McLaren 570S review
The McLaren 570S offers all the thrills you’d expect from the British maker’s Sport Series flagship
There was never any doubt about McLaren’s ability to build a stunning supercar, but when the 570S launched, it brought about a new level of flamboyance to the Woking manufacturer’s line-up – and all with a dash of added usability. Form still very much follows function, but there’s no doubt the model is a prettier car than its predecessors. It’s also easier to get in and out of, and there’s more space to put things in the cabin.
If you can get past the obvious issues of cost and practicality, this two-seater supercar is a very special way to enjoy motoring thrills. The McLaren’s handling and ride over British roads is almost peerless, and the performance from the muscular twin-turbo V8 is scintillating. The only real question marks are regarding reliability.
The McLaren 570S is the most popular model in the famous British car-maker’s line-up, with a 562bhp twin-turbo engine offering blistering performance – and with supercar looks to match. The McLaren 570S specs are designed to have the measure of two-seat mid or rear-engined sporting rivals such as the Audi R8, Ferrari 488 GTB and Porsche 911. It’s priced accordingly too, as the 570S price list kicks off at around £145,000.
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The 570S is the hottest model in McLaren’s Sports Series, offering a slightly more dynamic driving experience than the (marginally) less powerful McLaren 540C and the more practical and ‘touring’ focused 570GT – although both those models share much of the 570S’s engineering and drivetrain.
You can opt for a 570S Coupe or the convertible 570S Spider, and there’s also a Track Pack for the Coupe version – with distinctive styling cues and a more focused drive. If you want to go faster and harder than the 570S allows, you need to move up a rung to the Woking manufacturer’s Super Series, which means the McLaren 720S.
As with all McLaren’s current line-up, the 570S is built around a carbon fibre central chassis tub – the latest variant, which underpins the 570S and its related models, is known as the MonoCell II. The firm’s 3.8-litre V8 engine also appears across the McLaren line-up in various states of tune.
There are no trim levels as such, but all models include a four-speaker stereo and McLaren’s IRIS infotainment system, as well as sat-nav, Bluetooth and leather upholstery. McLaren does provide a range of five Design Editions to help buyers choose from the array of ‘bespoke’ colour and finish options, or you can mix and match to your own taste through McLaren Special Operations.
The Track Pack is a popular option, featuring special lightweight alloy wheels, a contrasting roof colour and sports exhaust, while inside you get Alcantara trim and McLaren telemetry for track timing.
The Spider convertible has an electrically-operated lift off roof panel for truly exciting wind-in-the-hair motoring. It comes with a marginal 46kg weight penalty, but such is the stiffness of the MonoCell chassis it’s impossible to discern any meaningful difference in handling between the Spider and the Coupe.
