The Audi R8 had over 600BHP. So naturally, my next car had to have more.
EDIT – Article written Sept 2021
Before I get bombarded with hostilities about my first world problems, I want to say – I know, I know. But choosing replacement cars when you only have space for one is really really hard. Especially when you have to swap an already amazing car for one. The R8 will be fondly remembered as one of the best cars I’ve ever owned. Its sheer breadth of skills places it comfortably in a perch where it exists alone – only a 911 can come close but honestly, lacks the visual and aural drama of the Audi.
My original first choice was the Ferrari F12 and going by my YouTube history it was pretty much a done deal. I went to see a few of them and despite Ferrari seemingly disinterested in selling me one (despite reports of dozens of used Ferrari’s sat in secret depots), I really was focused on acquiring one.
They are stunning cars and I still lust after them. Just as I thought back when I bought a 550 Maranello, I honestly believe the F12 is the best looking Ferrari of modern times. Proportionally, it represents a level of perfection any other manufacturer can only dream of. Mate this with one of the best engines on the planet and you’ve a bona fide winner.
Unfortunately despite all its significant merits, it wasn’t for me. With cars at the price bracket fast approaching the end of their seven year service package, most cars were a little long in the tooth. Add to that the relative dated technology in the car and somewhat quaint interior, I decided to pass – for now. The F12 TDF is still a dream car.
Cue the McLaren 720s. I’ve been kicking these tyres for a year or so now and my local dealer at Hatfield McLaren really pulled out the stops in entertaining the notion of a new car. I drove an example they had and as always with these test drives you can never really make any informed opinion – any objective reporting is diminished by the overwhelming experience of it.
Irrespective, they were wonderfully accommodating in promising me more drives or visits. I visited a few more times and at one point even considered the 600LT as there were some incredible deals going on .
Alas it wasn’t to be with Hatfield – with my decision to buy a firm reality, I contacted a number of McLaren dealers with a desired spec and McLaren New Forest came up with what I can only call my perfect specification.
Onyx Black, Performance Pack, superlight wheels, Bowers & Wilkins audio and a tastefully specced interior with my favourite colour, orange. It was literally perfect with only 3000 miles, one owner and less than a year old so it meant a lion’s share of warranty. It also meant the kind and generous soul who owned the car before me did his nut in at over £100,000 depreciation prior to my ownership.
There’s very little on the road that can have as dramatic an effect as a 720 in the flesh. I have never ever owned a black car but for me, this is the only colour this car shines in (Apart from maybe white. And blue. And the red.). Even parked, it has an impact in its surroundings that consumes any light.
I’m not so much into dealer hand overs – personally I just want to get the keys and immediately head out, which is pretty much what I did and with my co-pilot sat in the passenger seat ready for our ritual cheeseburger, I set the rather lame sat-nav towards central London.
The entire infotainment system is powered by IRIS, McLaren’s equivalent to BMW’s iDrive. I don’t know why manufacturers try so hard sometimes to do their own thing when there are such fantastic tried and tested mechanisms out there. BMW, Audi, Porsche all have wonderful systems that are fast, easy to use but most importantly, support Apple Carplay – something McLaren still doesn’t provide. They say it’s because of the portrait screen in the car, but it really is a terrible system.
It’s very attractive to look at, but suffers from the same fate any car has when it has a touch screen system with no alternate tactical controls. If you are on the phone and your screen is on the sat-nav, you cannot hang up without navigating first to the comms screen. Same with heating – you cannot adjust heater controls if you’re on the audio screen. Manufacturers, please take note. We know that touch screens are cheaper and easier to cross-implement across models, but they are terrible to use. Not only are they a massive compromise on user experience where you can’t access quick controls, but they are extremely dangerous, requiring frequent staring into a screen low down on your dash when driving. Please fix.
Despite big complaints in accessibility of controls, it is an amazing cabin. There’s a real quality feel to the interior with swathes of alcantara and quality leather tastefully mixed with some occasional carbon fibre. There’s mixed reception on the folding instrument cluster – when the engine is turned off, or the car goes into track mode, the cluster folds down out of the way giving only essential data. It does look a bit odd folding in and out every time you start the car and I’d rather a better, fixed unit that blends more fluidly into the space.
The graphics and detail of the cluster, however, are really well designed with nice use of colour and layout. Each of the three modes provide a different screen, with Comfort, Sport and Track giving its own respective data points. Add to that, the Bowers & Wilkins is really good given the lightweight nature of the car. It isn’t as good as the B&O system in the R8, but nothing is.
There’s real limited, hideaway storage inside the car. There is no glovebox – only a foldable pocket on each door (which you cannot access if said door is open!) and a small compartment under the armrest. You do miss some of the extra storage space but it is made up by the provision of ample luggage space – the area under the bonnet is really generous and you also have considerable space on the rear parcel shelf for additional luggage.
All controls feel really good. There’s quality engineering in the switchgear (when it exists!) and the vents etc feel expensive to the touch with all materials being of a general high grade quality. If anything ever fails it’s never because you feel McLaren used cheap components. They simply haven’t. The comfort seats I have are immensely comfortable, providing a multitude of motorised controls for adjusting via a collection of switches that are, it has to be said, in a ridiculously hard to reach position and you frequently have to look at the buttons to see what does what, rather than have faith in your own touch senses. Despite this, they are ergonomically sound and provide fantastic support in both comfort and also aggressive driving modes.
