650S Spider @ Brands Hatch GP Circuit

[NickOrangeCars]

I attended the Pure McLaren days @ Brands Hatch (for both days) - great to meet many other owners. I had previously taken the car out at Snetterton to get a bit of practise with the car but Brands was a different level, firstly I had both McLaren GT drivers to show me how its done, plus my own trainer spent a whole day with me and managed to get me to another level.

The first thing to note was that on track the 650S is not a million miles away from the 675S - I got to chase Bruno Senna around the track (I also got a hot lap with him) - and the 675 does pull away on the straights slowly but it's not dramatic, what I did notice was that going into corners under heavy braking the 675 is more stable, Bruno told me around Brands the 675 probably has 2 seconds on the 650S. The best of the second day was 1:43 - I easily could have squeezed 2-3 more seconds if I had been prepared to be more gun-go through the GP part of the circuit but that part of the track has zero run-off and just not worth the risk for the extra speed.

I also got to do 4-5 laps in the 650S Sprint - which was on a totally different level, with slicks on I was going round corners on rails and catching up cars (including 675's) like they were standing still.

If you have never taken the car on track and want the most support, lots of help, then Pure McLaren is the place to do it.

See attached video of an out-lap - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yIeXrs1B_k

[RamboLambo]

Such an all round accomplished car. To think you can be driving that fast around Brands hatch one minute and then roof down posing down the sea front the next

[tyrrell]

Looks like so much fun thanks for posting

[MarkNC]

NickOrangeCars said:

I attended the Pure McLaren days @ Brands Hatch (for both days) - great to meet many other owners....

If you have never taken the car on track and want the most support, lots of help, then Pure McLaren is the place to do it.

Great lap time! I was there on Wednesday and I'm pretty sure met. I had a great time too. I agree with you about the lack of run off. It's a good track to be cautious at but, wow, it was so much fun! I would definitely go another Pure McLaren course there on the GP circuit. I wish I could have gone for a second day even.

I also agree about the 650S being such a great car. I've got a 650S Spider and a 675LT coup and getting the 675LT (or even the P1 for matter) didn't diminish my love for the 650S one bit. I obviously stopped tracking mine (bought the P1 and LT for that) but I still drive it a LOT (live in sunny, warm North Carolina) and I still find it exhilaratingly fast yet beautifully luxurious. Taking the Pure McLaren course this week 650S reminded me just how awesome it is on track.

I did a stint in the 650S Sprint at Spa last year and I was astonished at the difference - especially how much grip and braking it had on tap.

[Gandahar]

Good lines, though you need to turn in a lot later at Druids since they gave it more tarmac, you were apexing far too early so your exit was compromised.

Nice to watch, the clouds looked threatening.....

Brands is a very good circuit for learning lots of things, quite tricky to get everything right.

[NickOrangeCars]

Gandahar said:

Good lines, though you need to turn in a lot later at Druids since they gave it more tarmac, you were apexing far too early so your exit was compromised.

Nice to watch, the clouds looked threatening.....

Brands is a very good circuit for learning lots of things, quite tricky to get everything right.

Two different technique's the guy who trains me (a pro GT driver) says going deep and then straighter out is about the same speed, when it was wet in the morning of the Wednesday was definitely taking a much deeper line to keep clear of the rubber.

I am by far not the fastest, one of the other 650 drivers was getting sub 1:40s - but as I noted I was not pushing on a few corners and was only starting to trail-brake into a 3-4 corners that I know better.

What interests me would be to see some similar videos from Ferrari/Lambo drivers as comparisons - the only video I could find was a 458 Speciale being driven fast but was only getting around 1:47s lap times, but clearly a much lower powered car - would love to see a 488 or Huracan.