Best cars & vans

McLaren 650S

Formula One cars have been using paddle-shift gearboxes for around a quarter of a century, so its no surprise McLaren has incorporated the set-up on its incredible 650S supercar. Like its F1 machines, the road car features neat ‘rocker’ arrangement for its paddles, meaning the left and right paddles can be used for up and downshifts.

However, unlike its racing relative, the 650S uses a robust twin clutch gearbox rather than an expensive and fragile seamless shift sequential unit. As a result it can fire home gearchanges in the blink of an eye, yet serve-up the sort of creamy smooth automatic changes you’d normally expect from an executive saloon.

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