Specifications
- Engine
- 1.5L Twin-Turbo V6
- Engine Name
- Honda RA168E
- Top Speed
- 333 km/h
- Power
- 685 hp
- Drivetrain
- RWD Mid-Engine
- Transmission
- 6-speed manual gearbox
- Units Made
- 6
- Year
- 1988
The McLaren MP4/4 is a 1988 Formula One car powered by the Honda RA168E 1.5-litre twin-turbocharged V6 engine.
The McLaren MP4/4 is one of those rare racing cars whose statistics have become inseparable from its shape. Low, spare, red-and-white, and almost severe in its visual economy, it carried Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost through the 1988 Formula One season with a level of authority that still feels improbable. McLaren records the MP4/4 as a 1988 Formula One car with 15 race wins from 16 starts, while Honda describes the McLaren-Honda MP4/4 as the machine that won 15 of the 16 Grands Prix in 1988 with Senna and Prost.
The MP4/4 was not merely a dominant car; it was a perfect convergence of regulation, engine, chassis, team discipline, and two extraordinary drivers. It arrived in the final year of Formula One’s first turbo era, when fuel capacity and boost pressure restrictions were expected to weaken turbocharged teams. Instead, McLaren and Honda turned restriction into precision. Honda’s RA168E V6 turbo was central to the car’s advantage. Honda lists the MP4/4’s engine as a 1,494 cc 80-degree V6 twin turbo producing 685 hp at 12,300 rpm, with the complete car weighing 540 kg. For Engine Sphere, the correct archive name should be **McLaren MP4/4** or **McLaren-Honda MP4/4**. The prompt name “McLaren Automotive MP4/4” should be corrected, because the MP4/4 was a Formula One car built by McLaren’s racing team, not a McLaren Automotive road car.
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The complete McLaren MP4/4 entry contains 27 chapters: full specifications, development history, variants, ownership, collector market, cultural appearances, notable stories, FAQ, connected entities, sources and verification.
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