McLaren’s 570S GT4 is said to be one of the best in the business. Fast, light and approachable, the GT4-spec sports car ended 2019 on a high with a 1-2 finish at the Gulf 12 Hour at the Yas Marina Circuit. But McLaren is apparently not done with development on the turbocharged V8 model just yet; Woking has just rolled out a raft of updates designed to improve performance and reliability – all while retaining that all important GT4-homologation.
Top of the list is a new endurance braking kit, which was actually fitted to those Gulf 12 Hour leaders to prove that the upgrades made for a measurable improvement. Also new are bespoke suspension uprights and a six-piston front caliper design, which comes with improved brake discs and pads, said to offer better consistency and longer usage. Win, win, then. The key winning ingredients, including that MonoCell II chassis and 3.8-litre M838TE powerplant, remain unchanged. As does the car’s exterior design, which is by motorsport standards a mild evolution of the road car’s form. The 570S base is a great looking thing as is, so the addition of slicks, canards and a fixed rear wing really suit it.
Indeed, McLaren’s picture of a car sat in the garage ready to head out on track has us itching for the start of a new racing season – even if we aren’t among those able to afford one of these £180k machines. With barely a month to go before some of the championships kick off, it seems only right to dedicate our sacred desktop backgrounds to a car as worthy of a bedroom wall as it is the podium's top step.