650S An owner's review
Discussion
For a number of years my default performance car option has been Porsche with the occasional foray elsewhere to the usual suspects, AM, Ferrari etc. More recently I have spent close to a year with a 650S spider and thought I would set down a brief overview of my recent ownership experience.
It was the announcement of the 570 in October 2015 which once again piqued my interest in matters McLaren, having looked at the 12C when it first came out but decided at that time to let others pave the way. However, some time spent researching the market suggested that for similar money to 570S new and nearly new 650S were available. Eventually I agreed a deal with McManchester for a new car to my spec to be delivered 1 March 2016.
As part of the package I was offered a factory visit to see my car being assembled. However at the time of the planned visit McLaren were in the process of moving to 2 shift working and at the same time preparing for the 570GT launch and as a result my car was not yet in the assembly area. As luck would have it during that visit we bumped into Dave Embling who on learning of the situation immediately invited me back to take a tour with him as soon as my car was under construction. Which he duly did. This incident typifies the enthusiasm and personal commitment to the marque which I have found throughout my dealings with McLaren.
My car was finally completed in April and on the day of handover all was going well until we tried to open the fuel cap. The result was the car had to go back to Manchester where the fault was quickly rectified and the car was back on a transporter for handover at home. Once again McLaren response was excellent.
This post is not concerned with prices, however there is one minor price related matter which made no sense to me. The base model 2016 650S spider comes with a leather steering wheel. An alcantara wheel is an optional extra at around £500. However I specced, inter alia, the Sports Pack which includes an alcantara wheel. Now I don’t think alcantara is a suitable material for a steering wheel save when wearing gloves on a race circuit and as my car was trimmed in leather I naturally thought I could revert to the base wheel at no cost or even a saving. But no. To go back to the leather wheel would be and extra £1000. The final sting in the tail on this is that when the car was delivered with its expensive leather wheel I noticed it still had an alcantara boss. Thankfully McManc sorted out a leather boss without a fuss or additional cost to me.
I ran the car in according to the manual but even with those constraints the performance was pretty impressive. The Ricardo engine is a lovely thing with deep seated engineering pedigree and for a turbo an engaging and appealing soundtrack; the drop down rear window a neat feature to add to the enjoyment. I was less convinced by the Graziano gearbox which in my view lacks some of the intuition and sophistication of PDK and resulted in Sport being the default powertrain setting. On the obverse side of the coin, coming from Porsche the 650S ride is otherworldly, a magic carpet unmatched by any other sports orientated car I have ever driven.
Eschewing breakfast, I left Chateau de Barive early and headed south on empty D roads. Just outside Gevrolles the D396 becomes the D996 which in turn leads to the D928 and D959. Over this wonderful sinuous undulating sequence the McLaren was sublime. Its blend of power, precision and compliance utterly intoxicating. Having exited Besancon and found the D9 the 650S was back in its element and powering over another sequence of empty twisting D roads towards the Swiss border. Some unavoidable Autoroute round Lausanne then followed leading to a final blast over the Jaun Pass into Simmental. It is a route I know well and have done in a number of excellent vehicles but none were better drives than the one in the 650S.
And that for me is what these cars are about. The freedom of uncongested open back roads. Drive the road as you see it, savour and drink deeply the experience while you still can.
Then the passenger window packed up and I had to drive to Geneva to get it sorted by McGeneva, and IRIS was useless and kept trying to send me the wrong way up one way streets so in the end I reverted to my £99 Garmin and found the McLaren dealer no problem but they couldn’t repair the window though they managed to shut it and I drove back to UK where McManc came to my house to collect the car and fitted two new soft close door latches and delivered back to me in double quick time. Thanks again McManc.
Things I like. The seating position, the forward view, the steering and other control weights, the spider roof, the handling and performance, the quality of finish, volcano red.
I’m ambivalent about the Graziano gearbox and think the car may deserve better.
I don’t like the instruments, menu system, IRIS, lack of storage in the cabin, lethargic lift system, electric handbrake.
However, when all is said and done the 650S is very digital, ultimately dependent on significant computer power analysing all forces and inputs and assessing optimum outcomes. But there again the same can be said of the Porsche turbo where any number of Porsche acronyms are constantly at work in delivering hard to match real world, year-round, all weather performance.
So with a 991.2 turbo S due to be delivered on 1 March I thought I was long one turbo powered technology packed car and asked Alastair Bols to sell the 650S for me, which he did at a very acceptable price in less than a week, in January. Thank you, Alastair, for a first class service.
Would I have another McLaren? Most certainly. However, I think I will let the early adopters iron out any teething troubles with the P14 and see how the land lies in a couple of years.
And the garage space? Well that is now occupied by another spider, this time N/A and rather more analogue.
It was the announcement of the 570 in October 2015 which once again piqued my interest in matters McLaren, having looked at the 12C when it first came out but decided at that time to let others pave the way. However, some time spent researching the market suggested that for similar money to 570S new and nearly new 650S were available. Eventually I agreed a deal with McManchester for a new car to my spec to be delivered 1 March 2016.
