Discussion
No more pics, because the weather is foul, but I did manage a 50 mile shakedown earlier in the week. Some thoughts:
The good
Exactly as the reviews have suggested, this is a 720 turned up to 11, or a 765 turned down to 9.5. The ride and body control are superb, even on the terrible roads of Hertfordshire, and the steering is clearly improved. Acceleration is brutal, but then so is a 720 and in this weather you're traction-limited anyway. The shorter gearing is noticeable but doesn't significantly affect refinement on the motorway - you're still well under 3,000rpm at 80-odd; I don't think I'll miss the 6mph of lost top speed. I do have the thicker noise-cancelling windscreen, which may do something, although I chose it because I suspect it's also tougher.
Gearshifts in sport are an event, as is the popping and cracking on the overrun. In general the sound is much better, although the exhaust is more noticeable when cruising as it's slightly higher-pitched than the sports exhaust on the 720. I've never had or driven a 720 with a standard exhaust, so can't comment on the change from that. I've not tried track mode for either chassis or drivetrain yet - a) I'm still running in and b) see above re: weather and road surfaces. I have some track days booked next year and while I'll be using the GT3RS for those, I will probably yield to the temptation to take the 750 out, even if I don't push that hard.
The build quality is better than either of my 720s were - mostly I suspect because they've been screwing these together for a while now; mine is chassis 7445 so I assume they've carried on the numbering from the 720 rather than starting again. Interior changes are minor and not really discernible, frankly - apart from the infotainment and dash. Everything works, which isn't always taken for granted with low-volume sportscars.
I was sceptical about the new dash, seeing it as a cost-saving measure to reuse the same mouldings and controls as the Artura. I suspect that's true, but I did find that having the mode controls closer to hand made me use them more often, and no longer having the "non-active" chassis mode at all, never mind as a starting default, is a huge improvement. Moving the nose lift to a dedicated button and speeding it up to 4 seconds is also a gamechanger for those of us who live in the land of never-ending speedbumps.
The meh
The infotainment and dash software feels unfinished. The dash in particular has little configurability - you can get tyre pressure and temperature, or trip computer, or basic car info (battery status, oil level, service requirement and messaging); but no navigation instructions or map, no media info, no phone info. All of these were options in the 720, and that car's dash did the cool folding thing (which was pointless but I liked it). The display is very clear, and readable even with the sun behind you, but given how much configurability and information there is in the myriad of third-party digital dashes available this seems pretty underspecced. It also appears not to be connected to the infotainment system at all - which means no software update can magically add these options - since you have to set the time independently for both systems. I have theories about issues transferring from the Artura's ethernet-based loom to the 750s conventional one, but have asked the question of McLaren.
The infotainment system is equally limited. The stereo (the same B&W 12-speaker system from the 720) remains excellent and at some point I will work out what format of USB stick the thing can actually read. You can make phone calls - but not receive or read/have read out to you messages. The navigation is pretty but also pretty rubbish - no map configurability, so I'm stuck with 3D, which I hate; no live traffic feed unless you set up your phone as a wifi hotspot and connect it separately, because for some reason it can't use the bluetooth connection for that; no way I've found to tell it to look for an address in another country. I think this is because the 750 has Carplay (woo!) so it is assumed that owners will use that for everything except climate control, audio settings and VDC. But I'm not a member of the fruit cult, and it doesn't have Android Auto. Opinions seem to vary on whether this will ever be remedied - another question posed to McLaren - but until it is I'm stuck with the RubbishNav2000 unless I want my phone attached like a carbuncle to the dash with 10 quids' worth of Amazon tat.
The last moan is that the mode controls are plastic and the infotainment surround is an incongruous goldish aluminium colour. Both really should be available in carbon, but aren't. That's question three to McLaren, which I have been asking since April and may get an answer to eventually. I am going to the MTC in early Jan and will try to find the right person and pester them until I get the answer I want.
The TLDR
Wow. Looks fantastic, drives superbly, is very very fast. Properly assembled. ICE far behind the average French supermini, but who cares?
