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McLaren 570S Coupe

mclaren-570s-2016-header.jpg

Super-fast, Super-slow too

Daventry is not the sort of place we would have expected to go for a press event to drive a supercar, and with an even more super name – McLaren, that name just conjures all sorts of things in your mind, a name more associated with F1 than Daventry but was this a good place to test this fine car?

McLaren has been in the race business for many years but only selling cars to the general public since 2011 and the company is called McLaren Automotive Ltd.

mclaren-570s-2016-front.jpgThe cars they produce and sell are divided into three sub-sections: Sports series – the 570GT, 570S and 540C with prices starting from £128,500. Then the Super series with prices starting from around £200,000, these models include the 675LT and 650S. Then there are the £million+ cars the P1 GTR and P1, so not cheap but they can go and do go up in value, so customers can spend a lot of money and still make money.

The 570S is powered by a 3.8-litre V8 Twin-Turbo petrol engine that produces 570ps and coupled to a very smooth 7-speed DSG automatic gearbox. The 570S goes from 0-62mph in a very rapid 3.2 seconds and a top speed, where permitted, which is virtually nowhere is 204mph. The C02 emission figure is 249g/km which does sound high compared to most other cars but for the power and acceleration it isn’t outrageously bad and compared to supercars from the recent past, it is much lower than those.

Back at the “factory in Surrey, each car is hand-assembled with it taking 188 man hours to build by a team of 370 highly trained technicians. Each car has a lightweight construction including the use of a carbon fibre chassis, ‘Superformed’ aluminium body panels and offers a class leading power-to-weight ratio and is more powerful and lighter than other sports cars.

mclaren-570s-2016-interior.jpgTo get into the car, there is a very small button hidden on the door, once you know where it is, then it is easy, but the first time you are almost on your hands and knees looking for it. You press this small button and the door lifts upwards and in you get to be surrounded by some very high tech equipment. Press the start button and that V8 engine makes a glorious sound, although not sure my neighbours would like it first thing in the morning, it would certainly wake the birds up, although I am not sure McLaren drivers would be up that early in the morning or have neighbours living that close to them.

The interior is up to a very high standard with the level of craftsmanship ridiculously precise. The materials used are premium and it looks, feels and smells exquisite, this really is a luxury, high-performance premium sports car. The stitching on the seats and dash match the exterior of the car and the car I drove was a very ‘loud-green’ and stood out a bit on the roads around Daventry.

Press the button ‘D’ for drive and it leaps into action or it would if you allowed it to, as this car is quite tame, and at low speeds it is very timid. But put your foot down and it’s off and it throws you back in your seat. The best place to try this was joining a dual-carriageway where you need to get your speed up to 70mph fairly quickly. But once you get up to speed you can sit back and relax.

mclaren-570s-2016-rear.jpgUsing the controls, we thought would be difficult and just too technical but in reality they were so simple to use, just like any other car in fact. The sat-nav has a nice large screen and this too was easy to set-up and was very precise with the navigation instructions. The heating and ventilation and air-con was very capable and no surprises here, just good old-fashioned simple way of turning up the heating or turning it down again. The whole of the interior was uncluttered and so simple to operate.

In the cabin, there was certainly plenty of leg, head and shoulder room and you did not feel at all cramped into a small sports car. There were a couple of small buttons you could press and it would put into different drive modes, a bit more comfortable, a bit more sporty, and bit quicker but I left it in the standard mode which was ok for me, maybe on a track you would have a play with all the different systems although this is not necessary on public roads.

The 570S has a good long list of standard equipment including: Full LED lighting – front and rear, keyless entry and start, Carbon ceramic brakes, forged 19-inch alloy wheels, Pirelli P Zero Corsa tyres, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and tethering support, satellite navigation, extended leather interior, dual-zone climate control, TFT instrument cluster, USB and iPod integration, now you don’t get all that in one of those F1 cars.

McLaren have 80 retailers in 30 markets globally. In the UK there are currently 6 dealers: Bristol, Ascot, Hyde Park, London, Birmingham, Manchester and Glasgow.

This McLaren 570S is a dream to drive, it looks fantastic, the interior is superb and is so sporty, yet so comfortable and the price is £146,000 and although it does sound expensive for a two-seat sports car, you do get a lot for your money.

McLaren say they will stay close to their roots and never, ever build anything else but sports car and they have NO plans at all to build an SUV. They also say that by 2022 around 50% of the cars they produce will be Hybrid and pure EV’s and work has already started on an EV. They will launch 15 all-new cars by 2022.

If you can’t afford a full-size McLaren, then they do offer a kids version, complete with iPod, at a price of £375.

I certainly did not go quick in the 570S, in fact I drove it rather slowly, as my theory was: The slower you drive it, then the longer you are in it – which suited me just fine.

Summary stats 

On the road price £144,425.00 OTR
Petrol: 3.8 V8 32 Valve Twin Turbo 570 PS
CO2 258 g/km
Combined MPG 25.5 MPG
Gearbox 7 Speed SSG Automatic

New options and features:

Full LED Lighting  – Standard
Forged 19”  Alloys Wheels – Standard
Elite Paint - £ 3420.00
Carbon Fibre Exterior Pack 1 (Includes Door Mirrors, Side Intakes and Door Inserts in Gloss Carbon Fibre) - £5,450.00
Super-Lightweight Forged Wheel in Silver Finish  – £2,810.00
Bowers & Wilkins 12 Speaker Branded Audio System - £3400.00
Keyless entry and start  – Standard
Ceramic brakes  – Standard

Martin Ward

A popular figure in the automotive industry, celebrated in the Business Car Power list Top 10. An unrivalled understanding of the entire automotive manufacturing process. Providing independent and tailored advice to help automotive and related businesses identify and achieve their goals. @MartinW_cap_hpi
07740157580
Martin.Ward@cap-hpi.com



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