The scissor doors on the 720 are actually awesome. It takes knowledge to know how to open them to begin with so security is never a worry. It also takes some knowledge to get in and out of it with grace – I often demand from passengers to not embarrass me when getting out, people are looking dammit! The car doors are weighty and not motorised so require some strength to pull down, especially on your left arm and despite my girls asking if ‘the car comes with normal door option?’ I think they are a real nice touch to the cars drama. I also learned the hard way that just because the doors don’t open outwards in a conventional fashion, it absolutely does not mean you need less garage clearance as width is still needed to open the doors.
Overall build quality is actually amazing – however, McLaren don’t have the R&D budgets of Porsche, Ferrari or even Lamborghini and a solid warranty is an absolute must on these cars as small things are often wont to fail. Let me be absolutely clear – the car is as reliable as my BMW i3 it has never let me down yet. However, it has been back to the dealer multiple times with very minor issues. On my way back from collection, the microphone wasn’t working for bluetooth, there was some wind noise from the A-pillar and the wing mirror glass was discoloured. All was fixed and repaired by a VIP service which has the car returned on a covered truck and returned a few days later like new. A close eye will always discover an uneven shut line or a slightly wonky grill that is a few mm out.
Other than that……wow. WOW.
I’ve said multiple times now that there is no other car in my living memory that has come close to the visceral feeling I used to get when riding my Ducati Panigale. It is extraordinarily fast and relentless. It is named based on the PS figure it has, but unofficial reports place some cars at closer to 750BHP – in a car that weighs about 1400kg, the difference between this and the R8 is worlds apart. On the move, I don’t see how much can keep up with it and you never. Ever. Ever. Get used to it.
The kink in its armour is undoubtedly the OEM Pirelli P-Zeros. They are a hard compound with limited traction in its tread which makes it an absolutely lethal tyre in anything other than hot conditions. With traction control on, you’re basically on 50% power as the system tries its very best to give you as much traction as it can handle and put simply, the P-Zeros cannot so it’s frequently dulling the power. With traction control off, you’re simply spinning all wheels at anything up and over 100MPH. My first job was to instantly change them over to Michelin MP4Ss which have done a remarkable job of instilling huge confidence. I can apply throttle much more reliably now, knowing that the wheels aren’t spinning at every application. Grip and traction is significantly better on normal road conditions both wet and dry and although there isn’t an OEM Michelin tyre (McLaren only recommend the installation of Pirelli tyres, I’m sure it has nothing to do with their race team’s sponsorship), it is an instant mod I recommend to any new owner. However, consider that on track, they aren’t great at all with their soft compound giving up grip very easily as it overheats.
The holy trinity of steering, throttle and gearing is tuned to what can only be described as utter, utter perfection. A level of finesse and exquisite detail is given on the 720 in its steering which promotes genuine precision input and feedback. On anything from soulless Motorway tarmac, to B-road concrete roads, you are absolutely in no doubt fluid with the language of chatter being communicated by the 720 direct to the driver – not only from its steering but from the ass of your seat.
Super low centre of gravity and a genuine race-like seating position, added to a level of 360 all-round visibility gives you god-like command of controls. Meld this to an explosive, 4.0ltr V8 twin turbo engine that seemingly wants to rip a hole in the fabric of space time continuum every time you scream banzai! and connect this all to the best 7 spd gearbox I’ve ever used and all you need to do is point and squirt. Over and over again. If you’ve ever driven a well sorted Exige, then this is the older brother.
There is frequent back chat about the lack of aural stimulation and one would agree that it does not possess the typical notes one may associate with a V8. However, it is purposeful, raucous and loud when you want it to be and those rifle shot explosions you get on downshifts when your exhaust is hot are utterly real and not fabricated. If you hear them, you’ve earned them!
Rapid shifts, precision steering input and instantly accessible power from the prodigious engine give this car a feeling of utter invincibility. I have never felt power quite like it and every single passenger you take out is guaranteed to emit some form of odour or sound on the very first experience of being merged and woven organically into the very fibre of the seats holding them in place. I have seen some passengers reach out for the door grips for purchase, but fail to do so due to the force of Gs being generated on the acceleration.
In contrast, I have also used the car multiple times to take me to work in central London and it is absolutely perfectly suited in doing so. With brilliant suspension making effortless work of the rough nature of the capital’s roads and front lift doing an excellent job in raising the nose in seconds to help the assault of speed bumps, it really is a bit of a fraud in saying it’s a supercar only!
There’s so much more to write about this magnificent unicorn, but I’m going to park this here. I am so utterly smitten with this car that it’s going to take something very, very special to replace it, or a lost license (currently battling a number of speeding charges!). The reception this car receives is unrivalled. Every time I wash my car, I have an audience of young children and stopped cars alike – EVERY time. There’s no doubt about it’s quintessential British heritage that makes it an unsung hero of the streets.
Despite the frequent visits to the dealer network and the odd small thing playing up, I would absolutely not hesitate in getting another McLaren again. Absolutely nothing provides this level of driving godliness and visual drama in a package that is unbeatable at that price point.
10/10, will buy again, great purchase A+++++
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