MCLAREN’S MANIC 720S IMPRESSIVE SEQUEL TO 650S
It’s definitely quicker, louder on request, easier to drive and surprisingly civil
Wayne Bruce, McLaren’s global communications director, talks about the joy of designing his company’s second-generation supercar as if he hasn’t heard of the sophomore jinx or Hollywood’s propensity for truly awful sequels. Of course, for every Blues Brothers 2000 (my vote for the worst sequel of all time, only because I loved the original so much) there’s a Godfather Part II, the best sequel of all time because it somehow managed to make Vito Corleone even more terrifying.
Indeed, since automotive engineering never really stands still, it’s not so much stagnation or regression that Bruce and company fear, but rather not reaching the expectations set out in trying to one-up one of the seminal supercars of all time.
For let us not forget what a revolution the MP4-12C was in 2010. It ushered in the era of modern carbon fibre tubs (that’s engineering/racing geekspeak for the main chassis section that now underpins virtually all supercars), made the turbocharging of supercar engines almost respectable and added a civility not seen in its Italian counterparts. The question, then, is not whether the 720S is better than the 650S, but is it the giant leap forward that its predecessor was?
It certainly is quicker. Boosted to 4.0 litres, McLaren’s twice-turbocharged V8 now scoots the new 720S to 100 km/h in an incredible 2.9 seconds. To put that in perspective, that is only a tenth of a second slower than McLaren’s allconquering P1. Indeed, because the P1 is slower to brake, the 720S posts a virtually identical 0-100-0 time, its new lightweight construction (some 18 kilograms less than the 650) and humongous 390-millimetre carbon-fibre discs making up in braking the little it loses in acceleration to McLaren’s hyper hybrid.
In fact, the first impression
— at least, if you’re heading out onto Italy’s Vallelunga Circuit’s impossibly speedy front straight for the first time — is how crushingly rapid the new 720S is. Its 710 horsepower literally blows its 641-hp predecessor into the weeds. Where the 650S always felt controllable, the new 720 is just barking.
In fact, everything about the new M840T engine seems a little more manic than previous McLarens (save perhaps the aforementioned P1). There’s a Loud Start function that injects extra gas into the exhaust system so there’s a little attention-getting backfire. Immediately apparent is how much quicker — especially in Track mode — the new M840T engine responds to throttle inputs than the previous M838.
The same immediate attitude infuses the 720S’s chassis. Oh, McLaren’s patented Proactive suspension still cross-links opposing hydraulics — left front and right rear are conjoined, as are the right front and left rear. The carbon-fibre chassis — thoroughly updated for second-gen use — is still an exemplar of stiffness and light weight. But the chassis’ tuning, the very soul of the 720, has changed.
The new S is all about steering precision, its front-end grip more like Ferrari’s old 458 than McLaren’s own 650S. The company has added a new function to its Active Dynamics electronic stability control system called Variable Drift Control (VDC) which lets even the neophyte safely play sideways silly buggers.
Another function that I came to appreciate was the seven-speed transmission’s automatic mode. Like so many other supercars, the 720S is most satisfyingly savoured when it decides when to shift. So maniacally does the engine turbo its way through the last 2,000 rpm to its 8,200 rpm redline that, by choosing the optimal shift points for me, D-for-Drive got more out of the engine than I ever could. Quick-revving engines like the M840T make mockery of a purist’s desire for a manual transmission; no human heel-and-toe-er is even remotely capable of keeping up with a dual-clutch automatic’s rapid-fire gear shifts.
Lest all this talk of manic behaviour and racetrack derringdo give the impression that the 720S is just another singlepurpose supercar, rest assured that Woking’s engineers have also expanded its everyday profile. For one thing, the combination of that stiffer Monocage II chassis and more widely adjustable damping has seen suspension compliance improve. Ditto for the interior decor, now more luxurious than ever. A few details shine bright, but the creme-de-la-creme is the 720’s new Folding Driver Display retracting centre gauge set. Like so many modern cars, the gauges are actually a fully customizable TFT screen. But the entire gauge set rotates and retracts into the dashboard, leaving a little slit of an LCD readout that gives you the basics — gear position, rpm, etc. — needed for slicing and dicing around a racetrack. Très cool.
Nitpicks are few, but it would be totally remiss of me to not mention how truly terrible McLaren’s navigation system remains. The company says it is improved over the 650S item, but it’s still dreadfully slow in changing directions and the vertically oriented screen is not well suited to geographic instructions. Using the navi to find my way around circuitous Rome was a little like trying to follow the McLaren in a diesel Jetta: you’re always two corners behind and a half-minute too late to find the route you needed to get to dinner on time.
Less loathsome, but still requiring a little adapting, is McLaren’s tuning of its brakes. There are no fewer than 20 brake pistons retarding the 720S and they are more than plenty powerful. But to make them feel more linear, McLaren has tuned them without much initial bite so there’s a lot of initial lever travel without much Whoa-Nellie stopping power. Having sampled their delicacy and power on the track, I can see why McLaren has taken this approach, but owners — most of whom don’t drive their McLarens every day — might find their first few stoplights a little surprising.
The McLaren 720S will start at $312,500 and the first editions will be in Canada by June. But almost the entire first-year supply is already sold.