McLaren entry level sports car, 570S and its related series

[DACH]

McLaren 600LT by MSO revealed ahead of Pebble Beach debut

https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new-cars/mclaren-600lt-mso-revealed-ahead-pebble-beach-debut

 

McLaren will be heading to this week’s Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance with a bespoke version of its new 600LT.

Showcasing a raft of personalisation options from the Woking brand’s MSO (McLaren Special Operations) division, the concept follows on from the first public outing of the 600LT at the Goodwood Festival of Speed last month.

Featuring MSO Bespoke Stealth Grey paintwork, the 600LT receives a number of carbonfibre upgrades, including an F1 Longtail-inspired air intake scoop mounted on the roof. Three carbonfibre upgrade packs also feature, with the material being used for the door mirrors and door inserts, as well as the front splitter, rear bumper, diffuser and engine cover. 

An ‘MSO Defined’ carbonfibre roof and front wing louvres are also part of the package. The new parts are said to reduce weight, although McLaren hasn’t disclosed how much lighter the MSO version is than the regular 600LT. Gloss black 10-spoke wheels complete the look.

Inside, lightweight carbonfibre seats are sourced from the McLaren Senna, with orange contrast stitching. Six-point harnesses also feature, while a carbonfibre transmission tunnel and door inserts and an upgraded Bowers & Wilkins sound system are showcased. 

Detail touches to the interior include bespoke embroidery in the headrests, ‘600LT’ etching on the throttle pedals and even a set of hand-painted keys. 

The 600LT’s performance is unchanged over the standard car, with a 592bhp twin-turbo 3.8-litre V8 taking it from 0-62mph in 2.8sec and on to a top speed of 204mph.

 

[DACH]

First Drive: McLaren MSO X 570S

https://www.automobilemag.com/news/mclaren-mso-x-570s-review-first-drive/

 

 

 It’s a sunny Friday afternoon at Spring Mountain Motor Resort and Country Club and I’ve just been tossed the keys to a McLaren. But this time I’m not lined up with the usual herd of peripatetic auto writers, nor am about to cane a typical, manufacturer-owned fleet car. The occasion is an almost cult-like gathering of hardcore McLaren enthusiasts for the unveiling of 10 bespoke cars, a meet-up that opens a rare window into what happens when a boutique carmaker goes out of its way to satisfy its most loyal clientele.

McLaren Special Operations (MSO) is a tiny division responsible for the manufacturer’s individualist offerings like custom order trim and upholstery, as well as more grandiose projects like the X1—the controversially styled one-off that was commissioned for a Middle Eastern client. MSO also quietly undertakes ventures like painstaking rebuilds of $12 million McLaren F1s that have been wrapped around trees, but it’s the custom work that earns it the most notoriety.

 

This particular project was dubbed ‘MSO X’ because MSO took 10 standard McLaren 570S cars and heavily modified them, drawing from McLaren’s 570S GT4 race car as the primary inspiration. The venture was hatched at Monterey Car Week in 2016 following a conversation between MSO boss James Banks and a Southern California collector named Dan (who preferred not to disclose his last name but happily shared his Instagram handle @dan_am_i). Because the rich are (mostly) different from you and me as they travel the world feasting on automotive experiences, the conversation picked up again at last year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed and triggered vehicle renderings incorporating cues from a hypothetical F1 homage—specifically, the 1997 F1 GTR.

“The first year or so was about exploring the art of the possible and setting boundaries,” explains Banks. “Developing modern cars is a huge undertaking with massive amounts of legal implications, and homologating a race car would have been excessively raw. We elected to use a 570S as a donor car with a lot of the brief being to make it scream ‘race car.’” The scale of the venture was considered, and Dan’s connections to fellow brand enthusiasts through the McLaren Newport Beach dealership led him to believe that 10 was the magic number for production. He took the leap and ponied up a deposit for the complete run of unique cars.

