McLaren

720S

The McLaren 720S is a supercar with real attitude. It boasts a 4.0-litre 720PS V8 petrol engine delivering 770Nm of torque, and can blast its way to 62mph from a standing start in just 2.9 seconds and doubles that speed reaching from 0 to 124mph in 7.8 seconds. Top speed is a whopping 212mph.

The good

Styling, dynamics and all-round handling

The bad

Waiting list

Tech Specs

Price from

£215,055

Combined Fuel up to

26.4mpg

0-62 from

2.9 seconds

max speed up to

212mph

co2 from

249g/km

Test Drive

McLaren 720S Spider (2022)

Oh, how we Brits love that wind-in-the-air, open-top driving experience. Despite our predictably, unpredictable weather patterns, at the first hint of sunshine, the roof is lowered and away we go.

Factor in a McLaren 720S Spider and that experience enters completely new territory.

That’s because this two-door convertible is a supercar powered by a 4.0-litre, twin-turbo, V8 petrol engine delivering 720PS of power and 770Nm of torque. This results in a 0-62mph sprint time of just 2.9 seconds. The McLaren reaches 124mph in 7.9 seconds and 186mph in 22.4 seconds with a maximum speed of 212mph.

The acceleration out the starting blocks will pin you back in your seat and the power is relentless. But the really surprising factor is just how comfortable the car is.

Yes, you sit inches from the Tarmac and getting in and out in a dignified fashion may prove challenging, but once seated, this car is as comfy as any high-end saloon.

Admittedly it is a tad noisier, but that’s to be expected in fairness. And should you lower the roof – a task that takes just 11 seconds at speeds up to 31mph – the vocal accompaniment increases significantly. It goes from a raspy purr to a note resembling a feeding frenzy in the lion’s enclosure.

When it comes to performance, the McLaren is guaranteed to put a smile across your face. It reaches motorway cruising speeds in the blink of an eye, is deceptively agile in busier town centre traffic, but comes into its own when faced with quieter country lanes.

The perfectly timed seven-speed automatic transmission shifts rapidly and smoothly through the gears with paddles for added driver fun. There are also various drive modes called Comfort, Sport and Track that recalibrate the handling, powertrain, gearshifts and suspension instantly.

The grip as it fires through the twisting lanes is ultra-assured and the car is beautifully balanced with perfectly weighted steering offering plenty of driver feedback.

Our car was riding on 20-inch wheels at the rear and 19-inch ones at the front. In addition, the ride height can be raised or lowered at the flick of a switch if faced with large speed bumps. This offers protection to the bottom of the car.

With lots of lap-based data at your disposal, should you venture onto a race track there is also Variable Drift Control where you can explore your inner hooligan in a relatively controlled manner.

Getting to the nitty gritty then. As you would expect, the McLaren 720S Spider carries quite a hefty price-tag. Our test car started out costing £245,700 but once a number of optional extras had been introduced, it had reached a whopping £298,760.

The running costs will also prove expensive with the highest insurance group, road tax and premium car levy fees. And the combined fuel efficiency of 23.2mpg would only ever be seen if the car was driven with a degree of respect. One glance in its direction and you just know that is never going to happen. The carbon emissions output is also high at 276g/km so you won’t make any new friends amongst the green brigade either.

But negative points aside, the McLaren 720S Spider is a car that will stop onlookers dead in their tracks. It really is that beautiful.

Eye-catching features include soft close gull-wing doors, an active rear spoiler, sweeping LED light clusters, 10-spoke super lightweight forged aluminium wheels, a single piece retractable hard top roof and stunning Helios Orange paintwork.

Moving inside, the interior is driver-focused with black leather and Alcantara upholstered, powered sports seats with McLaren Orange contrast stitching. These can be heated and have memory settings to store favourite driving positions. There is ambient lighting and an electrochromic roof that changes colour when in an upright position.

On-board tech includes a pitch-perfect 12-speaker Bowers & Wilkins sound system, a McLaren Infotainment System that includes an eight-inch high-resolution touchscreen, voice control, Bluetooth connectivity, dual-zone climate control and plenty more besides. There is no Apple CarPlay or Android Auto, but you can connect a smartphone via the USB port.

The driving position offers good, but not great all-round visibility due to the narrow rear window. But slim B pillars, along with a number of sensors and cameras do give the McLaren the edge over some rivals.

When it comes to storage, one glance in its direction will confirm this is no family car. That said; drop your eldest off at school and watch their popularity go through the roof!

It does have a boot that can hold 58 litres plus a frunk (front trunk) that will swallow an extra 150 litres of kit. There are cup holders if you are brave enough to attempt to drink a hot coffee while sitting in a McLaren, plus a covered bin and a tray.

And although the McLaren has not been tested for a Euro NCAP safety rating, it boasts a wealth of safety features to protect occupants and other road users. It has an ultra-stiff carbon fibre body, carbon ceramic brakes, dynamic electronic stability control, traction control, variable drift control, hill hold assist, brake pad wear sensors, anti-lock braking system, cruise control, an electronic parking brake, along with driver and passenger front and side airbags.