The good
Exactly as the reviews have suggested, this is a 720 turned up to 11, or a 765 turned down to 9.5. The ride and body control are superb, even on the terrible roads of Hertfordshire, and the steering is clearly improved. Acceleration is brutal, but then so is a 720 and in this weather you're traction-limited anyway. The shorter gearing is noticeable but doesn't significantly affect refinement on the motorway - you're still well under 3,000rpm at 80-odd; I don't think I'll miss the 6mph of lost top speed. I do have the thicker noise-cancelling windscreen, which may do something, although I chose it because I suspect it's also tougher.
Gearshifts in sport are an event, as is the popping and cracking on the overrun. In general the sound is much better, although the exhaust is more noticeable when cruising as it's slightly higher-pitched than the sports exhaust on the 720. I've never had or driven a 720 with a standard exhaust, so can't comment on the change from that. I've not tried track mode for either chassis or drivetrain yet - a) I'm still running in and b) see above re: weather and road surfaces. I have some track days booked next year and while I'll be using the GT3RS for those, I will probably yield to the temptation to take the 750 out, even if I don't push that hard.
The build quality is better than either of my 720s were - mostly I suspect because they've been screwing these together for a while now; mine is chassis 7445 so I assume they've carried on the numbering from the 720 rather than starting again. Interior changes are minor and not really discernible, frankly - apart from the infotainment and dash. Everything works, which isn't always taken for granted with low-volume sportscars.
I was sceptical about the new dash, seeing it as a cost-saving measure to reuse the same mouldings and controls as the Artura. I suspect that's true, but I did find that having the mode controls closer to hand made me use them more often, and no longer having the "non-active" chassis mode at all, never mind as a starting default, is a huge improvement. Moving the nose lift to a dedicated button and speeding it up to 4 seconds is also a gamechanger for those of us who live in the land of never-ending speedbumps.
The meh
The infotainment and dash software feels unfinished. The dash in particular has little configurability - you can get tyre pressure and temperature, or trip computer, or basic car info (battery status, oil level, service requirement and messaging); but no navigation instructions or map, no media info, no phone info. All of these were options in the 720, and that car's dash did the cool folding thing (which was pointless but I liked it). The display is very clear, and readable even with the sun behind you, but given how much configurability and information there is in the myriad of third-party digital dashes available this seems pretty underspecced. It also appears not to be connected to the infotainment system at all - which means no software update can magically add these options - since you have to set the time independently for both systems. I have theories about issues transferring from the Artura's ethernet-based loom to the 750s conventional one, but have asked the question of McLaren.
The infotainment system is equally limited. The stereo (the same B&W 12-speaker system from the 720) remains excellent and at some point I will work out what format of USB stick the thing can actually read. You can make phone calls - but not receive or read/have read out to you messages. The navigation is pretty but also pretty rubbish - no map configurability, so I'm stuck with 3D, which I hate; no live traffic feed unless you set up your phone as a wifi hotspot and connect it separately, because for some reason it can't use the bluetooth connection for that; no way I've found to tell it to look for an address in another country. I think this is because the 750 has Carplay (woo!) so it is assumed that owners will use that for everything except climate control, audio settings and VDC. But I'm not a member of the fruit cult, and it doesn't have Android Auto. Opinions seem to vary on whether this will ever be remedied - another question posed to McLaren - but until it is I'm stuck with the RubbishNav2000 unless I want my phone attached like a carbuncle to the dash with 10 quids' worth of Amazon tat.
The last moan is that the mode controls are plastic and the infotainment surround is an incongruous goldish aluminium colour. Both really should be available in carbon, but aren't. That's question three to McLaren, which I have been asking since April and may get an answer to eventually. I am going to the MTC in early Jan and will try to find the right person and pester them until I get the answer I want.
The TLDR
Wow. Looks fantastic, drives superbly, is very very fast. Properly assembled. ICE far behind the average French supermini, but who cares?
