McLaren MP4/8

The McLaren MP4/8 was a Formula One racing car that competed in the 1993 season. It was succeeded by the McLaren MP4/9 in 1994.
== Description ==
Thanks to a watershed use of electronics technology that cars used in the 1993 season, the car was designed by Neil Oatley around advanced electronics technology, including a semi-automatic transmission, active suspension and traction control systems.
Honda was McLaren's engine supplier from 1988 to 1992. Following the economic recession, Honda departed from F1 after 1992, but returned to F1 in 2015, and team principal Ron Dennis was unable to get a supply of Renault engines, so the MP4/8 used a Ford HBE7 3.5L V8 engine, which was underpowered compared to rival team Williams's Renault engine and Benetton's higher-spec Ford engine.
The MP4/8 was raced by Michael Andretti and the late triple world champion Ayrton Senna, which was his final year at McLaren. Andretti was replaced by Mika Hakkinen in the final three races in the season. Despite underpowered and uncompetitive, Senna managed to achieve one pole position, one fastest lap and five race victories for the team while Andretti and Hakkinen were able to score a podium finish respectively. McLaren finished runner-up with 84 points, behind constructors' champion Williams (168 points). Senna came second in the standings with 73 points, behind his rival Alain Prost (99 points) whilst Andretti and Hakkinen were 11th (7 points) and 15th (4 points) respectively.
A modified version of the car, the MP4/8B used a Lamborghini V12 engine. Both Senna and Hakkinen tested the MP4/8B and it was found to be 60 bhp more powerful than the Ford V8 unit, however it was never raced. The plan for McLaren to use Lamborghini engines was never realized as they had signed a deal with Peugeot as their engine supplier for the 1994 season.
== Asphalt 8: Airborne==
===Summary===
The McLaren MP4/8 was added in the Lunar New Year 2017 Update as a high-end Class B car with the following statistics:
*Debut statistics
**Starting rank: 1245
**Hidden MAX rank: 1511
**PRO rank: 1665 (+420)
**Tuning Kit bonus: +52
*Modified statistics #2 after the Fast Lane Update v4.1.0
**Starting rank: 1233
**PRO rank: 1622 (+389)
**Tuning Kit bonus: Unknown
*Modified statistics #3 after the 2019 Spring Update v4.2.0
**Starting rank: 1283
**PRO rank: 1632 (+349)
**Tuning Kit bonus: +62
*Modified statistics #4 after the 2019 Halloween Update v4.6.0
**Starting rank: 1240
**PRO rank: 1632 (+392)
**Tuning Kit bonus: +49
*Modified statistics #5 after the Fifteenth Anniversary Update v5.0.0
**Starting rank: 1213
**PRO rank: 1654 (+441)
**Tuning Kit bonus: +49
*Current statistics after the Hot Winter Season Update v6.8.0
**Starting rank: 1213
**PRO rank: 1412 (+199)
**Tuning Kit bonus: +42
*Nitro Efficiency: 9/11/16.5
As of the Hot Winter Season Update, the MP4/8 is now a low Class C car.
As an open-roof car, the MP4/8's default driver has been replaced by the user's avatar (with all of the cosmetic items that it is wearing) as of the Garage Life Season Update.
===Performance Overview===
The MP4/8 has been nerfed twice and buffed once throughout its history in Asphalt 8, independently of other vehicles. In conjunction with more widespread changes, the MP4/8 was nerfed twice more and buffed once more. Overall, this makes the MP4/8 one of the most altered vehicles in the game. Nonetheless, it has always retained certain characteristics.
The MP4/8 has always been characterised by rapid acceleration, excellent handling, sharp drifting, and superb nitro efficiency, making it generally one of the best cars in the game at whichever rank it happens to occupy. Historically, the MP4/8 had an average top speed, neither terrible nor overpowered, which was its only real weakness against specific cars that had overpowered top speeds, especially with Multiplayer tunes (when partially upgraded) or Elite enhancements. The MP4/8 has generally always been versatile, performing excellently at every upgrade level from stock to full-PRO.
The MP4/8 was originally one of the best Class B cars, competing with the Mercedes-AMG GT3 and Holden Coupe 60 as the king of the class (and also the Ferrari GTC4Lusso to a lesser extent) throughout the year 2017. The MP4/8 had worse speed than these two cars, but it made up for this with superior acceleration and nitro efficiency, as well as better handling+drifting to a lesser extent.
Historically (circa 2017 to 2018), the MP4/8's Tuning Kit bonus remained the same size at stock versus full-PRO, whereas the Tuning Kit bonus would increase exponentially for MAX+PRO cars as they were upgraded. This was an inherent advantage for the MP4/8 since it gained the full Tuning Kit bonus at stock, which is largely why it was so competitive at every upgrade level. This same phenomenon affected every other car with PRO-only upgrades at the time.
