Sports Car Giant Test
The latest and greatest supercars from each of the world’s leading supercar-making entities, together for the mother of all summit meetings
McLaren’s 765LT goes up against the rest of 2020’s ultra-hot newcomers
Igave up on sleep long ago. There’s still too much adrenaline coursing through my system, too much of the experience to absorb. Plus my ears are still ringing. These cars are loud. Better to reflect on the day, let the still-burning memories set, and replay events in my mind. It started many hours/a lifetime ago; five of the world’s best driver’s cars slinking into a quiet side road, a nondescript meeting point chosen to avoid instant Instagram infamy via passing smartphones. Slinking? It’s hard to avoid attention in a gold-wheeled Lamborghini, a deepest blue Ferrari, a lurid green Porsche Cayman and a 911 Turbo with arches wider than the Darién Gap. And the new McLaren 765LT, a car with the visual drama to make them all recede into the background. Even painted don’t-look-at-me grey.
This is our first meeting with McLaren’s latest Longtail in the wild and on the road. From its louvred front arches to the longer, semi-raised spoiler that justifies its name, it radiates purpose and aggression. It’s the remarkable 720S, weaponised.
Some donor car. And the number of components changed is in the hundreds. New internals, fuelling, oil system and exhausts increase the twin-turbo V8’s power from 710bhp to 755bhp (or 765 metric horsepower – hence the name); ruthless dieting and exotic materials have slashed 80kg from the kerbweight; and clever aero surfacing dices, guides and holds on to airflow to not only increase downforce but, more importantly, ensure it’s usable, balanced downforce. The LT might look evil but McLaren says the goal was to retain controllable and consistent responses; to scare you just the right amount, without turning you to jelly.
The price can do that job for you. The LT starts at £280,000, around 30 per cent more than a 720S, but that’s before customers start adding MSO (McLaren Special Operations) options. Few 765LTs will have a price that doesn’t start with a three. Our test car has £43,910 worth of carbonfibre trim alone.
Swing the driver’s door skywards and a good chunk of the roof comes away with it, GT40-style, to help you drop into the alcantara-trimmed, carbonfibre-shelled racing seats. And it does feel like a racing car in here, albeit a beautifully finished one. The V8 fires and settles into a gruff burr, lightly vibrating through the seat’s shell more noticeably than is the case in the 720, thanks to its stiffer engine mounts.
It feels like a race car on the move, too. The steering pulls about over the crown of the road and needs a firm grip, just as the brakes need a firm stomp (the monobloc front calipers from the Senna bring a shorter-travel pedal with greater feel than the 720), and the ride is firm – very firm. The 765 uses the same hydraulic anti-roll bar/adaptive damper arrangement as the silky-smooth 720 but sets them up far more aggressively, all but banishing roll. You feel painted lines on the road. Relaxing it ain’t – nor is it intended to be. It’s totally absorbing; like suddenly experiencing a road in colour rather than black and white. And that’s when you’re just pottering around. The powertrain’s sheer ferocity when uncorked…
‘Well, it’s frankly quite terrifying, isn’t it?’ says contributing editor Ben Whitworth, sunglasses failing to hide how wide his eyes are after his first run in the LT. ‘The speed at which the turbos spool up and it deploys all that torque… it’s viciously quick.’ Shorter gearing means that, at full throttle in third gear, the 765LT accelerates 15 per cent faster than a 720S.
In the same way Ferrari has with the F8’s twin-turbo V8, McLaren has played canny with the LT’s torque delivery. It doesn’t give you the whole 590lb ft cake to eat until north of 5500rpm, lending more of a crescendo feel than most large, turbo engines. That’s not to say it does much holding back, though. Later, as the sun dips and the road surface cools, the LT will spin its wheels at the top of third gear. With the traction control on.
Following it on the road is an experience in itself. You’re mesmerised by the suspension and powertrain components visible through the laser-cut mesh rear bodywork, and see the rear tyres catch fresh air at times on bumpier roads at speed, so stiff is the suspension in its firmest Track mode. Yet it doesn’t get thrown off line, and the let’s-not-think-about-the-price front splitter never kisses the ground. Like other McLarens the LT’s responses are so consistent that, although by rights you should be intimidated, you can’t help but trust it.
I’m captivated. It’s very much my cup of tea. But it’s a strong one, and maybe an acquired taste. It needs to be driven hard to get the best from, and its limits and performance envelope are so extreme that it requires you to bring your A-game, at all times. Which, like having Lewis Hamilton for your team-mate, can be a stretch. Genetically, it feels like a ⊲