I now have a huge 195 miles on the clock, courtesy of a trip to the MTC today. (Pic heavy post warning)
Impressions of the car remain hugely positive. Everything works, and now that I have bought an iPhone 12 mini to act as the brains of the ICE, that problem is solved apart from the lack of turn-by-turn in the dash (which isn't a feature of Carplay anywhere, I believe). Still running in, and still not much of a chance to really stretch the car's legs anyway given the weather and SE England's roads, but motorway comfort now signed off by the authorities, acceleration on the motorway when in comfort auto is definitely better than the 720, and composure on terrible road surfaces and in awful weather is excellent. I do need to get rid of the Pirellis, though - Michelins are night and day better.
Dirty pictures:
MTC tours are well done - you get an assigned host and aren't rushed. A chance for self-indulgent pics of your car by the lake, then coffee and biscuits. Then a tour of the historic collection with a chance to get up close and personal with some very special cars; our host providing some interesting historical background and - crucially - taking care to engage my wife who is interested in all things but is no car nerd.
Bruce McLaren's first race car (1st victory in a hillclimb at age 15). Pretty basic, eh? - three speed only. It's a crap pic because of the sunlight (and my lack of talent) but you can just make out the hand-painted change-up marks on the speedo at 32 and 54mph.
First win at 15. Dead at 32 testing one of these. Apparently the bolt securing the rear wing to the endplate (you can just see them in the picture below) came loose after he had been experimenting with different wing angles, destabilising the car.
Prost was 'ere.
The Le Mans winner. Apparently Ron was told "Don't wash it, the race grime is half the value". The story is that it only took him three days of walking past it in the surgically clean environs of McLaren HQ before he had it cleaned.
More F1 pr0n.
The first F1 carbon tub and (near enough) the current roadcar carbon tub.
McLaren's first trophy and helmet; one of literally hundreds of trophies in an astonishing display.
You walk through the hall of trophies and then up a perfectly aligned tunnel (the centre line of the tiles is laser straight - literally - and the lights align with the tiles, and the tiles with the wall panels and on and on in a very Ron way. You walk up, apparently, because having walked down to the canteen, the return hike elevates your heart rate so that you're alert and ready to start assembling cars. Also very Ron.
The assembly facility is both extraordinary and also somewhat as you might expect. Pics are not allowed, sadly, but it's a large, white, clean and very quiet room. Imagine you are standing in the middle at one end of the room, looking down. Tubs, having arrived from Sheffield, are bolted to subframes; they then head down a line to the right hand side to have panels fitted up, then turn 180 degrees to their right and make their way to the paint shop. Emerging from the paintshop, the panels are removed and stored and the bare tubs then head down another line to the left of the first pair, starting with loom installation, interior, engine and gearbox, suspension and then turning 180 degrees left to come back towards the start. Panels are refitted and lights and so forth installed; by the end of the line the completed car goes up on a lift for alignment and undertrays and is then driven into an enclosed and soundproofed dynamic testing bay where it's put through its paces on a rolling road for 20 minutes - max road speed 140kp/h apparently (although I think that may be incorrect as the wing doesn't automatically deploy until 150 and I expect you'd want to test that). Emerging from the dynamic test pod, the car turns 180 degrees right and starts back down the final line - a monsoon test pod first to check for leaks, then QA, then a carwash, then final sign-off.
The majority of cars being made were 750s - both coupe and spider - but there were also plenty of Arturas visible. I didn't have time to count, but there were something like 100 vehicles under assembly. The whole thing was eerily clean and quiet. Mostly of course because nothing is actually made at the MTC (from a road car point of view). They assemble carbon parts made at the Sheffield site, engines from Ricardo, gearboxes from Graziano, aluminium components, looms, interiors etc from other OEMs - it's more like a CKD plant apart from the on-site paintshop. There is, of course, also MSO a few minutes away, but that wasn't on our tour as I'm a mere peon with no custom MSO options on my car.
