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January 2016|TOPCAR.CO.ZA 87``````keep the transmission creep at bay is annoyingly highconsidering its intended use. Imagine riding a bike with only aright pedal attached to the crank and you’ve probably got agood approximation of what it’ll feel like inJo’burg traffic.Other small niggles include noisy windscreen wipers, awhistling from the air-con that so unds like someone tappingoutWar and Peaceinmorse code, and a badly positioned br akecooling du ct th at hang s way below the front wishbones whereit’s just begging to be destroyed by potholes and ke rbs. Iobliged. InMcLaren’s defence it claims to be aware of theseproblems on what was a pre-production car and assures usthey’ll be fixed before customers take delivery. We’ll see.After a pause for pictures I switch to the 911, and it feels likeI’ve jumped into a Cayenne by mistake. Taller by 94mm, and``````(subjectivel y, ifnot objectivel y)significantly wider, it’s instantly lessalien. It’s a handsome interior, but thegreat swathe of bu ttons below thegear selector is fussy, the columnstalks feel as flimsy as they have fordecades, and it’s surpri sing to findthat there are fewer usefulcubbies forphones, wallets and coffees than inthe McLaren, or at least located inthecentre console where you really wantthem. And the comforting familiarityof the designand materials is also itsdownfall. It doesn’t feel that muchmorespecial to look at and sit inthana Cayman costing a third as much.Porsch e fans have heard it all before.Drivers, they’ll counter, are less interested invanitythanprofanity – the kind of expletiv es that might escape yourmouth every time you hit a great bit of road, ask the Turbo todig deep, and are reminded how great this chassis and enginecombination really is. So the follo wing morning we’re brieflyback on the motorway, to find us some of those finding-ou troads. Despite James Taylor complaining of a numb rear endon the way downthrough Spain, the 911 feels comfortable andcomposed at a cruise, its boxer six humming awayunobtrusivel y inthe ba ckground, occa sionally cutting inandout as it makes use of the coasting function that help s Porsch eclaim an impres sive 9.7ℓ/10 0km and 227g/km. Despitepacking McLaren’s first stop/startsystem, the lighter 570 trailson 11.1ℓ/100km and 258g/k m. Refined at 120kph, ab ove160kph it’s noticeably moreboomy too, something to bear inmind ifyou’re an autobahn-d welling McLar-hun.Asgrey turns to green, the urban sprawl thinning andeventually giving way to the woody climbs of the Sintra-Casc ais NationalPark, each car grabs the increasingly frequentchances to stretch its legs. I’ve driven the 911 Turbo S before,but I’m no le ss shocked by how wieldy it feels. Some of thatprecision must be downto adaptive engine mounts specific tothe S, which also gets halfan inch wider centre-lock wheels.But for me the four-whe el-steer system that’s common to bothTurbos is where this blown 911 steppe d up a ge ar from itspred ecessors. Intownyou can see the rear wheel twistingoutwards inyourside mirror to improve manoeuvrabilitywhen park ing. Up here inthe hills you can feel it pointin g thecar into each corner, imbuing it with an almost mid-enginedzealfor changing direction. Slow in/fast out has always beenthe 911 mantra, but that goes out the windowwith torque-vectoring four-whe el-steer agility and four-whe el-drive tractiondoing their best buddy movie impres sion. Fast in, faster inthemiddle and ut terly ba tsh*t on the exit is the new party line.The standard cera mics give a beautifully firmpedalfeel and the PDK ’box’s shift mapping is exce llent, butit’s not all good news. The steering feels disapp ointingly ill-defined around the stra ight ahead, the throttle response isutterly soporific unless you’ve got the Sport button enga ged,and even then the flat-sixmakes you wait before delivering.The McLaren feels similarly less than immediate when yousummon the power, a combination of turbo lag and peaktorque not arrivi ng until 5000rpm. The pedal response isactually prettygood, but sometimes that first modest slug ofextra power only serves to push the nose wide, beca use it’s notthe giant kick of thrust you wanted to help the car movearound its centreline. It gives the 570 an occa sionally soft,``````BODY & AEROThe570Sditchesthe 650’s compositebody panels formoreeasily repairedsuperformedaluminiumpanelsthat are heatedthenblowninto amould.Onlythe 650S getsactiveaero in theformof a moveablerearspoiler``````ENGINEEvery McLarenfrom570StoP1employs aversionofthe original12C’s3.8-litretwin-turboV8. The570Smakes419kWand 600Nmtothe 650S’s 478kWand678Nm.Bothare rear-drive via aseven-speed twin-clutch ‘box``````CHASSISBoth use avariationofthe carbonfibreMonoCell, but the570S’s is modifiedwith alowered sillfor easieraccess.Maintaining stiffnessatthe same timemeant adding 5kgofstrengtheningmaterial tojunior’stub (still only 80kg)``````SUSPENSIONWith itsuncannyability toabsorbbumps,hydraulicsuspension hasalways beena key modernMcLarenfeature.But the 570Susesconventionalsuspension and anti-roll bars. Sonoriskofleaks, but morebumps.570Svs650SWhat’s thedifference?Flickyour wrist ineitherdirectionand the570 reminds that it’slighter than any rival