Tuesday 1st April 2014

McLaren 650S: Time For Tea(se)?

Our review of the McLaren 650S is coming soon - swot up on the official line here!

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So our McLaren 650S review is filed and, if you're ready to stay up, going live just after midnight tonight. Full verdict on the car then but in the meantime here's a quick overview of the car's tech from Product Manager Jamie Costorphine from the show stand at Geneva. More here in our pre-unveil story, including an interview with engineering boss Dan Parry-Williams.

Frankly we struggle beyond digesting those engine output figures - 650hp and 500lb ft of torque? Yup. Enough to put anything comparable and Italian in the shade by pure numbers. But little more than spec sheet Top Trumps unless the 650S moves the game on from the 12C sufficiently and injects a bit of P1 thrill factor.

Which is what McLaren has promised. Find out if they've made good on it very soon...

McLaren's 650S Geneva show vid

 

[British Beef]

Looks stunning however it will need some serious spicing up to make it sounds anywhere as nice as the 458 (maybe an impossible task given NA vs turbo).

[benters]

cant wait to see one in Mantis Green as per the Mc configurator. . .looks tasty

[greggy50]

If this car is a lot better I would be rater pissed off if I had just purchased an MP4-12c as values will no doubt plummet...

[Lyons]

I'd love mclaren to take their carbon chassis, put a N/A version of the V8 in, and dress it in a simple, super lightweight roadster body. Limited run, 80k, aimed at the British market, so they don't have to compromise the styling for those unsufferable supercar peacock type owners. Probably a controversial opinion.

[Morry10]

Really liking this 650S and the online configurator is great fun!

(Hard time deciding atm what exact spec I totally cannot afford)

[immunda]

Anyone else spot Christian Von Koenigsegg at 1:46?

[Wanta996Gotta]

Its the straightline speed of the thing thats astonishing. Knowing this junior supercar can spank the majority of Supercars bar a Veyron and P1 is scary.

Autoexpress also hinted at a track version??? - http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/mclaren/650s/86402/ul...

[mikEsprit]

It fixed the 'problem' of the 12c's entirely too bland face, but then created a new 'problem' by making it look too much like the P1's face. Come on, while this is an improvement, it comes with a consequence that it didn't have to.

[King Steffy]

Didn't that guy work for Autocar ?

[jakesmith]

Not sure £200k is junior supercar with F12 & Aventador at £240k. Surely junior supercar is R8, California, 991 Turbo?

[Europa1]

It's undoubtedly another technical tour de force by McLaren, but I do find the looks of the 650S "troubling" - as others have said on previous 650S-related threads, the nose just doesn't seem to work (aesthetically, that is - I have no doubt the Woking boffins have CFD-ed it to within a micron of its life) with the rest of the car - just the nose from a different car in the range grafted onto what is otherwise an elegant, understated, but effective and cohesive design, ie the 12C.

God forbid that McLaren fall into the Porsche mantra of "must make it look like a 911 no matter what type of vehicle it is" and end up thrashing their designs with a big ugly stick as a result!

[Ex Boy Racer]

Well, I saw a 650S convertible in matt black at some services on the A303 earlier today. It looked pretty good from where I was standing.
Not the best exhaust note as it took off down the sliproad though...

[PunterCam]

I like the side intakes - nicer than the 12c, but the front is a bit horrible. Much preferred the underplayed, functional front of the 12c.

McLaren could rule the supercar market, but to do so they have to make their car beautiful, and their engines fantastic. Not rocket science.

[lewisf182]

The fk is with all these horrific looking wheels on new cars alately. Wheels are one of the most important factors when it comes to a cars looks IMO, they either make or break many cars, and here they just look like a terrible wolfrace wheel and an after thought of the design.....

[flat-planedCrank]

King Steffy said:

Didn't that guy work for Autocar ?

Yeah, Jamie Costorphine left Autocar for McLaren iirc.

[flat-planedCrank]

[link error in main news post]

The final link 'McLaren's 650S Geneva show vid' points to:
http://web4.pistonheads.com/admin/news/edit2.asp?s...

should point to:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttN4p9Kcq8s

[Dan Trent]

flat-planedCrank said:

[link error in main news post]

The final link 'McLaren's 650S Geneva show vid' points to:
http://web4.pistonheads.com/admin/news/edit2.asp?s...

should point to:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttN4p9Kcq8s

Oops, thanks for heads-up. Now corrected.

Cheers,

DAn

[moribund]

Count me in the camp that prefers the cleaner, understated look of the 12C.

[Streetrod]

benters said:

cant wait to see one in Mantis Green as per the Mc configurator. . .looks tasty

What like this one:










I like it

[HighwayStar]

Gotta laugh, when the 12C came out so many were saying it was too understated, plain... Just not exciting enough. Now we have the 650S the 12C is now getting praised big stylee. I like them both... And the green 650S is the tits... Sure it's in your face but I have form when it come to bright colours. Sadly unless my numbers come up they'll be nothing truly exotic in my future.