A supercar with comfort and luxury interior as well as P1 flourishes
Best kit are optional extras, nose-lift system essential for speed bumps
A practical supercar. It's not normally the aim of any red-blooded petrolhead design team. But this is exactly how McLaren Automotive has chosen to market this GT, based on the 570S.
Indeed, this car joins the 570S Coupé and 540C Coupé as the third model in the brand's Sports Series family - and at £154,000 is intended to be an entry-level model for the marque, a springboard into McLaren's even more bonkers motors.
WIRED has driven McLaren's before, and while they have been superb examples of automotive innovation, due to an understandable concentration on performance and weight saving, the cabins have not always been places where you would like to spend hours on end, and as for storage space for bags and shopping, well, why on Earth would you be using a McLaren to go to Sainsbury's anyway?
Driving the 570GT in the winding mountain roads on Tenerife, however, it soon becomes clear this is a car in which it is an absolute pleasure to spend extended periods. Indeed, the company touts it as being its "most luxurious and refined of any McLaren to date, with a light, airy cabin upholstered and specified with the highest quality materials throughout".
This is certainly true, the dihedral doors swing upwards to reveal plush leather, contrast stitching, carbon fibre, ample legroom and glass everywhere banishing any claustrophobic sensations and making the driving experience almost feel open-air. The tinted glass roof has been pinched from the P1 hypercar, and it works wonderfully.
Light floods into the cabin, flattering not only the luxury materials on display but also the tech, including an optional 12-speaker Bowers & Wilkins system tuned specifically to the different interior acoustics comprising five 25mm aluminium Nautilus tweeters, five 100mm Kevlar mid-range drive units and two 200mm carbon fibre and Rohacell bass subwoofers - all of which are driven by a digital 14-channel 1,280W Class D amp.
Taking centre stage is the control touchscreen from where you can operate most of the car functions, though the driving options are separated to dedicated switches. The screen is surprisingly large and responsive, not quite as good as the one in Volvo's XC90, but still impressive.
There there is the side-hinged rear window. It is this very piece of glass that apparently transforms the car from a hair-raising track monster into a versatile grand tourer. Apart from adding to that vastly increased visibility and light in the cabin, this "Glass Hatch" - yes, McLaren did name it so - reveals extra stowage space. Extra stowage space - on a supercar. What you end up with after combining the Coupé's same front luggage area and the further 220 litres of space available behind the seats on the similarly leather lined and pleasingly sculpted "Touring Deck" is a none-too-shabby 370 litres of stowage. In fact, this is technically more than a Ford Focus with its 316-litre boot.
Combine this cosseted cabin experience, enough boot space for a week-long vacation, softened suspension (compared to the 570S) and driving systems that make it almost child's play to either pootle along pleasantly on the motorway or hoon up mountain passes, and you have a car that assuredly fulfils the original brief of being a grand touring supercar.
You could take the 570GT to a track for an adrenaline-fuelled half day then drive straight out and jaunt down to the south of France without breaking your back or permanently crippling your posture.
McLaren has even thought about the rubber to ensure pleasant long-term driving. The 570GT boasts specially developed Pirelli P Zero tyres that reduce in-cabin road noise by up to three decibels. Pirelli developed a new technology that utilises special grooves within the tyre which cut road noise by absorbing vibrations so therefore stop their transmission into the cabin.
Speaking of driving, the digital dashboard and instrument display pleasingly morphs depending on which driving mode - normal, sport or track - is selected, and the performance from the twin-turbo 3.8-litre V8 giving 562bhp propels the 570GT from 0-62mph in 3.4 seconds and then on to a top speed of 204mph. It may be one of McLaren's entry cars, but make no mistake, it is ferociously quick, whether you stick to novice-friendly auto or employ the responsive paddle-shift gearbox.
Now, WIRED is not staffed by racing drivers, which may be the reason why we enjoyed driving the 570GT so much. It is a civilised affair, with the modifications listed above resulting in a car that is less demanding on the road than other McLaren's yet at the same time engaging and entertaining.
So good is the driving experience in the 570GT, and so forgiving and comfortable (but only when you want it to be), this could well be the best car McLaren has produced.
Engine: 3,799cc, V8, twin-turbo, petrol
Power: 562bhp @ 7,500rpm
Torque: 442 lb ft @ 5,000rpm
Transmission: 7-speed dual clutch automatic, rear-wheel drive
Top speed: 204mph
Fuel: 26.6mpg
CO2: 249g/km
Dimensions: 4,530mm x 2,095mm x 1,201mm
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
