RE: McLaren 720S Track Pack: Driven

[Gameface]

I agree with the TVR comment.

I had a Tuscan S. Revved forever and sounded great. The overrun pops and bangs were hilarious.

[mikey k]

chunder said:

Whats the point of the roll bar hoops, it isn't a convertible, why not just take the bar round at roof height ?

six point harness for track work, the seat is set up with clip on anchors and a a slot in the base for it.
you NEED it even with those seats on a track in that car

[isaldiri]

The Surveyor said:

This is just a option on the standard 720s, offered as a 'pack' at a discounted collective price

^ this.

Oh and you'll be seeing the 720 Spider pretty soon though so that wil be a new car...

[mikey k]

isaldiri said:

^ this.

Oh and you'll be seeing the 720 Spider pretty soon though so that wil be a new car...

Yep and the roof on that is really interesting

[Gameface]

You've seen it?

[WCZ]

mikey k said:

A while back I drove a 720 on the road, along the same route on the same day I also drove a 650 and a 675LT.
I came away feeling the 720 was ballistic and stopped so quick, but, it felt detached and probably too fast for the road.
I ended up upgrading my 650 to a 675LT, that thing is also ballistic but feels a lot more connected and "talkative".
A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to spend the afternoon chucking a 720 Track Pack round Silverstone with an instructor.
In Track/Track mode it is more mental than the 675, completely different to "normal" mode on the road.
Question is could you use it in Track/Track on the road with out losing your licence in the first 100m?
I'd like to find out, maybe time to get a loaner from my dealer?

675 is the most fun but there's something seductive about the 720s power, knowing that nothing under ~£1m is quicker (excluding an ultima gtr)

[mikey k]

Gameface said:

You've seen it?

No
The dealers have and I've had other info on it from other sources
Most interesting is it will sit lower than 650/570 roof when stowed and will have an option for chromatic glass to the main roof area
You will be able to drop it a lower speed and it will be near silent in operation
There is an interesting buttress detail with the roof up I'm looking forward to seeing as well
I have my name on a list

[Gameface]

I'd be interested in that.

After I put the best exhaust I can find on it.

[Audemars]

Black spoiler area improves the looks so much on this car (in addition to it being in the raised mode).

This version looks so much better than the standard version. It actually makes the 720S buyable at least until the LT version comes out.

[Macboy]

Surely I can't be the only one who sees these weirdly altered pictures and thinks "yeah it would be much better if it looked like that". The side view of the 720s is one of its least attractive aspects to my eye and the lower shot here is the Mclaren press image, the upper from this article. The car in this article has been shortened and "scrunched" to make it squat and purposeful in a way that the 720s actually isn't. Or is it some weird formatting thing that only happens with articles on Mclaren on my Mac?

[The Surveyor]

Macboy said:

Surely I can't be the only one who sees these weirdly altered pictures and thinks "yeah it would be much better if it looked like that". The side view of the 720s is one of its least attractive aspects to my eye and the lower shot here is the Mclaren press image, the upper from this article. The car in this article has been shortened and "scrunched" to make it squat and purposeful in a way that the 720s actually isn't. Or is it some weird formatting thing that only happens with articles on Mclaren on my Mac?

The 720 has never been a car that looks better in photos than it does in the flesh but that's just two photos taken with different lenses IMHO.

[Macboy]

The Surveyor said:

The 720 has never been a car that looks better in photos than it does in the flesh but that's just two photos taken with different lenses IMHO.

No - I really don't think so or, if that is the case, one foreshortens the car considerably front and back. The front overhang has always looked a too big in pictures and in real life and simply doesn't on the PH picture.

[mikey k]

Yep formatting issue between images
I quite like the side and rear
Still not sure on the front though
Very colour sensitive

[Onehp]

Macboy: it's called perspective, the McLaren is a computer rendering taken from infinity perspective or close to that, the real pic has real perspective, so basically the nose and tail are angled away and further from you than the middle of the car and look smaller/shorter.

As for the V12 comments. One forgets that the 720S is by far the lightist car in it's class, with about 1420 real kerb kg. The Ferrari and Aston V12 are all a real 300kg odd heavier. Even if McLaren could keep weight in check somewhat, it just wouldn't be the same car...

Edited by Onehp on Thursday 1st November 13:40

[Europa1]

mikey k said:

track work

Please, don't do this.

Thank you.

[isaldiri]

Onehp said:

As for the V12 comments. One forgets that the 720S is by far the lightist car in it's class, with about 1420 real kerb kg. The Ferrari and Aston V12 are all a real 300kg odd heavier. Even if McLaren could keep weight in check somewhat, it just wouldn't be the same car...

Ok let's compromise then. what about.. a NA V10?

2 more cylinders but one wouldn't need all the turbos/cooling etc and stuff so weight wouldn't be such an issue.

Say if Mclaren could buy the LFA engine from Toyota and fit it into their cars..

[mikey k]

Europa1 said:

mikey k said:

track work

Please, don't do this.

Thank you.

I know where you are coming from
BUT
Having driven the 720 on track with a 6 point harness it does make a difference
I know not many would actually do this with a 720
BUT
a fair few 675, Senna (and I guess 600LT) owners do and use the harnesses

Same question could be asked of GT4, GT3/RS Performante etc

[wst]

Macboy said:

Surely I can't be the only one who sees these weirdly altered pictures and thinks "yeah it would be much better if it looked like that". The side view of the 720s is one of its least attractive aspects to my eye and the lower shot here is the Mclaren press image, the upper from this article. The car in this article has been shortened and "scrunched" to make it squat and purposeful in a way that the 720s actually isn't. Or is it some weird formatting thing that only happens with articles on Mclaren on my Mac?

Pistonheads is utterly terrible at photographs. They force photos to change aspect ratio repeatedly, and use really lossy compression on them so that people from 2002 can download the pictures but people from 2018 can't see any details.

[JohnGoodridge]

Is that Ti roll cage painted black?

Why would you do that? Ti tubing looks so cool bare.

[Macboy]

Onehp said:

Macboy: it's called perspective, the McLaren is a computer rendering taken from infinity perspective or close to that, the real pic has real perspective, so basically the nose and tail are angled away and further from you than the middle of the car and look smaller/shorter.

As for the V12 comments. One forgets that the 720S is by far the lightist car in it's class, with about 1420 real kerb kg. The Ferrari and Aston V12 are all a real 300kg odd heavier. Even if McLaren could keep weight in check somewhat, it just wouldn't be the same car...

Edited by Onehp on Thursday 1st November 13:40

It's not perspective - it's simply that they have shortened the horizontal and changed the shape of the car by squashing the ends as they have reformatted the picture. The Mclaren is a studio shot not a rendering and there's simply no way that you can put the foreshortening of both ends down to perspective. As another poster said, PH are simply terrible at formatting pictures.



I did this in 60 seconds of mucking about with the horizontal on the studio shot. PH simply aren't keeping the original proportions of the image when they are rendered. Look at the shot from above! A 720s looks nothing like that it plan view. That's the dimensions of a Stratos.

Edited by Macboy on Thursday 1st November 14:02