=== Performance History (2019 to 2022) ===
Nerf #1: The MP4/8 was nerfed alongside many other vehicles in the Fast Lane Update of February 2019. The upgrade-rank percentages of the MP4/8 were altered: the weightings of top speed and nitro were increased substantially, whereas the weightings of handling and acceleration were decreased to nearly nothing. Overall, it is not entirely clear what effect this had on the MP4/8 since it always had PRO-only upgrades instead of MAX+PRO upgrades (so it was impossible to upgrade a single statistic at a time), but this surely changed the strategy for Multiplayer-tuning the MP4/8. At the same time, the MP4/8's stock rank and full-PRO rank were both altered to align with the new vehicle-ranking system. The MP4/8's stock rank and full-PRO rank were both changed yet again in the Spring Update of April 2019. By April 2019, the MP4/8's Tuning Kit bonus had increased from +52 to +62, although in practice the level of performance that was enhanced would have been the same under both the old and new systems (i.e. it was just a cosmetic change); it is unclear what the MP4/8's TK bonus was after February 2019. During this period, part of the MP4/8's nitro speed was transferred into its top speed (making it less reliant on nitro), effectively amounting to a small buff.
Buff #1: Between July 30, 2019 (Showdown Update) and October 14, 2019 (Sixth Anniversary Update), Multiplayer matchmaking was changed so that the Tuning Kit bonus was included within the final rank of any given vehicle. This caused any cars with a massive Tuning Kit bonus to instantly become disadvantaged (whereas this had previously been advantageous), especially it they had relied primarily on the huge speed perks associated with this. Meanwhile, any cars that relied more on acceleration rather than top speed instantly gained the upper hand. Included among these was the MP4/8, which became one of the most competitive cars in Multiplayer during this period. This effectively amounted to a buff for the MP4/8, but it would not last as matchmaking was reverted to the old system on October 14.
Nerfs #2 & #3: In the Halloween Update of late October 2019, the MP4/8 was nerfed in the potency of its Tuning Kit bonus, being reduced from an inflated percentage to a standardized percentage, which was a change that affected most vehicles in the game. This nerf hit certain other overpowered cars harder, such as the Ford GT (2017) (modified in the previous update, Sixth Anniversary), which lost around 8 km/h from its maximum top speed, whereas various underpowered cars would have had the opposite effect and received increased Tuning Kit bonuses. The MP4/8 would have been on the lower end of overpowered cars, receiving a moderately sized nerf to its Tuning Kit bonus. At the same time, the MP4/8 was singled out for having overpowered acceleration, and it was consequently nerfed in that area as well, as explicitly described by Gameloft in the patch notes of the 2019 Halloween Update.
Buff #2: In the Fifteenth Anniversary Update of May 2020, the MP4/8 received an explicit buff to its performance. Having sat at a non-optimal rank for several months by this point, the MP4/8 was buffed from B1632 to B1654, pushing it closer to the B1680 rank bracket (which would eventually become established as a permanent rank bracket for numerous vehicles to be rebalanced to). The MP4/8 received extra speed, with little else changing.
Nerf #4: In the Hot Winter Season Update of December 2022, the MP4/8 received the final nail in the coffin, a massive nerf pushing it from B1654 all the way down to C1412. As it stands, the MP4/8 is one of the only cars in the history of Asphalt 8 to have been explicitly buffed at one point, only to be explicitly nerfed at a later point. This is the current state of the MP4/8 as of March 2023.
The contemporary situation of the MP4/8 is not too bad. The game has been largely re-organised so that vehicles fit within specific rank brackets, and the MP4/8 is currently one of the best vehicles within the rank bracket that it occupies. The MP4/8's current rank bracket is C1408 to C1412, and the MP4/8 is generally the best vehicle within that rank bracket, due to its combination of excellent acceleration, handling, drifting, and nitro efficiency, as well as its small speed advantage by occupying the highest rank within the bracket (even if only 4 points higher than the lowest rank of C1408).
===Official review===
This is the official review of the MP4/8 on the Asphalt YouTube channel, made by TheHawtDawg1 and published on March 9, 2016:
*Time to reach end of Tokyo straight: 6.831s
*Perfect nitro duration: 10.692s
*Triple nitro duration: 6.897s
*Venice lap time: 1.11.907s
Final verdict: "The McLaren MP4/8 is an amazing race car with the fastest acceleration in the entire game. Along with its superb nitro duration, this car performs best when racing single tank."