“I don’t like one offs because I’m more of a social person,” Dan tells me between the searing din of McLarens blasting off for hot laps. Dan’s social aura is palpable, commanding an air of jocular reverence from this tight coterie of enthusiasts. “I have a group of friends and it keeps growing. How cool is it to have the engagement of 10 people together and have 10 cars that were made for us but are very individual at the same time?”

Dan’s charisma rings clear as a bell, as does his desire for social connection (156,000 Instagram followers and counting can’t be wrong, right?) But his ravenous appetite for unusual hypercars makes me question his comment about one-offs. He owns multiple Paganis, Lamborghinis, and Koeniggseggs (including a BC, a Centenario, and a Thor, one of the final two Regeras), and has earmarked new high-dollar toys like a Gunther Werks 400R he commissioned with an exposed carbon-fiber skin, and of course, a Senna. Dan does admit his relationship with McLaren started on a rocky note. “When McLaren arrived in the U.S. I had one of the first MP4-12Cs, and I remember it was not the best car,” he reveals. “Some first iteration details needed some work, but in terms of the engine and how it performed, it was incredible.” He’s since owned spyder and coupe versions of the 650S and 675LT and three P1s, and has orders for several future models including the Speedtail.

The MSO X cars, which met their new owners for the first time in a low key unveiling at the paddock garage before the lapping sessions, are decked out in racing homage liveries and incorporate mods that necessitated a bit of in-house engineering. For instance, a hood-mounted carbon-fiber vent was designed to push high-speed air up past the windscreen and into the roof scoop, jamming the twin-turbo 3.8-liter V-8 with fresh atmosphere. “You can’t just put the bonnet on a standard car without having to reiterate the aerodynamics,” explains Banks. “It took a little bit of wind tunnel and a lot of CFD [Computational Fluid Dynamics calculations].” The work required modifying the engine’s fuel mapping to cope with the beefier intake pressure and revising the rear wing, which now produces 220 pounds of downforce. Sound spits through a lighter titanium exhaust, and the carbon roof, hood, side skirts, and engine cover shed weight (McLaren doesn’t disclose exactly how much). Stripped sound insulation, headliner material, and trim bits reveal the raw mechanical fittings beneath the pretty trim. “At McLaren we want to do everything for a reason,” says Banks. “We’re not prepared to put pure jewelry on a car.”

Attending the unveiling of the MSO X didn’t ensure seat time in a customer car, but one kindly owner opted to share his precious steed and allow me a whirl around one of Spring Mountain’s multiple layouts, a 3.4-mile configuration. While I cinch the racing harness, the owner leans over and urges me to select ‘Dynamic’ mode, “… so you can get enough power coming out of the corners.” Fair enough, I think to myself, noting it would be best to keep this generous gentleman’s just-minted Macca out of the gravel. Though there are a few incidental interior bits that seem to have been removed purely for dramatic effect, the unfiltered sounds set the car’s purposeful mood in a way the off-the-shelf 570S simply can’t. The MSO X cars transmit the intake whine, the turbo whistle and the wastegate whoosh loud and clear, making the modded entry-level car feel far more soulful than stock, echoing aesthetic bits like the graphical treatment and the wheels, which were painted and clearcoated to customer spec. With the engine creating incrementally more oomph but the suspension unaltered, the 570S holds its own around Spring Mountain as its Pirelli P-Zero Corsas claw the tarmac; a few laps in the 720S reveal gobs more power, but the MSO cars exude their own personality as their colorful forms slice through the desert landscape.

Though McLaren won’t disclose what the small batch production cost its clients, one official hinted that the price wasn’t far off double the standard 570S’s $186,600 starting price. Why spend 720S money on a tricked out 570S? For buyers wishing to differentiate themselves from the supercar crowd, the answer is simple according to McLaren Newport Beach dealer principal/general manager Pietro Friegerio. “In Newport Beach if you’re driving a 911, you’re one of a million.”