As part of the package I was offered a factory visit to see my car being assembled. However at the time of the planned visit McLaren were in the process of moving to 2 shift working and at the same time preparing for the 570GT launch and as a result my car was not yet in the assembly area. As luck would have it during that visit we bumped into Dave Embling who on learning of the situation immediately invited me back to take a tour with him as soon as my car was under construction. Which he duly did. This incident typifies the enthusiasm and personal commitment to the marque which I have found throughout my dealings with McLaren.
My car was finally completed in April and on the day of handover all was going well until we tried to open the fuel cap. The result was the car had to go back to Manchester where the fault was quickly rectified and the car was back on a transporter for handover at home. Once again McLaren response was excellent.
This post is not concerned with prices, however there is one minor price related matter which made no sense to me. The base model 2016 650S spider comes with a leather steering wheel. An alcantara wheel is an optional extra at around £500. However I specced, inter alia, the Sports Pack which includes an alcantara wheel. Now I don’t think alcantara is a suitable material for a steering wheel save when wearing gloves on a race circuit and as my car was trimmed in leather I naturally thought I could revert to the base wheel at no cost or even a saving. But no. To go back to the leather wheel would be and extra £1000. The final sting in the tail on this is that when the car was delivered with its expensive leather wheel I noticed it still had an alcantara boss. Thankfully McManc sorted out a leather boss without a fuss or additional cost to me.
I ran the car in according to the manual but even with those constraints the performance was pretty impressive. The Ricardo engine is a lovely thing with deep seated engineering pedigree and for a turbo an engaging and appealing soundtrack; the drop down rear window a neat feature to add to the enjoyment. I was less convinced by the Graziano gearbox which in my view lacks some of the intuition and sophistication of PDK and resulted in Sport being the default powertrain setting. On the obverse side of the coin, coming from Porsche the 650S ride is otherworldly, a magic carpet unmatched by any other sports orientated car I have ever driven.
Eschewing breakfast, I left Chateau de Barive early and headed south on empty D roads. Just outside Gevrolles the D396 becomes the D996 which in turn leads to the D928 and D959. Over this wonderful sinuous undulating sequence the McLaren was sublime. Its blend of power, precision and compliance utterly intoxicating. Having exited Besancon and found the D9 the 650S was back in its element and powering over another sequence of empty twisting D roads towards the Swiss border. Some unavoidable Autoroute round Lausanne then followed leading to a final blast over the Jaun Pass into Simmental. It is a route I know well and have done in a number of excellent vehicles but none were better drives than the one in the 650S.
And that for me is what these cars are about. The freedom of uncongested open back roads. Drive the road as you see it, savour and drink deeply the experience while you still can.
Then the passenger window packed up and I had to drive to Geneva to get it sorted by McGeneva, and IRIS was useless and kept trying to send me the wrong way up one way streets so in the end I reverted to my £99 Garmin and found the McLaren dealer no problem but they couldn’t repair the window though they managed to shut it and I drove back to UK where McManc came to my house to collect the car and fitted two new soft close door latches and delivered back to me in double quick time. Thanks again McManc.
Things I like. The seating position, the forward view, the steering and other control weights, the spider roof, the handling and performance, the quality of finish, volcano red.
I’m ambivalent about the Graziano gearbox and think the car may deserve better.
I don’t like the instruments, menu system, IRIS, lack of storage in the cabin, lethargic lift system, electric handbrake.
However, when all is said and done the 650S is very digital, ultimately dependent on significant computer power analysing all forces and inputs and assessing optimum outcomes. But there again the same can be said of the Porsche turbo where any number of Porsche acronyms are constantly at work in delivering hard to match real world, year-round, all weather performance.
So with a 991.2 turbo S due to be delivered on 1 March I thought I was long one turbo powered technology packed car and asked Alastair Bols to sell the 650S for me, which he did at a very acceptable price in less than a week, in January. Thank you, Alastair, for a first class service.
Would I have another McLaren? Most certainly. However, I think I will let the early adopters iron out any teething troubles with the P14 and see how the land lies in a couple of years.
And the garage space? Well that is now occupied by another spider, this time N/A and rather more analogue.
Thanks for the positive comments guys.
To pick up a couple of points. Yes it is terracotta. Might not have been my first choice though I like it well enough on the car; but it is a thin market for one owner C16 CGT.
Yes brand new Super Sports fitted as part of the deal.
Polar opposite to 650S in so many ways and a learning curve I intend to approach with considerable caution. But hopefully that will be part of the fun.
And yes it will most definitely be on the D996 et al. That's why I bought it.
To pick up a couple of points. Yes it is terracotta. Might not have been my first choice though I like it well enough on the car; but it is a thin market for one owner C16 CGT.
Yes brand new Super Sports fitted as part of the deal.
Polar opposite to 650S in so many ways and a learning curve I intend to approach with considerable caution. But hopefully that will be part of the fun.
And yes it will most definitely be on the D996 et al. That's why I bought it.
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