McLaren has rewritten the book on supercars. In big, clear, easy-to-read print.
Stunningly fast and breathtakingly styled, the new McLaren 720S is an exotic car without drawbacks, unless you consider it a drawback that the cost can blow past $300,000 faster than the 720S gets to 60 mph.
Perhaps most amazing, the 720-horsepower mid-engine two-seater is so comfortable and easy to use you could drive it every day. My $327,255 Quartz-colored tester even had a luggage compartment under the hood that held three or four grocery bags.
Behind the Wheel
2018 McLaren 720S Launch Edition
Rear-wheel-drive, two-passenger compact coupe
Price as tested: $327,255 (excluding destination charge)
Rating: Four out of four stars)
Reasons to buy: Looks, performance, comfort, exclusivity
Shortcomings: You're not Jeff Bezos
I didn't take the 720S grocery shopping because it would take too long. Not getting to and from the store. That could've been the next quickest thing to teleportation, if I didn't care about keeping my driver's license. The 720S consumes time like it does gasoline at wide-open throttle because every stop includes people asking to take their picture with it.
This must be similar to why Beyonce doesn't do her own grocery shopping.
Handcrafted by McLaren in England, the 720S combines the cutting-edge technology of the company's famous Formula 1 race cars with the luxurious interior look and feel of prestige brands that have been around for a century.
Parked, it looks like a jet fighter on a carrier deck. In motion, it's a blur, accelerating to 60 mph in 2.8 seconds, covering the quarter-mile in 10.3, and reaching a nearly unimaginable 186 mph in 21.4. Terminal velocity is 212 mph.
I drove one of 400 Launch Edition 720S cars that were built. McLaren builds each to customer order at its factory in Woking, England, not far from the heart of Formula One racing and engineering. The factory produces two other road cars, the 570S and Senna. Total production of the three should reach about 5,000 this year. McLaren sold 3,340 cars in 2017, including 1,221 720Ses.
The performance figures make the 720S sound daunting, a car for race drivers, dangerous in the hands of an amateur, but it's supremely well-behaved. The driver must keep an eye on the speedometer because the car's power and smoothness make it alarmingly easy to approach triple-digit speeds, but the steering is precise without being touchy, the ride comfortable.
Big carbon-ceramic brakes require extra effort at first, but once you've driven enough to heat them, stopping power is monumental.
The weight distribution is 42 percent front-58 percent rear, in keeping with the supercar tradition of putting more than half over the rear wheels to keep them from spinning when you floor it.
The 720S structure is a racing-style a carbon-fiber tub, the same light, strong material used in advanced race cars and aircraft. The body is a mix of aluminum and carbon fiber. The proportions of each are nearly entirely up to the driver. One of the leading ordering strategies is replacing aluminum panels and pieces with carbon fiber to make your car even lighter, faster and, of course, more expensive.
The base price for my car was $284,745. Options included $4,840 for visible carbon fiber in places like the A-pillars, and a $2,510 hydraulic lift to raise the nose so the low aerodynamic air splitter doesn't scrape the ground pulling into driveways and parking lots. Another $2,690 gets you little Gorilla Glass windows _ yep, like your iPhone _ where the dihedral doors open into the roof.
The doors' wide opening makes the 720S extraordinarily easy to enter and exit, by supercar standards. Hinged at the front fender and the roof, the door opening is very wide. You can step into the car from above, unlike the limbo-like moves many super-low exotic cars require. The inside is surprisingly roomy. My car had the full luxury package of options, which included black and purple leather _ complementary to the exterior Quartz-colored paint _ on the seats, doors, dash and steering wheel.
The controls are simple and easy to use, as you'd hope in a car created to be driven fast and for fun. Four simple stalks manage cruise control, trip computer, display and nose height. Three switches offer gears: drive, neutral and reverse. There is no "park," because the electric parking brake automatically engages when you stop the engine. Paddle shifters are mounted on the steering for manual gear changes, but honestly, you're kidding yourself if you think you can do it faster or better than McLaren's seven-speed dual-clutch automatic.
Nestled a few inches behind the occupants' heads, the 4.0-liter engine is surprisingly unobtrusive, allowing conversations and hands-free phone calls. A small touch screen low in the center stack provides simple controls for navigation, phone and audio. There's no voice recognition. That's the only thing I'd change about the car. You can receive hands-free phone calls easily, but making one requires some distraction, selecting numbers or a name from the touchscreen.
The 720S intentionally eschews driver assistance features like blind spot alert, automatic emergency braking and lane departure alert. That's understandable. While you could drive the 720S every day, nobody will, and the cars' owners are likely to have other vehicles loaded with safety and connectivity.
The McLaren 720S demands your attention, and deserves it.
Specifications as tested
Engine: 4.0L twin-turbo 32-valve V8
Power: 720 @ 7,500 hp rpm; 568 lb-ft of torque @ 5,500 rpm
Transmission: 7-speed dual-clutch automatic
Wheelbase: 105.1 inches
Length: 178.9 inches
Width: 81.1 inches
Height: 47.1 inches
Curb Weight: 3,167 lbs.
Where assembled: Woking, Surrey, England
Key features on vehicle tested
Standard equipment: Carbon ceramic brakes; antilock brakes; stability control; launch control; touch screen; navigation; Bluetooth; USB port; hydraulic suspension; speed-deployed rear spoiler; dual-zone climate control; Sirius satellite radio; folding gauge cluster for improved visibility; alarm; Pirelli P Zero Corsa tires;; LED headlamps and front/rear running lights;
Options: Five twin-spoke lightweight forged wheels; liquid titanium metal finish; red brake calipers; Homelink; vehicle lift; 360 degree park assist; luggage strap; warning triangle; first aid kit; fire extinguisher; car cover; visible carbon fiber body structure; luxury package; leather steering wheel; electric steering column; Quartz paint; Gorilla glass exterior door upper; 12-speaker Bowers & Wilkins audio; launch Edition luggage