[DACH]

The McLaren 720S GT3 Is the Racing Version of the McLaren You’re Jealous of

https://jalopnik.com/the-mclaren-720s-gt3-is-the-racing-version-of-the-mclar-1828575594

 

 

 

 

 

McLaren is looking to expand its market by introducing a customer racing division for both professional and amateur drivers alike. That means we’re seeing the introduction of the McLaren 720S GT3, which is about to get some track testing in the US and Europe.

It’s a pretty similar build to the road car with a light, stiff carbon fiber chassis. The engine and aerodynamics are the focuses here. Pairing a race-prepared version of the M840T 4.0-liter twin turbo V8 with some swanky new aero means you’re getting a solid package that’ll make you feel like you’re a real live race car driver. All the other features, like the brake systems and interior, are updated from the road car to FIA standards to make them ideal for harder, faster driving that can go from road to track with no problems. Motorsport director of McLaren, Dan Walmsley, had this to say in the press release:

The McLaren 720S is such a multi-talented road car that we always knew honing its pure racing talents and making a GT3 car out of it would be an entirely natural process - and so it has been. While largely a bespoke machine, the GT3 car is still a McLaren 720S at its core. Developing a race car is about optimising every component and the lightweight MonoCage II carbon fibre chassis is the perfect base for this.

 

 

The first two development cars have been designed and built at a brand new GT race facility in Woking. One of those cars is going to the States and the other is sticking it out in Europe before they both test in the Middle East. They’re going to be running 18,000 mile tests with both 24- and 36-hour endurance trials to make sure these bad boys are built to last. These cars are all going to be hand-built. It’s important that everything is perfect before they settle completely on the design they’re going to use.

The GT3 is priced at around $565,000—all things considered, it’s not too expensive for something designed to kick ass on the track.

The competition debut is set for 2019, and with all the prep work going into getting things together, it looks like it’s going to be a nearly perfect product right from the get-go.

 

 

 

800-HP McLaren 720S Offers Hypercar Performance

https://carbuzz.com/news/800-hp-mclaren-720s-offers-hypercar-performance

 

We didn’t think it was possible, but Novitec has made the McLaren 720S even more desirable.

The McLaren 720S is so mind-bogglingly fast it required a rocket scientist to explain how it can beat hypercars on the drag strip for a fraction of the price. And yet aftermarket tuner Novitec thinks there’s still room for improvement. As part of its new tuning package, Novitec is offering a three-stage engine conversion for McLaren's Super Series. The entry-level package optimizes the ECU to enable the twin-turbo 4.0-liter V8 to produce 773 hp and 626 lb-ft of torque. The Level 2 variant also includes a stainless-steel sports exhaust system.

With these modifications, the engine now develops a whopping 806 hp and 647 lb-ft of torque, enabling the car to accelerate from 0-62 mph in 2.7 seconds, 0-124 mph in 7.5 seconds, and on to a top speed of 215 mph. This potent performance puts the McLaren 720S firmly in hypercar territory. The Stage 3 conversion is similar to Stage 2, but features 100-cell free-flow sports metal catalytic converters to achieve 791 hp and 636 lb-ft of torque.

As well as upgrading the engine, Novitec has given the McLaren 720S a subtle makeover with an assortment of carbon-fiber components. While some aftermarket specialists tend to go overboard, Novitec doesn’t spoil the car’s stunning looks. Among the components included in Novitec’s carbon-fiber aero package are headlamp inserts, a full-width front spoiler with a more pronounced lip, air splitter, side fins and longer air intake surrounds to improve the channelling of ram air. New carbon-fiber side skirts also improve the airflow along the flat bottom area between the wheels.

Novitec also adds numerous decorative carbon components including air intakes for the hood, rear engine cover, rear bumper side trims, side air intakes, sill entrance panels, and door mirror caps. Rounding off the changes are forged wheels available in a variety of finishes that measure 20 inches at the front and 21 inches at the back. Lowered springs also give the car a more aggressive stance and sharpen the handling. We didn’t think it was possible, but Novitec has made the McLaren 720S even more desirable.