Finally you walk back along the elevated walkway ("skyway" in MTC-speak). A chance for some more F1 pics and a peek into the F1 assembly bays, which have frosted glass at ground level. The 2024 car was there, but under a dust sheet and pics were verboten in any case.
One last moodily-lit tube of toothpaste and we're off home.
Highly recommended if you can swing an invite. I don't know if you need to be an owner or just an interested party; arrangements are made through dealers. Apparently you can also visit the composite manufacturing site in Sheffield. I shall be doing that with the boy - who wants to be an engineer. He's really not all that interested in cars unless he can take them apart, but carbon lay-up and additive manufacturing and that sort of thing gets him far more excited.
That's quite enough from me for now. More when and if anything interesting happens.
Impressions of the car remain hugely positive. Everything works, and now that I have bought an iPhone 12 mini to act as the brains of the ICE, that problem is solved apart from the lack of turn-by-turn in the dash (which isn't a feature of Carplay anywhere, I believe). Still running in, and still not much of a chance to really stretch the car's legs anyway given the weather and SE England's roads, but motorway comfort now signed off by the authorities, acceleration on the motorway when in comfort auto is definitely better than the 720, and composure on terrible road surfaces and in awful weather is excellent. I do need to get rid of the Pirellis, though - Michelins are night and day better.
Dirty pictures:
MTC tours are well done - you get an assigned host and aren't rushed. A chance for self-indulgent pics of your car by the lake, then coffee and biscuits. Then a tour of the historic collection with a chance to get up close and personal with some very special cars; our host providing some interesting historical background and - crucially - taking care to engage my wife who is interested in all things but is no car nerd.
Bruce McLaren's first race car (1st victory in a hillclimb at age 15). Pretty basic, eh? - three speed only. It's a crap pic because of the sunlight (and my lack of talent) but you can just make out the hand-painted change-up marks on the speedo at 32 and 54mph.
First win at 15. Dead at 32 testing one of these. Apparently the bolt securing the rear wing to the endplate (you can just see them in the picture below) came loose after he had been experimenting with different wing angles, destabilising the car.
Prost was 'ere.
The Le Mans winner. Apparently Ron was told "Don't wash it, the race grime is half the value". The story is that it only took him three days of walking past it in the surgically clean environs of McLaren HQ before he had it cleaned.
More F1 pr0n.
The first F1 carbon tub and (near enough) the current roadcar carbon tub.
McLaren's first trophy and helmet; one of literally hundreds of trophies in an astonishing display.
You walk through the hall of trophies and then up a perfectly aligned tunnel (the centre line of the tiles is laser straight - literally - and the lights align with the tiles, and the tiles with the wall panels and on and on in a very Ron way. You walk up, apparently, because having walked down to the canteen, the return hike elevates your heart rate so that you're alert and ready to start assembling cars. Also very Ron.
The assembly facility is both extraordinary and also somewhat as you might expect. Pics are not allowed, sadly, but it's a large, white, clean and very quiet room. Imagine you are standing in the middle at one end of the room, looking down. Tubs, having arrived from Sheffield, are bolted to subframes; they then head down a line to the right hand side to have panels fitted up, then turn 180 degrees to their right and make their way to the paint shop. Emerging from the paintshop, the panels are removed and stored and the bare tubs then head down another line to the left of the first pair, starting with loom installation, interior, engine and gearbox, suspension and then turning 180 degrees left to come back towards the start. Panels are refitted and lights and so forth installed; by the end of the line the completed car goes up on a lift for alignment and undertrays and is then driven into an enclosed and soundproofed dynamic testing bay where it's put through its paces on a rolling road for 20 minutes - max road speed 140kp/h apparently (although I think that may be incorrect as the wing doesn't automatically deploy until 150 and I expect you'd want to test that). Emerging from the dynamic test pod, the car turns 180 degrees right and starts back down the final line - a monsoon test pod first to check for leaks, then QA, then a carwash, then final sign-off.
