McLaren bought the rights to the Tom Walkinshaw Racing-developed version of the Nissan VRH35 racing engine, as used in Le Mans in 1998. However, other than the 93 mm bore, little of that engine remains in the M838T.[1]
Developed with help from Ricardo with technology acquired from Menard Competition Technologies, it is McLaren's first engine.[2] The engine redlines at 8500 rpm, however 80% of the engine's torque is available as low as 2000 rpm.[3][4] McLaren claims that the engine has the highest horsepower to CO
2 emission ratio of any current production engine.[5]
The engine is built at Ricardo's engine assembly facility in Shoreham-by-Sea, West Sussex.[6] The turbochargers are supplied by MHI.