Wednesday 4th February 2015

McLaren 675LT - More info

Tit for tat battle between McLaren and Ferrari continues as 675LT aims to spoil 488 GTB's Geneva party

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Orchestral engine notes and choirs of turbos and cylinders singing in perfect harmony may be the stuff of motoring hack purple prose. But it seems McLaren has been reading from the book of Queef for its latest bit of drip-fed PR. Yes, the day after Ferrari announces its Geneva debuting and turbocharged 488 GTB McLaren has - by pure coincidence - revealed a little more info about the 675LT that will also make its first appearance at the show.

And what do we have? Well, it's got circular exhaust tips. That literally contain choirs of angels, if the promo vid clip below is anything to go by.

They and the "crossover" system behind them are now made from titanium, according to McLaren's latest press release on the car. "A total power output of 675PS (666bhp), and torque figure of 700 Nm (516 lb ft) plus a focus on weight saving will ensure an electrifying, engaging and visceral driving experience," continues today's instalment.

Anything else? Well, as part of the newly branded Super Series centred around the 650S the 675LT will reference the revered Longtail F1 and "stay true to the spirit of its iconic predecessor with aerodynamically optimised, dramatically enhanced styling." We'll have to wait to judge on the style but from a functional perspective McLaren is boasting of 40 per cent more downforce than the 650S, assisted by a new active 'Longtail' airbrake. The 3.8-litre V8 has been "heavily revised" with lightweight internals and new turbos, a "controlled torque delivery" capped at 443lb ft in first gear intended to help with traction off the line while the full 516lb ft comes in at 5,500-6,500rpm in the remaining gears.

Described as "a more track focused alternative to the established 650S Coupe and Spider" the 675LT will only be offered as a coupe. Suffice to say, the sense that Geneva is going to be something of a Top Trumps face-off between Woking and Maranello hasn't diminished one bit. No complaints here - let's hope the driving lives up to the hype.

 

Hear the 675LT sing (literally)

[em177]

Are McLaren trying to beat Pagani with special different versions of essentially the same car.

[FourWheelDrift]

Like a puppy that's passed puberty it's finally found a bark.

[E65Ross]

em177 said:

Are McLaren trying to beat Pagani with special different versions of essentially the same car.

They've done no more than Ferrari?

458
458 speciale
488 GTB

McLaren have done
12C
650S
675LT

The only other ones they've done are purely track cars....

If you think the 650S is purely a facelifted 12C then you really ought to think again.

[Burwood]

How much is the Ferrari supposed to be £300K. The McLaren is circa £400K according to an earlier news article

[andyps]

Burwood said:

How much is the Ferrari supposed to be £300K. The McLaren is circa £400K according to an earlier news article

Think that £400k was someone putting 2 & 2 together and getting 6. The £400 k car McLaren have discussed is P15, this is not that car as I understand it.

[jamespink]

andyps said:

Burwood said:

How much is the Ferrari supposed to be £300K. The McLaren is circa £400K according to an earlier news article

Think that £400k was someone putting 2 & 2 together and getting 6. The £400 k car McLaren have discussed is P15, this is not that car as I understand it.

£300,000 - £400,000 who of our contributors does it make a real difference to?

[gregf40]

E65Ross said:

McLaren have done
12C
650S
675LT
12C HS
625C
625C Spider
50 12C
50 12C Spider

The only other ones they've done are purely track cars....

EFA

Edited by gregf40 on Wednesday 4th February 17:03

[pagani1]

Love the noise, love the rivalry, all good stuff, reminds me of Ferrari Boxer v Lamborghini Countach in the 70's.
Now all we need is a new Lotus Esprit and the Honda NSX, the new Ford GT and the new GT-R and with Senor Pagani and Mr. Koeniggsegg both in full production all we are waiting for is the new Bugatti to appear if there is one.
Can we have a group test? Or will you leave that to EVO? I could cook the bacon sandwiches and make the tea and I'm not too far from Goodwood either.