 

 

[DACH]

McLaren 600LT launched in Singapore!!!

 

http://www.sgcarmart.com/news/article.php?AID=19767&GASRC=sgcm

 

The McLaren 600LT marks the beginning of the next chapter in the McLaren 'Longtail' (LT) story and at the same time sets a new sports car benchmark as the fastest, most powerful and most track-focused - yet road legal - Sports Series McLaren has created. Inspired by the renowned McLaren 675LT and its iconic 'Longtail' racing predecessor, the McLaren 600LT is built to excel on roads and race circuits alike.

The new addition to the LT family has all the physical hallmarks of a true McLaren 'Longtail', including a silhouette elongated by 74mm; it also has an extended front splitter, lengthened rear diffuser and fixed rear wing. In total, more than 23% of parts are different on a standard McLaren 600LT compared to a McLaren 570S Coupe.

Extreme weight-saving measures were at the heart of the McLaren 600LT programme from its outset, with a reduction of 96kg against the DIN weight of a 570S Coupe targeted and achieved.

Built using the lightweight carbon fibre monocoque chassis for which McLaren is renowned, the 600LT further benefits from new carbon fibre bodywork that lowers vehicle weight as well as optimising aerodynamic performance.

Unique top-exit exhausts ensure that the new LT model has a distinct aesthetic appearance that identifies it as something particularly special, as well as delivering a substantial weight saving and an incredible aural experience.

 

The minimalist, track-focused interior has Carbon Fibre Racing Seats first seen on the McLaren P1, and lightweight Alcantara trim material features extensively.

Super-Lightweight carbon fibre seats developed for theMcLaren Senna are available in lieu of the standard seats if customers are looking for further weight savings; McLaren Special Operations (MSO) offers a range of features that includes a carbon fibre roof and cantrails and vented carbon fibre front fenders.

With every lightweight option fitted, the lightest dry weight of the new McLaren 600LT is as low as 1,247kg.

To deliver the extreme performance appropriate for an LT, the McLaren 600LT is powered by a twin-turbocharged, 3.8-litre V8 engine that benefits from an uprated cooling system and reduced back pressure in an exhaust system that is even shorter and more extreme than that of the McLaren Senna. Peak power is 592bhp, with maximum torque of 620Nm and the power-to-weight ratio of the McLaren 600LT at lightest dry weight is an astonishing 474bhp/tonne.

But the essence of a McLaren 'Longtail' is more than its physical silhouette and more even than reduced weight and increased power; the absolute remit of the McLaren 600LT is to engage and excite drivers to the highest levels imaginable.

To this end, the new model features the forged aluminium double-wishbone suspension and lightweight braking system from the second generation McLaren Super Series; bespoke, track-focused Pirelli P Zero Trofeo Rtyres; quicker steering; sharpened responses from the throttle and brake pedals; significantly firmer engine mounts and exhausts that are mounted virtually behind the driver's shoulder to bring the incredible sound of the powertrain into the cabin.

Volume of the new McLaren LT will be strictly limited. Production of the 600LT Coupe will begin in October 2018 and last for around 12 months, with build slots scheduled around existing Sports and Super Series models, as well as the sell-out Senna, Senna GTR and BP23.  The specialist carbon fibre body panels of the 600LT will also ensure that it is significantly rarer than its Sports Series brethren.  

Like its 675LT predecessor, each 600LT will be hand-assembled at the McLaren Production Centre and is available to order now from McLaren Singapore - subject to availability. The base price of the McLaren 600LT starts from $819,000, excluding COE and options.

 

More pictures: http://www.sgcarmart.com/news/gallery.php?AID=19767&CUR=17&TYPE=news#photo

[Lchong]

Did anyone go to the launch? 

[1fast1]

Did anyone go to the launch? 

 

I was there. Beautiful car, nice event. The track-focused seats are a little too uncomfortable for me. The exhausts are something else though.

Edited September 9, 2018 by Turboflat4

[DACH]

@RadX

Needs to issue the passport.

