McLaren battery replacement in Al Taawun

The usual fitment is an AGM in the L4 or L5 case, 80 to 95 Ah, with L6 at around 105 Ah on the largest engines. Lightweight sports cars go the other way, sometimes using a compact battery of 40 to 60 Ah to save weight. Older and simpler McLaren models take a standard flooded L2 or L3. Because production numbers are small and specifications changed often, the technician asks for the chassis number, confirms the original battery, and checks it against the one in the car before fitting anything.

Expect the battery anywhere but the obvious place. British makers put it in the boot, under the boot floor, behind a seat, beneath the passenger footwell or in the front luggage compartment of mid-engined cars. Trim panels and carpets usually have to come out, and they go back the same way with clean hands and covers over the paint. In an Al Taawun basement the technician needs the relevant door, boot or bonnet to open fully, so a McLaren parked tight between pillars may have to be rolled forward a little.

A McLaren kept as a second car in Al Taawun, brought out for an evening on the Buhaira Corniche or dinner at one of the hotels, spends most of the week standing in the basement. That is the hardest life for a big AGM battery, because the standby systems drain it slowly and a short evening drive puts little back. Late-summer humidity near the lagoon, which can reach 80 to 90 percent at night, adds corrosion at the terminals of cars parked on open podiums. A conditioner, or a longer drive each week, prevents most of these calls.