The 930 TAG Turbo by Lanzante is an absolute beast on track

The 930 TAG Turbo by Lanzante should not exist. Quite clearly, 1,000PS turbo engines from F1’s most powerful era were not designed to run in road cars, yet we were given first-hand experience of a machine that very much does exist and might well be one of the coolest things on the planet.

Back in the early 1980s, McLaren enlisted the help of Porsche, with funding by TAG, to build an engine that could compete with the dominant Renault turbos, and the original test unit was placed into the back of a 911 Turbo.

That was the inspiration that led Lanzante to seek permission from McLaren to take 11 of those engines to create a unique run of 930 TAG Turbos, the first of which was revealed at Rennsport in 2018.

Cosworth modified the engines to make them both viable and suitable for such a bespoke application. Getting them to fit inside a 930 was one thing, but power output was also moulded to 510PS (375kW), which is far more suitable for use on the road. We got to experience what that feels like during a handful of laps of the Goodwood Motor Circuit, and the results are frankly ridiculous.

It's the little things that help to make this car an absolute showpiece. It having a race-winning F1 engine tucked under the carbon fibre bodywork is one thing, but the subtle detail of firing it up with a standard key ignition is one of the coolest things we’ve ever seen. A fair amount of engineering wizardry was involved in making these cars a reality, and the more you think about, the more you get a sense of just how complex a project the 930 TAG Turbo is.

It's a consideration that augments the sensation of climbing inside this unique machine, and heightens the anticipation as you roll out of the pitlane for the first time hearing the revs begin to rise.

You get thumped in the back as 420Nm (310lb ft) of torque is unleashed from the tempered but still outrageously potent TAG Turbo engine. Maximum boost has been reduced by 25 per cent compared to its days in the back of a McLaren F1 car, but it’ll still roar all the way to 9,000rpm while clawing towards a near 200mph top speed. It’s wonderfully violent.

A specially modified six-speed gearbox taken from a 993 is trusted with transmitting the power to the rear axle, and carbon ceramic brakes provide considerable stopping power. In straight lines the 930 TAG Turbo is remarkably capable, and unleashing that potential on Goodwood’s many non-straights is a stark wake up call. It’s that kind of relentless power that just keeps on pulling, and such unabated acceleration exacerbates the impact of the brake pedal.

A great deal of talent and experience is no doubt required when it comes to lapping quickly in this car. The 930 was never known as a particularly easy car to drive, and that quality remains here, although the painstaking engineering undertaken by Lanzante has reportedly made the TAG Turbo a more balanced machine. You still need to be incredibly careful when it comes to cornering, the big turbo engine will wing round on you if you aren’t on top of the throttle pedal, but getting it right delivers some pretty implausible results.

The thing is capable of carrying an enormous amount of speed, and it rewards confidence as you power out of the corner. Our short experience in the car left us astonished at just how aggressive you could be, but prepare to have your hands full with steering inputs if you’re lucky enough to get behind the wheel.

Our car was the ninth out of 11 built. Each will feature an engine that tells a different story from McLaren’s hugely successful TAG era. At the 2023 Festival of Speed presented by Mastercard we saw chassis SJ87, powered by the engine Stefan Johansson ran at the 1987 Austrian Grand Prix, in action on the Goodwood Hill. The car we sampled, JW83, has also been on the Hill, and is named after John Watson who, alongside Niki Lauda, was the first to try McLaren’s new TAG engine at the end of the 1983 season.

Finished in ‘Raspberry Red’ with a cream interior, we have to say we approve of the styling of these TAG Turbos as well. Customers are limited to colours and materials that were available on original 930s, and the seat upholstery you see on this car was sourced from the original manufacturer. It’s no surprise these cars are valued in the millions…

Photography by Joe Harding.