[SZ_ford]

 ''base price of the McLaren 600LT starts from $819,000, excluding COE....''

 

I can't help but think about honda NSX when i see 600LT's price. NSX still cost 100k more!! What's honda thinking!!!!

 

I sidetracked. This 600LT is marvelous.

[Watwheels]

Right now my attention is on Koenigsegg Regera. Not so much on the car cos cannot afford one but on the car's transmission technology.

 

It doesn't have a gearbox but it has a torque converter with a lock-up clutch. It does has 3 electric motors, 2 on the rear wheels and 1 on the crankshaft, one 800Volt battery stack. There's no gearbox shifting and jerking. It pulls away much like an electric car but it has a twin turbo V8 running.

 

The petrol engine is like running on the "final drive" assuming it has gear ratios and is directly connected to the torque converter driving the rear wheels. The 3 electric motors fills the void of the initial gear ratios that get the car going from standstill. The car does have paddle shifts but it's to shift between D-N-R only. Reverse is using electric motors on the wheels. The 0-100km/hr sprint takes around 2+ secs with the 2 propulsions combined. On their own it takes about 4 secs each. Staggering performance.

 

This kinda hybrid tech is good as it eliminates the gearbox and its weight entirely. Making the car ever lighter and improve further on fuel economy but not compromising performance. If only such tech could reach the masses.

[1fast1]

''base price of the McLaren 600LT starts from $819,000, excluding COE....''

 

I can't help but think about honda NSX when i see 600LT's price. NSX still cost 100k more!! What's honda thinking!!!!

 

I sidetracked. This 600LT is marvelous.

The track focussed seats really dug into my back though. It's not a comfortable car for larger people.

[SZ_ford]

The track focussed seats really dug into my back though. It's not a comfortable car for larger people.

 

style and performance come at a price, haha

[inlinesix]

The track focussed seats really dug into my back though. It's not a comfortable car for larger people.

Go to Woking and get it customized

 

[1fast1]

style and performance come at a price, haha

Many McLaren models are surprisingly suitable for larger (i.e. fat) folk. I use mine as a daily driver, and apart from getting in and out, it's one of the most comfortable cars I've ever owned. Definitely the most comfy supercar by a wide margin.

 

Cars like the 600LT are very track focussed so they cut down on the creature comforts.

 

For someone like me, cars like the 12C (my current ride), 720s etc. are more practical.

Go to Woking and get it customized

ð¤£ð¤£

Kind of defeats the purpose. Edited September 17, 2018 by Turboflat4

[SZ_ford]

Many McLaren models are surprisingly suitable for larger (i.e. fat) folk. I use mine as a daily driver, and apart from getting in and out, it's one of the most comfortable cars I've ever owned. Definitely the most comfy supercar by a wide margin.

 

Cars like the 600LT are very track focussed so they cut down on the creature comforts.

 

For someone like me, cars like the 12C (my current ride), 720s etc. are more practical.

Kind of defeats the purpose.

 

is that the reason why i see some porsche gt3 sold after less than a year's ownership?

 

novelty no longer around and reality (uncomfortable) sets in. 

[1fast1]

is that the reason why i see some porsche gt3 sold after less than a year's ownership?

 

novelty no longer around and reality (uncomfortable) sets in.

Very possibly. I'm not a huge Porsche guy though, only had the one 911.

[inlinesix]

is that the reason why i see some porsche gt3 sold after less than a year's ownership?

 

novelty no longer around and reality (uncomfortable) sets in.

There is always the option of touring pack added to GT3

[SZ_ford]

There is always the option of touring pack added to GT3

 

no la, i'm not that rich to consider buying the car, mush less considering the touring pack

 

just find it puzzling why some owner will sell so soon after buying

[inlinesix]

no la, i'm not that rich to consider buying the car, mush less considering the touring pack

 

just find it puzzling why some owner will sell so soon after buying

For track biased car, it is difficult for a lot of drivers to use it daily. Especially those not physically fit.