[GRBF430F1]

So far the 458 Speciale has only been compared to the standard road going 650S which to be fair has come out with high praise and honours against a track car in the Speciale

The 675LT is more of a true comparison at least until a lightweight 488 special is produced which probably won't be for a couple of years. With more power and less weight the 675LT will murder the 458 Speciale in performance terms but its the subjective feel, excitement, fun and sound that matter as much here. As such it will be interesting to see if McLaren have improved this even more so than they have with 650S versus 12c on the 675 LT. If they have improved it again, its a no brainer the 675 LT will wear the crown

We all know the 650S "chews up and spits out a 458" so 488 addresses this for Ferrari and 488 needs to be compared with 650S IMHO.
Will the loss of the N/a V8 now mean any F car premium is negated ? For me some of the magic will be lost and the 650S will be better overall proposition given 488 spiders could be as high as £280k for a decent spec

[Mark-C]

So will it actually have a long tail or is this just a name from the past to give some credence to yet another special edition?

[andyps]

Mark-C said:

So will it actually have a long tail or is this just a name from the past to give some credence to yet another special edition?

Hopefully not as long as the F1 Long Tail, but the article implies bodywork changes so probably a longer tail than the 650S.

[sw1000xg]

It would be nice to know how many Cars Ferrari have released from the time of the F1-675LT, and yet McLaren are right up there with Ferrari?

[MrTappets]

So, if I've understood correctly, the 625C, 650S and 675LT are collectively known as the "Super Series", which obviously relates to the versions that will be referred to as "Sports Series". If so, the naming strategy makes more sense to me now.

Will be very interested to see how different in feel Ferrari's and McLaren's products end up in five years time, bearing in mind how differently they've approached things up until now.

[Rich_W]

E65Ross said:

If you think the 650S is purely a facelifted 12C then you really ought to think again.

Many suspect that's McLaren speak.

Yes, Flemke was told that. But then they also told him no more than 375 P1's EVER. Hmmmm.

Same tub, different panels. Yes different radiator and different bumper and different lights that wouldn't fit 12C. And potentially different subframe mounts. It's not really a different car is it. More a tweaked and improved one (albeit more ugly) Think 997.1 vs 997.2

[E65Ross]

Rich_W said:

Many suspect that's McLaren speak.

Yes, Flemke was told that. But then they also told him no more than 375 P1's EVER. Hmmmm.

Same tub, different panels. Yes different radiator and different bumper and different lights that wouldn't fit 12C. And potentially different subframe mounts. It's not really a different car is it. More a tweaked and improved one (albeit more ugly) Think 997.1 vs 997.2

So, different body work, a reworked engine, new suspension, different brakes and more technology etc. So why is that not a new car yet a 3 series is different to a 5 series bmw, yet they share similar parts.

Isn't it something like 75% new parts?

[Darsettian]

pagani1 said:

Love the noise, love the rivalry, all good stuff, reminds me of Ferrari Boxer v Lamborghini Countach in the 70's.
Now all we need is a new Lotus Esprit and the Honda NSX, the new Ford GT and the new GT-R and with Senor Pagani and Mr. Koeniggsegg both in full production all we are waiting for is the new Bugatti to appear if there is one.
Can we have a group test? Or will you leave that to EVO? I could cook the bacon sandwiches and make the tea and I'm not too far from Goodwood either.

Haha! Do you need any assistance with that – I boil a mean kettle of water. Anyway, agree with the sentiment. The sense of fierce and sustained competition is palpable. I find McLaren's PR campaign tedious, obnoxious even, but that's kinda great – it shows real swagger. They are producing astonishing roadcars, and are arguably within a stride of ferarri's rampant horse.

Edited by Darsettian on Thursday 5th February 01:24

Edited by Darsettian on Thursday 5th February 01:46

[DJRC]

I like Maccas PR. It shows Roniosynchronies are alive and well

[NRS]

gregf40 said:

E65Ross said:

McLaren have done
12C
650S
675LT
12C HS
625C
625C Spider
50 12C
50 12C Spider

The only other ones they've done are purely track cars....

EFA

Edited by gregf40 on Wednesday 4th February 17:03

Well, spiders were not separated in the Ferrari list, so you can remove them. The 625C is not for the UK and makes more sense in certain other markets. The 50 12Cs are more like Gallardo special editions, of which there were far more.

[UltimaFAN]

Can we really call it a competition between Ferrari and McLaren?
Here in Europe, we can see 1 McLaren for 10 Ferraris and the McLaren usually belongs to an english expatriate. It seems to be a market which is very difficult for McLaren as it is currently dominated by Ferrari and German sports cars.

[Galsia]

I really hate it when manufacturers don't give their cars proper names. McLaren BLT whatever doesn't sound good at all.