring a V10 will make it seem more lucrative or appreciative in terms of value. McLaren is only making 25 of them for the world to enjoy and there probably will never be another car like it again after its production. 

All that I can say, is that the Solus GT sounds and looks amazing. Paired with a Judd's V10 motor and hearing it scream throughout Goodwood brings great joy to many enthusiasts alike.