McLaren 600LT 2018 international first drive
As a mid-engined supercar, McLaren’s 570S is more than a handy piece of gear.
The car that until now has topped the British manufacturer’s so-called Sports range will hit 100km/h in 3.2 seconds on its way to a 328km/h top speed, handles like the race cars with which it shares a carbon-fibre construction concept and even though it costs $380,000 in Australia, looks like a million bucks.
The only problem is, it has just been trumped by a McLaren newcomer, the 600LT.
Perhaps that’s not so surprising given the LT is a harder, more powerful and much lighter version of the 570S with much revised bodywork (among many other improvements) that have added 47mm length to the rear of the familiar shape, hence the initials that in McLaren-speak stand for ‘long tail’.
After driving the two back-to-back at the 600LT’s international introduction on Budapest’s Hungaroring race circuit there’s no doubt the previously super-impressive 570S feels softer, quieter and more vague in the steering and braking departments that its much sharper-focused alter ego. In other words, McLaren has ratcheted some of its best work up another notch.
- Serious performance upgrades.
- Race car-like aerodynamics.
- Excellent handling.
- Almost sold out.
- Hard to get in and out of.
- Spartan cabin.
Can I afford the 600LT?
If you’re the kind of person with money to burn on expensive sports cars, the good news is the 600LT arrives in Australia late this year or early next priced from $455,000. The bad news is that with a production lifespan of around 12 months and the number of cars built in that time (McLaren won’t say exactly how many) already close to sold out, you’ll have to be quick to acquire one.
Or perhaps wait a bit longer and pay a bit more for the Spider version of the LT with a removable roof that even McLaren says will be a logical and inevitable addition to the line-up.
What do you get for your money?
Getting back to the coupe, what you’ll get is a car with more of most things – engine power, aerodynamic downforce, handling and braking ability included – but less of others, mainly weight.
In creating the 600LT McLaren has shaved about 100kg off the lightest version by all sorts of measures, not least by deleting niceties such as carpet, audio equipment and air conditioning, although for those not into automotive flagellation these are available at no extra cost.
Then there are things like alloy wheels and Pirelli tyres that are 17kg lighter, one-piece seats saving 21kg, shorter top-exiting exhausts for another 12.6kg and more use of carbon fibre panels shaving a further 7.2kg.
Together with the upgraded 3.8-litre twin-turbo V8 getting a performance upgrade to 441kW (that’s 600 metric horsepower) it means the LT will hit 100km/h in 2.9 seconds or 0.3 less than the 570S. Crank the acceleration run out from zero to 200km/h and the time is 8.2 seconds or slightly faster, McLaren claims, even than a Porsche 911 GT2 RS.
What's the tech like?
The aerodynamic work around the front and rear of the car aren’t so much to improve speed, which only matches the 570S’s 328km/h top whack thanks to the drag of the fixed rear wing, but to improve downforce or aerodynamic grip.
Moving the exhaust outlets to the engine cover not only looks dramatic but leaves space under the rear for a properly functioning diffuser that helps provide a claimed 100kg of downward shove at 250km/h – probably something of benefit only to club racers at Phillip Island or Mount Panorama race circuits.
At the Hungarian race track high-speed downforce isn’t such an issue, this being one of the Formula One championship’s tighter circuits but there are no end of other exhilarating attributes about the 600LT to enjoy.
What's the interior of the McLaren like?
Stepping into the cockpit through the scissor lift door – or rather clambering, thanks to the extreme shape of the lightweight seats – you’re struck by the simplicity of the cabin with its no-nonsense projected instrument panel and secondary central information panel, with a couple of dials just below to adjust the performance systems.
As mentioned there’s nothing as luxurious as carpet, but these particular cars had been optioned with everything from powered steering column adjustment, a carbon fibre interior upgrade, more carbon fibre for exterior panels and even a fat Bowers & Wilkins audio system.
The extensive list of options cost more than $100,000 in total, indicating that for an owner with deep pockets that $455,000 sticker price is just the beginning.
Forget the frou-frou and fire up the engine and the immediate reward is an eruption of artillery fire from the two angled exhaust outlets a few feet behind the driver’s right eardrum. Because this is a racetrack, it’s best to select manual shift mode for the seven-speed dual clutch gearbox, exit the pit lane at a steady 60km/h then floor the throttle in second and then bang, things suddenly get serious.
What's the 600LT like to drive?
Even through the padding of a helmet the engine noise is constant, loud and invigorating when using full throttle and revs, and depending on which driving mode is selected, you get faster and harsher gearshifts punctuated by a pop and crackle of the exhaust igniting unburnt fuel.
Acceleration is long, hard and constant shifting up at near the 8000rpm cut-off but for the sake of approximating more sensible on-road driving, squeezing the right pedal from lower revs in higher gears indicates there’s ample torque – it peaks at 620Nm between 5500 and 6500rpm – to make this a supercar that will work on the street as well as the track.
So, there’s explosive acceleration out of corners but compared with the 570S (helpfully offered for half a dozen laps to learn the circuit) a much sharper and better balanced driving experience that takes the 600LT into another realm.
With cast alloy suspension wishbones taken from the 720S, stiffer springs and damper settings all around and slightly faster steering there’s more feedback to the driver, more immediate response to inputs, very little in the way of body movement and simply tons of entertainment from a car that urges the driver to push harder and faster.
The 600LT is rear-driven, of course, so playing with the throttle pushing out of a corner will push the rear-end wide although the amount is dictated by whether the stability control system is set to maximum or minimum intervention.
In the former mode the result is safety-first with a pause while the drivetrain waits for forward rather than sideways acceleration; the latter, there’s much more slip angle allowed while leaving allowance to mitigate a half-spin.
Traction and stability control can be turned off altogether for the brave however, as a for-instance, my tutor on the day, a guy called Jonny Kane, said he wouldn’t do that himself. His credentials included pole position and a win in the 2010 1000km Le Mans series race at the Hungaroring, and so seemed worth listening too.
Certainly, the brakes only inspire great confidence with huge carbon ceramic discs, aluminium calipers and a booster taken straight from the Senna hypercar, they hauled the 600LT down from about 250km/h on the straight to the first corner with ridiculous ease, time and again with no fade.
What you get though is a car built nominally for the road that performs mightily on the track, precise in its steering, with instant response to any driver input and the ability to either cut through a corner with scalpel-like precision or slide broad-sword fashion if asked. The combination of brutality, accuracy and forgiveness is as addictive as it is impressive.
Racetrack laps are usually little indication of how a car will perform on the road when it comes to ride comfort or sound suppression. Regarding the latter, it’s likely nobody would buy a car that spits flame from the rear deck with quietness in mind; the closest you can come to exploring the latter is bouncing the LT off a few kerbs, with which it seemed to cope well enough.
Indications are the 570S would be more comfortable on the road, even if it’s down to the sensibly padded seats compared with the 600LT’s moon-launch style cocoons. But for the ultimate in hard-core sports car entertainment, wild styling and the satisfaction of knowing the only faster McLaren wears a Senna badge, the LT seems like the very real deal.
On sale: Late 2018
Price: From $455,000 plus on-road costs
Engine: 3.8-litre V8 turbo
Power: 441kW at 7500rpm
Torque: 620Nm at 5500rpm
Transmission: Seven-speed dual-clutch automatic, rear-wheel drive
Fuel use: 11.7 L/100km