MOTORING
a standing quarter-mile in 9.8 seconds. Amazingly, this series-production 720S is scarcely slower – 7.8 seconds and 10.3 seconds – yet costs £208,600. Relatively speaking, it’s a bit of a bargain. The 720S is too fast for the road, no doubt.
Opportunities to fully flex your right ankle are few and frustratingly far-between, especially in the south east of England. But then, very occasionally, the traffic clears, the planets align and oh my sweet Lord. The 720hp 4.0-litre V8 is a furious force of nature, seizing your senses and recalibrating reality. Car journalists often wax lyrical about naturally
aspirated engines in sports cars. And yes, there is joy to be had in wringing every last rev from an NA motor. However, the tremendous mid-range wallop of the turbocharged McLaren is equally addictive – and easier to exploit in the real world. It stops as quickly as it goes A Porsche engineer once explained to me that its
cars are engineered to decelerate as quickly as they accelerate. In other words, if a 911 hits 62mph in 3.5 seconds, it must stop to a standstill in the same period of time. The 720S exceeds this target, braking from 62mph
to zero in 29.7m and 2.8 seconds – 0.1 seconds less than it takes to get there. Huge carbon-ceramic discs also stop the 720S from 124mph (200kph) in 117m and 4.6 seconds, and from 186mph (300kph) in just 260m and 6.9 seconds, aided by an active rear spoiler that deploys as a near-vertical airbrake. Such stopping power is hugely reassuring in a car so swift. And here too, the 720S is within a hair’s breadth of the epochal P1.
THE STEERING IS SUBLIME With a few very minor exceptions, McLaren is the only carmaker that persists with hydraulic power steering. Even Ferrari has shifted to fuel-saving electric steering for its new 812 Superfast and Portofino. The advantage of a hydraulic rack is a
Need for speed: McClaren 720s blasts to 124mph (200kph) in 7.8 seconds and reaches a quarter- mile in 10.3 seconds
proper, physical connection between the palms of your hands and the rubber on the road. High- pressure fluid is used to turn the wheels rather than an electric motor, and the result is usually more faithful feedback and enhanced steering feel. The 720S has superb steering, its flat-bottomed
wheel communicating every nuance of the road surface and residual grip. Frankly, in a car that manages 26.4mpg on the NEDC cycle (and high teens in the real world), I’m glad McLaren decided to forgo electric assistance. Sipping fuel is hardly this car’s raison d’être.
WAKE UP YOUR NEIGHBOURS Actually, that’s not strictly true. The McLaren will serve up throttle-blipping theatrics on start-up, but only if you jump through several hoops first. Turn on the ignition and switch chassis and powertrain settings to Track mode. Then put your foot on the brake and press the starter button. A squirt of fuel is injected – then ignited – in the exhaust and BRAAAAP! The 720S starts with all the subtlety of a shotgun. A little immature perhaps, but fun. Fire-up the 720S normally and it will still wake up
your neighbours. But it isn’t deliberately, absurdly OTT like a Lamborghini or Jaguar F-Type SVR. Pops and bangs from the twin exhausts are fairly muted, the soundtrack dominated by the whoosh of the twin-scroll turbochargers. It sounds potent and purposeful, both mechanical and slightly synthetic. Ultimately, the 720S doesn’t deliver the aural fireworks of a Ferrari V8 or Lamborghini V10. But, after a week of living with one, I’m convinced that’s fine. You can have too much of a good thing, after all.
RIGHT SIZE FOR UK ROADS One of my personal bugbears is the sheer size of modern cars (and don’t get me started on SUVs). They grow larger with every passing generation, unlike our cramped and crowded streets. Many of
SAVILE ROW STYLE MAGAZINE 71
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88