The majority of cars being made were 750s - both coupe and spider - but there were also plenty of Arturas visible. I didn't have time to count, but there were something like 100 vehicles under assembly. The whole thing was eerily clean and quiet. Mostly of course because nothing is actually made at the MTC (from a road car point of view). They assemble carbon parts made at the Sheffield site, engines from Ricardo, gearboxes from Graziano, aluminium components, looms, interiors etc from other OEMs - it's more like a CKD plant apart from the on-site paintshop. There is, of course, also MSO a few minutes away, but that wasn't on our tour as I'm a mere peon with no custom MSO options on my car.
Finally you walk back along the elevated walkway ("skyway" in MTC-speak). A chance for some more F1 pics and a peek into the F1 assembly bays, which have frosted glass at ground level. The 2024 car was there, but under a dust sheet and pics were verboten in any case.
One last moodily-lit tube of toothpaste and we're off home.
Highly recommended if you can swing an invite. I don't know if you need to be an owner or just an interested party; arrangements are made through dealers. Apparently you can also visit the composite manufacturing site in Sheffield. I shall be doing that with the boy - who wants to be an engineer. He's really not all that interested in cars unless he can take them apart, but carbon lay-up and additive manufacturing and that sort of thing gets him far more excited.
That's quite enough from me for now. More when and if anything interesting happens.
I've been meaning to ask about the roof and you posted a picture with the roof on 
Is there enough internal storage that you can take them with you or is it a case of checking the weather forecast and keeping your fingers crossed?
If you're interested in the Can Am racers this is a good read...
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Can-Am-50th-Anniversary-A...
And this details Mclarens' use of their first carbon tub...
https://www.amazon.co.uk/1000-Grand-Prix-Foulis-mo...
There were serious doubts in some quarters as to the strength of a carbon tub in a crash but Andrea de Cesaris's 19 assorted shunts throughout the 1981 season along with John Watsons massive crash at Monza confirmed carbon was the future.
Is there enough internal storage that you can take them with you or is it a case of checking the weather forecast and keeping your fingers crossed?
If you're interested in the Can Am racers this is a good read...
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Can-Am-50th-Anniversary-A...
And this details Mclarens' use of their first carbon tub...
https://www.amazon.co.uk/1000-Grand-Prix-Foulis-mo...
There were serious doubts in some quarters as to the strength of a carbon tub in a crash but Andrea de Cesaris's 19 assorted shunts throughout the 1981 season along with John Watsons massive crash at Monza confirmed carbon was the future.
Edited by Tango13 on Wednesday 3rd January 21:16
Tango13 said:
I've been meaning to ask about the roof and you posted a picture with the roof on
Is there enough internal storage that you can take them with you or is it a case of checking the weather forecast and keeping your fingers crossed?
It's a fully electric folding roof; glass, too, which you can lighten or darken at the touch of a button.Is there enough internal storage that you can take them with you or is it a case of checking the weather forecast and keeping your fingers crossed?
Tango13 said:
If you're interested in the Can Am racers this is a good read...
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Can-Am-50th-Anniversary-A...
Tahttps://www.amazon.co.uk/Can-Am-50th-Anniversary-A...
Tango13 said:
And this details Mclarens' use of their first carbon tub...
https://www.amazon.co.uk/1000-Grand-Prix-Foulis-mo...
There were serious doubts in some quarters as to the strength of a carbon tub in a crash but Andrea de Cesaris's 19 assorted shunts throughout the 1981 season along with John Watsons massive crash at Monza confirmed carbon was the future.
Indeed our host on the day told the story of Watson's crash for exactly that reason. https://www.amazon.co.uk/1000-Grand-Prix-Foulis-mo...
There were serious doubts in some quarters as to the strength of a carbon tub in a crash but Andrea de Cesaris's 19 assorted shunts throughout the 1981 season along with John Watsons massive crash at Monza confirmed carbon was the future.
One of the things that stood out was the genuine enthusiasm of the host; there was no sense of the tour being learned being by rote, or of that obviously artificial personal interest you sometimes find.
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