All in all, the McLaren 720S Spider is a beautifully-crafted piece of skilled workmanship. It oozes dynamic styling with performance to match and is deceptively comfortable too. Now all we need is the right six numbers!

Test Drive

McLaren 720S (2017) – first drive

IF you happen to have a couple of hundred thousand pounds stashed away and have a particular liking for supercars then McLaren may have the perfect investment.

It comes in the shape of the all-new McLaren 720S – a supercar that delivers ridiculously fast sprint times and boasts a top speed that would only be achievable on an unrestricted section of the German autobahn or a disused private runway.

The McLaren name goes hand in hand with Formula 1 racing, but the company decided to branch out seven years ago and so McLaren Automotive was created. It brought the marque’s know-how to ‘everyday’ drivers – or rather those with a massive bank balance.

Since 2010, the company has celebrated fabulous sales success and with all its cars hand-assembled at Woking there is never any fear of mass production. That means McLaren owners enjoy a certain sense of exclusivity.

Road cars at McLaren Automotive form three tiers called Sports Series, Super Series and Ultimate Series. The 720S sits in the Super Series class and is available in three trim grades – 720S, 720S Performance and 720S Luxury. The test car was the 720S Performance spec costing £218,020.

Priced from £208,600, the 720S replaces the 650S, but it’s not just a simple renaming exercise because the latest car is fresh from the ground up and features 91 per cent new parts.

Viewed from any angle the 720S is guaranteed to turn heads and bring out the green eyed monster in the most placid of characters – and that’s before it’s even started up because it has a soundtrack to match its appearance and performance.

Design cues include twin-hinged dihedral doors with soft-close function that look like wings when open, full LED headlights with daytime running lights, sport cast alloy wheels with coloured brake calliper and glass C-pillars. Every crease, curve, cavity and intake is there for a reason as the design ethos is dedicated to improving the car’s aerodynamics. And thanks to the introduction of a lightweight, yet ultra-strong carbon fibre cage, the 720S is lighter than its predecessor.

That weight loss translates into improved performance capabilities and on that matter, let’s get down to the nitty gritty. The 720S is powered by a 4.0-litre 720PS V8 engine delivering 770Nm of torque and can blast its way to 62mph from a standing start in 2.9 seconds, it completes the 0-124mph dash in 7.8 seconds and has a top speed of 212mph.

The interior, like any two-seat supercar, is fairly snug, but there is ample leg, shoulder and head space. In addition, light floods into the cabin helping to create a bright, inviting environment. There is plenty of steering wheel adjustment and the seats can be moved manually to find the perfect driving position (this saves weight compared to automatic seats).

Admittedly you do need to possess a certain degree of agility in order to enter and exit the car with an ounce of dignity rather than a scene from Ab Fab, but the new dihedral door design does make the process slightly easier.

The cockpit is driver focussed and there are all the mod cons we have come to expect in cars these days, including sat nav, a great sound system, Bluetooth, air conditioning, smartphone connectivity and an eight-inch portrait touchscreen.

Without being over ostentatious, the cabin is beautifully refined with fine leather upholstery and flashes of carbon fibre. I particularly liked the new McLaren Driver Interface that introduces a revolving display screen that offers useful data when driven in Track mode and more traditional information when in Comfort or Sport.

Storage options are catered for via a 150-litre compartment beneath the bonnet along with room for a couple of holdalls behind the seats. There is even a cup holder beneath the central console stack if you dare carry a coffee!

If you are of a nervous disposition, then the McLaren 720S is certainly not for you. It’s like a caged animal waiting to be released back into the wild. The driver can switch between Comfort, Sport and Track modes which alters the car’s handling and performance. The seven-speed twin clutch automatic gearbox is beautifully tuned and there are paddles if you fancy a little more fun.

The acceleration is blisteringly quick and the grip is so good you can be confident it will take any bend at speed without a care in the world. It can be as aggressive as you want it to be and you know your nerve will give way before reaching anywhere near the car’s full potential. But the surprising factor is how composed and refined it can be when simply bumbling along in congested traffic. It’s like that wild beast has been sedated and reverted to its more gentle manner.

The all-round visibility has been improved, but the long bonnet and high hedges can be an issue when turning out onto a country lane. Yet considering the driving position is just inches above the Tarmac I didn’t get out of the 720S armed with my mobile phone and a chiropractor’s number on speed dial. I also like the fact that the vehicle’s height can be raised at the flick of a lever if approaching a rather large speed bump.

When it comes to economy, the 720S officially delivers combined fuel efficiency of 26.4mpg with carbon emissions of 249g/km. However, the running costs and hiked up tax charges are hardly likely to deter someone who is about to order a McLaren.

And, of course, the car is packed with safety features, including superb carbon ceramic brakes that will bring the car to a standstill from 186mph in just 6.9 seconds.

All in all, the McLaren 720S is a fantastic piece of engineering that would feature high on any petrol head’s wish list. But the overwhelming demand means that even if you put in an order today, you will have to wait about six months before you get the keys.