McLaren Senna

Hooper Quinn worked with McLaren Automotive to design and develop a carbon-fibre engine intake for the McLaren Senna. McLaren are industry-leaders in combining style and substance, and the engine intake was the engineering signature on its ode to the most loved racing driver of all time.

We supported the supplier selection process via site visits and continued to build this relationship over the 9-month-long project. The car holds an impressive 0-60mph time of 2.7 seconds and reaches 208mph. Achieving this required a significant performance gain over the previous engine. We created a 1D simulation and used CFD analysis to assess the intake manifold’s performance in terms of throttle response and additional power. Engine dyno performance testing was coordinated and assessed by us to verify that the performance gains of the carbon fibre manifold were realised over the outgoing cast-aluminium manifold. In optimising the carbon-fibre layup we worked closely with the supplier and used Finite Element Analysis to establish an optimum carbon cloth layup. We also integrated carbon fibre Sheet Moulding Compound (SMC) moulded components to ensure an accurate and robust interface between the existing cylinder heads, injectors, fuel system, and wiring loom components. We instructed the supplier and McLaren’s internal quality control teams on key assessment criteria to ensure assembly and performance quality were maintained throughout the project.