===Usage (Multiplayer)===
In low-ranked (rank ~1300) Multiplayer games, the MP4/8 is not as effective as the Shelby Cobra 427 (a mid Class B car) because the MP4/8's starting rank is significantly higher. Also, the MP4/8 doesn't have a particularly low top speed weighting (53%). However, the MP4/8 can be tuned to very high ranks between 1450 to 1600, where it struggles against the Chevrolet 2016 Camaro SS, BMW 3.0 CSL Hommage and Aston Martin Vulcan.
With a tuning of X0X4 (X meaning 10), the MP4/8 reaches a speed of 265.1 mph (426.9 km/h) at B1498. This is slower the Camaro SS, which can reach 304.8 mph (490.6 km/h) at A1450. However, the Camaro SS has sluggish acceleration while the MP4/8 is the complete opposite. Furthermore, the Camaro SS has very poor drifting and handling. This gives the MP4/8 an edge on over the Camaro SS on several maps; most notably, in Sector 8 and Dubai. The MP4/8 can also use its acceleration to perform a knockdown on the Camaro SS at the beginning of the race, giving the MP4/8 a significant advantage.
Despite usually only being a mere annoyance for the Camaro SS, the MP4/8 is much more deadly for the TVR Sagaris, Lamborghini Estoque and Holden Coupe 60 (three high-end Class B cars), all of which are much slower than the Camaro SS. These cars can only reach speeds of approximately 280 mph (450 km/h) at rank 1490. The MP4/8's speed is generally high enough so that it can outrun all three cars in most maps when combined with the sheer acceleration advantage.
To deal with the MP4/8's low raw top speed, drivers using it in multiplayer should avoid long tracks (eg. Tokyo) and/or 2 laps, and pick technical tracks (eg. Dubai), as well as one lap races. The MP4/8's handling and drifting will give it an advantage over top speed oriented rivals.
In the Heatwave Multiplayer season, the McLaren MP4/8 was much more useful in Multiplayer due to matchmaking being based on top speed instead of rank. This was due to the McLaren MP4/8 having the fastest acceleration in the game; thus, unless other players were using a McLaren MP4/8, they would most likely lose to a McLaren MP4/8.
As of the Fast Lane Update, the McLaren MP4/8 is now competitive in the 1300-1400 rank range and only rivaled by the McLaren M14A. 
=== Usage (TLEs)===
The MP4/8's performance traits enable it to dominate leaderboards in tracks like Dubai, Sector 8, Rio de Janeiro, Tenerife, Azure Coast, and Venice. The MP4/8 is considered to be a Class B version of the McLaren Mercedes MP4-25, with dominance on short/technical tracks. It is only on longer tracks like Tokyo where the MP4/8 is no match for the Mercedes-AMG GT3 and Holden Coupe 60's higher top speed. With the inclusion of the BMW M2 Special Edition, the MP4/8 is now obsolete in Class B TLEs.
===Price===
According to internal game files, the MP4/8 has a buying price of .
As of the Car Blueprints Update, it can be assembled after obtaining 18 Rare-rarity McLaren MP4/8 BP cards. Assembly takes 5 hours but can be skipped for up to .
As of the Sixth Anniversary Mini Update, the car no longer requires Blueprints to be assembled and has a full purchase price of .
The MP4/8 can be obtained for reaching Tier 8 with the Premium upgrade in the McLaren Festival. Players who already own the car would win 10x instead.
The MP4/8 was obtainable by reaching Tier 30 with the premium upgrade in the 2018 McLaren X2 Car Hunt. Players who already owned the car would get 8x instead.
The car was on sale for a limited-time during the following dates:
*October 30 - November 2, 2020: 
Just like the other McLaren Championship cars, the MP4/8 has 10 Pro Kit levels. 
As of the Hot Winter Season Update, upgrades require 55 of each , , , and , 60 , 160 and .
The MP4/8 counts towards the Bolides collection. Completing the collection awards .
====Championship====
The McLaren MP4/8 Championship was held as the third McLaren Championship event on February 20, 2017, following the Lamborghini Aventador LP 750-4 SV's Enduro Double Down event. Players are given 12 days to start and 9 days to complete the event.
The event was revived on November 8, 2018, in the Halloween Update as part of the Asphalt Moments series, however, players are now given 8 days to complete the event.
Category:Ford Engine Cars
Category:American Engine Cars
Category:Asphalt 8: Airborne
Category:Asphalt 8 Class B Vehicles
Category:Lunar New Year 2017 Update
Category:Championship Cars
Category:Tokens cars
Category:Blueprint-unlockable Cars
Category:Bolides Collection