You didn't need to be palm reader to know the 600LT Spider was on the way. See the success of the 675LT Spider, the fact that Sports Series Spiders outsell Coupes in the UK and that the 600LT is perhaps the best car McLaren Automotive has ever made - they were hardly going to stop at just one model. Oh yeah, and they've sort of said all along that a sun-seeking Longtail was coming...
Anyway, after a preview last week, here is the 600LT Spider in all its glory. And, well, it's exactly as you might expect: same 600hp as the hardtop, same 100kg - if you pay enough money for the right options - weight saving from an equivalent 570S (meaning 1,297kg dry), same 50kg weight penalty overall that happens with any Sports Series conversion from Coupe to Spider. Therefore performance is pretty much identical: McLaren says 62mph comes up in 2.9 seconds (so no change), and that the sprint to 124mph takes 8.4 seconds, or just two tenths shy of the 600LT. Top speed is 201mph, or 196mph with the roof down.
McLaren makes no mention of any chassis changes or strengthening for the Spider from the Coupe; the transfer is wholesale, and obviously very exciting for those who know of the 600's talents. Indeed, even the fixed rear wing is claimed to generate the same 100k of downforce (at 155mph) as the 600LT, despite the convertible status. Speaking of which, the roof can be raised or lowered at up to 25mph and, if it's anything like the other Sports Series Spiders, will take 15 seconds either way. All the better for hearing those incredible exhausts with...
Mike Flewitt has described the 600LT Spider as adding "a new dimension of excitement to the most extreme model in the Sports Series family, while losing none of the Longtail focus." Given the Spider was our favourite Sports Series before the Longtail, and the 600LT is one of the best cars of 2018, expectations are set very much to lofty for the Longtail Spider. It's on sale now, priced from £201,500 and, like the Coupe, limited by the amount of production slots that can be squeezed in around other Sports and Super Series models on the Woking line. Move fast, basically; all the signs are the LT Spider will absolutely be worth it.
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