Mansory tuned 493kW McLaren MP4-12C for Geneva 2012

Mansory is a German tuner that generally sends shivers down the spine - and not always for the best of reasons. It usually has something spectacular to unveil at the Geneva Motor Show, and for 2012 it's turned its attention to the McLaren MP4-12C.

Mansory specialises in going massively carbon fibre - replacing existing bodywork with carbon panels instead. In the McLaren's case it's replaced the roof, the front and rear aprons, the mirror housings and the wings - which are now 60mm wider as a result.

All that carbon helps reduce the MP4-12C's 1,300kg weight - though by precisely how much Mansory isn't yet saying. Even so, it should increase the car's agility and acceleration while decreasing stopping distances and fuel consumption - all areas in which the McLaren already excels.

Knowing that won't be enough for its clientele, Mansory has also made some modifications to the MP4-12C's 'M383T' 3.8-litre twin-turbo V8. Changing the exhaust, adding a freer-flowing air intake filter and tweaking the ECU mapping has resulted in 493kW.

That's a 46kW gain over the standard car's 447kW, though it now arrives at 7,100rpm instead of 7,000rpm. Don't worry about that rise too much, though, as Mansory as also upped torque from 600Nm to 675kW - and this is available all the way between 3,000rpm to 6,500rpm.