MCLAREN 570GT
It’s pitched as the ‘everyday Mclaren’, but can a 562bhp carbonfibre-tubbed mid-engined supercar really cut it as a regular car? There’s only one way to find out
With the Sports Series, Mclaren has broadened its range to take on mainstream junior supercars like the Porsche 911 Turbo S and Audi R8. ‘Junior’ is a relative term, of course: the Audi packs a charismatic 602bhp 5.2-litre V10 and Porsche and Mclaren offer smaller motors with mighty forcedinduction punch.
The Sports Series kicks off with the £126,000, 533bhp 540C and Mclaren has said it will never offer a model below this price point. The 570S and 570GT, meanwhile, make up the core of the range. All Sports Series cars share the same Monocell II carbonfibre tub and 3.8-litre twin-turbo V8 engine. In the 570, it delivers 562bhp. In a car weighing about the same as a Porsche Cayman. This, it goes without saying, is a suitably thrilling proposition.
Exotic is all very well, but owners of R8s and 911 Turbos appreciate the sense of daily usability that you just don’t get in Ferraris and Lamborghinis. With the 570S bridging that gap, the GT is intended as Mclaren’s all-round alternative and a machine that can deal with the daily commute as well as the traditional supercar stuff. It’s new territory for Mclaren.
And I’m the lucky person to be putting this to the test. Hand on heart, my natural instincts are probably more geared towards the S. But the GT is an interesting proposition and one I’m curious to explore. Compared with the S, it has a slightly softer ride (springs are 15% softer front, 10% rear), extra sounddeadening, more relaxed steering and – the most obvious feature – a distinctive glass-backed shape with a 220-litre ‘Touring Deck’ luggage compartment to complement the 150-litre one in the nose.
Speccing my car from scratch was a most enjoyable experience, especially given the hospitality of Mclaren’s team at the London showroom. Sales controller Simon Snowball talked me through the options with the help of the configurator and coloured blocks to enable comparisons of exterior paint and interior trim combinations.
The S suits brighter colours like Mclaren Orange or Mantis Green, but customers opting for the 570GT tend towards more reserved shades. My initial choice of Pacific Blue was steered to the Ice Silver you see here, a shade from the optional Elite range that costs an additional £3490. I’ve faced accusations of it looking ‘boring’ but, to my mind, the way it shifts from a golden tinge to a blue one, depending on the light and time of day, is really rather beguiling. It contrasts nicely with the Dark Palladium trim on the front and rear valances, side skirts and intakes,
It’s a breathtakingly beautiful car that turns heads in a way the 911 or R8 never could
too. You can have those items in carbonfibre if you’d like, either individually or as a whole. I rather think you’d want to go all or nothing with that approach, and I reckoned I could do without this addition to the price (it costs about £30,000), given I’d be paranoid about general wear and tear. This is supposed to be an everyday car, remember…
I did splash out £3490 on ‘superlightweight’ forged wheels, plus an extra £1110 for having them in Stealth Grey. I’d best not kerb them. This extravagance was offset by sticking with the standard iron brakes, the theory being that these will be less grabby in traffic than the ceramics the 570S gets as standard.
Given that I’ll be spending a lot of time in this Mclaren, I splashed more cash on the interior. The £5020 GT Upgrade Pack looks like a total no-brainer because it bundles the rather nice Bowers & Wilkins stereo with essentials such as an alarm, parking sensors, a rear-view camera and a nose lift. Experience of previous Mclarens has shown their noses to be very vulnerable to speed bumps and steep ramps, so the last of those options was an essential choice. But some extras were more personal preference, such as the £3240 sports exhaust, finished with Stealth Black tips. I just couldn’t resist it, even though the GT is meant to be a more refined kind of Mclaren. From the various By Mclaren interior design packages, I went for the £2520 Luxury 2 Saddle Tan/carbon Black option. I chose a black steering wheel to tone things down a bit while the £2500 carbonfibre interior package adds some bling to the doors, centre console and infotainment surround. It also gives me longer, carbonfibre, shift paddles. By the time I was done, the price was £179,155 on the road – a fair stretch from the £155,755 starting price and a good 10% more than a bells and whistles 911 Turbo S or R8 V10 Plus would set you back. Given the proven track records of both of those cars, this gives the Mclaren a significant point to prove: can it possibly be worth the premium?
Emotionally, the answer is an unequivocal yes. This is a breathtakingly beautiful and exciting-looking car that turns heads in a way the Porsche or Audi never could. From its badge to its dihedral doors, the 570GT is a dramatic thing to be around. But is that what you want from a daily car? That it’ll be exciting to drive and be in is a given. Whether I want to be the centre of attention in my primary transport is going to be the ultimate – and most interesting – test of this car.