EOPLE don’t tend
to buy supercars
on purely rational
grounds, which has
long been McLaren’s
biggest problem.
While the original
MP4-12C and 650S –
which was basically a
heavy facelift – both
led their segment
on power-to-weight
ratios, they struggled
to deliver the sort ofemotional appeal that persuades people to
drop condo-in-Bali sums on something with
four wheels and no jet engine. So while
the new 720S has indeed become faster
and lighter, the more important question
is probably around that less immediately
measurable metric: how much tingle it puts
in your tail.
The fundamentals remain as before:
McLaren’s entire road-car program has been
built around using a shared architecture
to cover everything from the 911-rivalling
Sports Series to its million-plus Ultimate
Series hypercars. That means the 720S
sticks with the combination of a carbon
tub and a mid-mounted twin-turbo V8. But
pretty much everything has been revised.
The new MonoCell II tub now incorporates
a carbon upper structure, with the
windscreen surround and central roof spar
both made from the material. The 650S used
aluminium for its upper pillars and screen
rail, and all of its structural strength was
in the lower tub. The fuller cage adds cost,
but has also made the car stronger, allowed
for cooler-looking top-hinged doors and
trimmed 17.7kg off the bodyshell.
The engine sticks with the evolutionary
theme, being a development of the 650S’s
V8. Capacity has increased to 4.0-litres
and there are new turbos, pistons and
crankshaft, plus redesigned cylinder heads.
Power rises to 530kW, outgunning the
not-exactly-slow Ferrari 488GTB by 38kW.
Visual differences are considerably
greater; aside from badges you’d be
hard-pressed to see much of an aesthetic
relationship between the 720S’s muscular
form and the slightly bland shapes of the
MP4-12C and 650S. The 720S has lost the
side air intake of its predecessors, and
indeed of pretty much every other mid-
engined car, with air channelled to the
engine and radiators through an artfully
disguised channel next to the rear windows.
It looks great; especially from the rearwhere – with the deployable wing raised
- it does a good impression of McLaren’s
P1 hypercar. The headlight apertures
incorporate well-hidden air ducts as well
as lighting elements, but in lighter paint
colours their size and darkness gives the
720S a dead-eyed look, slightly reminiscent
of the fish counter.
While the cabin works extremely well, it
does so in the rational manner of a fighter
jet, and without much of the supercar
showbiz of flashier rivals. Getting in and
out is easier thanks to lower sills and the
new wider-opening doors, but the first thing
I notice from the driver’s seat is how good
frontal visibility is thanks to the narrowness
of the carbon A-pillars. It’s the same story
to the rear, too, where glazed panels on
each side of the back screen pretty much
eliminate the over-the-shoulder blind spots
that have been as much a hallmark of mid-
engined supercars as their owners acquiring
much younger second wives. Switchgear
has been rationalised, with most functions - including HVAC – now incorporated into
the portrait-style touchscreen in the middle
of the cabin. Sadly, this lacks sensitivity
and feels surprisingly laggy – but that could
just have been down to my sweaty fingers.
There is a bit of theatre in the form of the
WHAT ABOUT THE LESS
MEASURABLE METRIC:
HOW MUCH TINGLE IT
PUTS IN YOUR TAIL?