McLaren 570GT 2017
McLaren takes a softer approach with the 570GT. Compared with its companion, the performance 570S version, the GT’s front suspension firmness is relaxed by 15 percent in front and 10 percent in the rear. Acoustical insulation is added to the cabin. Special Pirelli tires include a foam liner of sorts to cut road noise. The GT gets a tamer exhaust note, too.
The result is high performance, high style and high livability. Oh, and high price.
Chances are slim that the car, starting at just over $200,000 ($215,000 as tested), will grab market share from the Toyota Corolla and Honda Civic. But in the four days I had the GT, my wife was astonished at my eagerness to run errands of any kind.
Kept in its most docile drive mode, the 570GT is relaxed motoring about town. Modern technology has given supercars better manners. The McLaren, along with the Porsche 911 Turbo S, get my votes for most livable day-to-day performance cars.
Remarkably decaffeinated while cruising from drugstore to pizza place, the GT is never jittery. And yet, employ launch control and the car will sprint from 0 to 60 in 3.3 seconds.
Surely, few people buy cars this expensive, but such vehicles are important because they pioneer technology that trickles down to everyday cars. Recall that anti-lock brakes showed up first on supercars in the late 1970s. (The 570GT’s brakes are very good, by the way.)
Perhaps McLaren’s carbon-fiber tub chassis structure will be common in the future. Shaving weight has improved efficiency. With an E.P.A. fuel economy rating of 16 city and 23 highway on specified premium gas, the car matches many crossovers. Fun fact: No McLaren gets saddled with a gas-guzzler tax.
Those special, foam-lined rear tires are driven by a 3.8-liter twin-turbo V8 pumping out 562 horsepower and 443 pound-feet of torque. A 7-speed dual-clutch automatic is smarter than most drivers, but there is also a manual mode. Gearbox and throttle mapping can be altered. Suspension stiffness can be set, too. So really, the GT gives up little to the firmer-sprung S model.
The 570GT is quiet for a car of this ilk. (If it’s an isolation chamber you want, buy a Lexus or Buick.) When the road bends hard, the rear-drive McLaren is an automotive Veg-O-Matic, slicing and dicing curves with ease and efficiency. The rear-drive dynamic allows for oversteer with a blip of the throttle. Entertaining? Oh, yes.
Choose from an array of leather and stitching colors to personalize the cabin. Built in Britain, the 570 feels more handcrafted and small-volume than cars from other high-end automakers. Features like the transmission operation (which requires deliberate button pushing) and the touch-screen interface take awhile to get used to.
The power seat controls, hidden on the lower front of the chairs, are vexing and perhaps the worst I’ve used. Visibility out the front is quite good, but thankfully a backup camera is standard.
The car has a small front trunk, and the rear glass yawns open to accept a second suitcase (passers-by can see through the glass, so make it the better-looking bag).
Some practical 570 buying advice? Go with the GT rather than the S. McLaren claims most buyers load up the lighter, less expensive S (beginning at around $186,000) to the same price and weight as the GT, so you might as well enjoy the livability.
The swept aluminum skin is especially impressive in person. Children who skip homework to ogle cars on the internet know what a McLaren is, but most eyeballs that lock on to the exotic shape confuse it with a Lamborghini. The striking 570GT could be the most outrageous way to travel comfortably and rapidly.
The result is high performance, high style and high livability. Oh, and high price.
Chances are slim that the car, starting at just over $200,000 ($215,000 as tested), will grab market share from the Toyota Corolla and Honda Civic. But in the four days I had the GT, my wife was astonished at my eagerness to run errands of any kind.
Kept in its most docile drive mode, the 570GT is relaxed motoring about town. Modern technology has given supercars better manners. The McLaren, along with the Porsche 911 Turbo S, get my votes for most livable day-to-day performance cars.
Remarkably decaffeinated while cruising from drugstore to pizza place, the GT is never jittery. And yet, employ launch control and the car will sprint from 0 to 60 in 3.3 seconds.
Surely, few people buy cars this expensive, but such vehicles are important because they pioneer technology that trickles down to everyday cars. Recall that anti-lock brakes showed up first on supercars in the late 1970s. (The 570GT’s brakes are very good, by the way.)
Perhaps McLaren’s carbon-fiber tub chassis structure will be common in the future. Shaving weight has improved efficiency. With an E.P.A. fuel economy rating of 16 city and 23 highway on specified premium gas, the car matches many crossovers. Fun fact: No McLaren gets saddled with a gas-guzzler tax.
Those special, foam-lined rear tires are driven by a 3.8-liter twin-turbo V8 pumping out 562 horsepower and 443 pound-feet of torque. A 7-speed dual-clutch automatic is smarter than most drivers, but there is also a manual mode. Gearbox and throttle mapping can be altered. Suspension stiffness can be set, too. So really, the GT gives up little to the firmer-sprung S model.
The 570GT is quiet for a car of this ilk. (If it’s an isolation chamber you want, buy a Lexus or Buick.) When the road bends hard, the rear-drive McLaren is an automotive Veg-O-Matic, slicing and dicing curves with ease and efficiency. The rear-drive dynamic allows for oversteer with a blip of the throttle. Entertaining? Oh, yes.
Choose from an array of leather and stitching colors to personalize the cabin. Built in Britain, the 570 feels more handcrafted and small-volume than cars from other high-end automakers. Features like the transmission operation (which requires deliberate button pushing) and the touch-screen interface take awhile to get used to.
The power seat controls, hidden on the lower front of the chairs, are vexing and perhaps the worst I’ve used. Visibility out the front is quite good, but thankfully a backup camera is standard.
The car has a small front trunk, and the rear glass yawns open to accept a second suitcase (passers-by can see through the glass, so make it the better-looking bag).
Some practical 570 buying advice? Go with the GT rather than the S. McLaren claims most buyers load up the lighter, less expensive S (beginning at around $186,000) to the same price and weight as the GT, so you might as well enjoy the livability.
The swept aluminum skin is especially impressive in person. Children who skip homework to ogle cars on the internet know what a McLaren is, but most eyeballs that lock on to the exotic shape confuse it with a Lamborghini. The striking 570GT could be the most outrageous way to travel comfortably and rapidly.