ESTABLISHING NEW STANDARDS FOR MID-ENGINED SPORTS CAR VISIBILITY, PRACTICALITY AND SAFETY
Glass specification for the McLaren F1 is demanding: laminated glass throughout, a large double-curvature windscreen at 23-degrees to the horizontal, featuring unparalleled fit and finish, easy recyclability, a low target weight and, above all, exceptional mass-area heating.
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One early F1 target was to set new standards for mid-engined sports car visibility. Hence the perennial problem of large area glass de-icing and de-misting had to be overcome.
A conventional hot-air defrosting system, bulky and inefficient, was rejected in favour of electrically-heated glass throughout.
McLaren Cars found just one company in Europe with the expertise and resources to create such glass technology.
St Gobain of Aachen has particular expertise in automotive glass. A dedicated team was assigned to meet McLaren Cars’ demands. This imaginative approach yielded revolutionary new methods of glass assembly for improved optical quality, plus the exciting new concept of de-icing by resistive film within the glass.
Plasma sprayed onto the inside of the outer glass laminate provides both its tint and heating element to offer speedy windscreen and side-window defrost and demist. It also reduces transmission of heat by 20 per cent and of ultra-violet light by 85 per cent giving protection to the interior finish and furnishing.
Under EEC test conditions, the F1’s glass is completely cleared of ice seven times faster than the regulations require! Its electric demisting system further increases the F1’s already exemplary safety package by maintaining optimum vision under all weather conditions. Both cabin safety and security in the McLaren F1 are enhanced by provision of this shatter-proof laminated glass throughout.
In fact, the F1 project’s glass programme provides a shining example of how Formula One thinking can encourage the automotive industry at large to improve the breed…
