ENGINE RE~ARRANGEMENT

💡 Understanding "IP" in Engine Development

IP stands for Intellectual Property (specifically Intellectual Property Rights).

In automotive engineering and manufacturing, "buying the IP" means purchasing the legal rights to use, modify, and produce a design created by another party.

What that legal ownership included for McLaren:

• Blueprints & CAD Models: Full access to the engineering schematics, dimensional tolerances, and architectural layouts of the TWR/Nissan VRH race engine.
• Patents & Design Rights: The legal authorization to manufacture engine blocks based on that specific cylinder geometry (like the 93 mm bore centers) without paying ongoing royalties or facing lawsuits from Nissan or TWR.
• Right to Modify: The unrestricted freedom to take the existing architectural framework and hand it over to engineering firm Ricardo to completely redesign, re-bore, and modernize it into the production M838T and M840T engines.

Buying the IP allowed McLaren to bypass years of baseline R&D, starting with a proven structural framework rather than designing a high-performance V8 block from a blank sheet of paper.

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Yes, but with a major asterisk.

The modern lineage of McLaren twin-turbocharged V8 engines (the M838T and its 4.0-liter evolution, the M840T) traces its historical roots back to a 1980s/1990s Nissan racing engine, but virtually nothing of the original Japanese hardware remains in a production McLaren.

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The Lineage

• The Original Nissan Engine: Nissan developed the VRH35, a 3.5-liter twin-turbo V8, for Group C endurance racing and later the R390 GT1 Le Mans race car in the late 1990s.
• The TWR Connection: Race team engineering firm Tom Walkinshaw Racing (TWR) partnered with Nissan to develop variations of this engine architecture, including a derivative meant for IndyCar racing that was ultimately shelved.
• McLaren Buys the IP: When McLaren Automotive was planning its modern supercar lineup starting with the 2011 MP4-12C, it needed a proven V8 architecture quickly rather than engineering a block completely from scratch. McLaren bought the intellectual property rights to the TWR/Nissan VRH design.

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How Much "Nissan" Is Actually in a McLaren?

Almost none. McLaren partnered with engineering firm Ricardo to heavily re-engineer the design.

• Rebuilt from the Ground Up: Outside of retaining the original 93 mm cylinder bore dimension, Ricardo redesigns transformed it into a modern, production-ready 3.8-liter (and later 4.0-liter) flat-plane crank V8 with bespoke turbos, internals, heads, and direct injection.
• Current Status: While technically an ancestor on paper, the M838T (found in the 12C, 650S, 570S, P1) and M840T (found in the 720S, Senna, 750S) are custom UK-built McLaren/Ricardo engines rather than rebadged Nissan motors.

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⚡ McLaren M838T / M840T – Nissan Lineage?

Yes, but with a major asterisk.
The modern McLaren twin-turbo V8s trace their architectural roots to the Nissan VRH35 (1980s–90s Group C / R390 GT1). But virtually zero original Japanese hardware remains in a production McLaren.

📜 The Lineage

• Nissan VRH35 – 3.5L twin-turbo V8 (Group C / R390 GT1)
• TWR – Developed variations, including a shelved IndyCar derivative
• McLaren buys IP – Needed a proven V8 architecture quickly for the MP4-12C (2011)

🔧 How Much "Nissan" Is Actually Left?

Almost none. McLaren partnered with Ricardo to completely re-engineer the design.

• Bore: Original VRH35 was 86 mm → McLaren changed to 93 mm
• Crank: Cross-plane (Nissan) → Flat-plane (McLaren)
• Everything else: Bespoke turbos, internals, heads, direct injection – all UK-built by McLaren/Ricardo

✅ Verdict: Ancestor on paper — but a clean-sheet British engine in practice.