McLaren Automotive’s Johannesburg showroom is set to open in Sandton in September and will be operated by the Daytona Group. The showroom promises customers a unique experience, featuring a first-class showroom environment and car configuration facilities.

In preparation, workshop technicians, service managers and body technicians from South Africa, underwent an intensive six day training workshop at the McLaren Technology Centre (MTC) in Woking, UK in July. The training was developed to ensure that the dealers are fully prepared to manage McLaren Automotive’s aftersales procedures.

Trainees received practical one-to-one hands-on training including diagnostic tool operation, carbon repair techniques and customer interaction skills, before taking part in a special session where they were able to drive the MP4-12C themselves and develop an understanding of the supercar’s dynamics. In addition, the training included a special tour of the MTC, where technicians were introduced to McLaren’s Formula 1 history, visited the Formula 1 race team workshop, as well as the MP4-12C production line.

Ian Gorsuch, McLaren Automotive regional director, Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific said: “We are extremely excited to see our new McLaren showrooms taking shape. Our aim at McLaren Automotive is to deliver outstanding customer service that reflects the three values that drives the McLaren brand – courage, passion and innovation. We aim to do that by educating our dealers about the brand, our values and heritage. In turn they will deliver the highest standards of customer service, tailored individually for each and every customer.”

McLaren Automotive has also confirmed that customers will be assigned a Personal Liaison Manager (PLM) in the Middle East & Africa region. The PLM will be on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to provide customer care. Each dealer in the region will appoint a dedicated McLaren Automotive brand manager who will be responsible for executing McLaren Automotive projects and initiatives in each country.

The first of two SA dealerships, McLaren Johannesburg forms part of the company’s Middle East and Africa network of an initial eight retailers. South Africa’s initial allocation of 20 cars is already sold out.

We pretty much know everything there is to know about the upcoming 2012 McLaren MP4-12C, like all its technical details, its price tag, and even the dealer locations where it will be sold, but there’s one glaring omission here, the car’s final performance specs.

Finally, McLaren has released the official figures and we can now confirm that the 2012 McLaren MP4-12C will ship with a dry sump 3.8-litre twin-turbocharged V8, mounted in a mid-engine position and churning out a peak output of 441 kW at 7 000 r/min and 600 Nm of torque from 3 000 r/min all the way up to 7 000 r/min. Drive is sent to the rear wheels via McLaren’s own seven-speed ‘Seamless Shift’ dual clutch gearbox and the engine’s redline starts at 8 500 r/min.

All this power combined with a kerb weight of just 1 366 kilograms, means the MP4-12C is capable of 0 – 100km/h in 3.3 seconds, or 3.1 seconds when equipped with the optional Corsa tyres. The quarter mile (400 m) sprint passes in 10.9 seconds and top speed is 330 km/h, the same as the Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 and the Ferrari 458 Italia. Despite the stellar performance, fuel economy is a claimed 11.7 L/100km for the European combined cycle.

With any performance car, stopping prowess is just as important as speed and in this case the McLaren MP4-12C doesn’t disappoint. Putting the boot in at 200 km/h will see the car come to a stop in a reasonable 123 meters.

The first McLaren MP4-12C’s are due to arrive in South Africa from mid-year. With the first year’s allocation of 20 units having already been sold.

McLaren Automotive, the new high-performance sports car company based at McLaren’s Formula 1 headquarters in the UK, along with its partner for South Africa, the Daytona Group, revealed their new McLaren MP4-12C supercar to members of the press in Cape Town earlier this week.

Ian Gorsuch, McLaren Automotive’s Regional Director for Middle East and Africa, says: “South Africa, with its well informed, passionate car enthusiasts, is a key market for us. The extremely positive feedback we have received from potential customers is evidence of the country’s strong understanding of the McLaren brand and heritage. By joining forces with Daytona Group, whose reputation and experience in the South African market have proved highly attractive to us, we will ensure our customers receive the very best customer care.”

Justin Divaris, Managing Director Daytona Group SA, says, “We’re feeling very privileged as a group to represent McLaren in South Africa. We’ve been looking for a supercar brand for our stable for quite some time and we are picky about the brands we represent, what they stand for, what they deliver, the performance, technology, exclusivity, brand heritage… the right brand hasn’t come along until now, that fits so nicely into our stable and fits that supercar, sports car category.”

The MP4-12C has been designed around the driver to take on the world’s best premium performance cars. This is clearly evident from the rolling chassis that was on display at the launch event. The focus has been on lowering the car’s centre of gravity, as well as keeping all components between the front and rear axles for an ideal weight distribution – even the centre console has been kept narrow, with the purpose of bringing the driver and passenger closer together in the centre of the car.

Weighing in at under 1 300 kilograms, the 12C promises to be lighter than the competition thanks to its carbon fibre and aluminium construction. Key to its relative feather-weight nature is the McLaren-developed, carbon MonoCell ‘tub’, which houses the driver and passenger in the centre of the car and weighs just 80 kilograms.

Powered by a turbocharged 3.8-litre, 90 degree, 32-valve, V8 engine, McLaren say the car will achieve a 0 – 200 km/h sprint in less than 10 seconds and is capable of a top speed in excess of 320 km/h. With 435 kW at 7 000 r/min and 600 Nm of torque between 3 000 r/min and 6 500 r/min, the MP4-12C is not only more powerful than its competitors, but McLaren also claim it is more fuel efficient, with CO2 emissions of less than 300 g/km. With the launch model being a pre-production unit, it’s rev-limiter had been set to just 2 500 r/min. However, the V8′s guttural tones left little doubt of the car’s performance potential.

A 7-speed McLaren ‘Seemless Shift dual clutch Gearbox’ (SSG) links the V8 engine to the 20-inch rear wheels, which are fitted with 305/30 profile Pirelli P Zero rubber. In front, narrower 235/35 profile Pirelli rubber wraps 19-inch wheels that are slowed by 370 mm steel discs with 4-piston callipers, while ‘smaller’ 350 mm brake discs are employed at the rear. McLaren say their steel brake discs have been engineered to be lighter than the carbon ceramic equivalent, while still offering outstanding stopping power (100 km/h – 0 km/h in under 3 seconds).

Having been developed under the same roof as the McLaren Formula 1 cars, the 12C is the result of a synergy between McLaren’s road and racing car engineers. The involvement of Formula 1 experts on the development team means the 12C has been designed, developed, and engineered to the same standards and expectations as those of McLaren’s Formula 1 projects.

The South African launch event forms part of the MP4-12C’s 2010 world tour, which sees it presented to select audiences in every city in which the car will be sold, from South Africa to San Francisco. Along with the rolling chassis showcasing its carbon MonoCell construction, the introductory events allow an up-close and personal encounter with the new car before the first South African customers take delivery in the second half of 2011.

The first of two SA dealerships, McLaren Johannesburg forms part of the company’s Middle East and Africa network of an initial eight retailers. Up to 1 000 12C’s are planned for the car’s first full year, with UK production expected to reach around 4 000 vehicles annually by the middle of the decade. South Africa’s initial allocation of 20 cars is already sold out and although pricing has yet to be confirmed, the MP4-12C will compete in the ‘core’ sports car market, as defined by McLaren, of cars in the R3 million and R3.5 million range – subject to the exchange rate.