The McLaren GT is a bit of a flop if you ask me. It’s a lovely car and it looks great but there is something seriously wrong with it. The GT isn’t what it says on the tin. GT stands for Grand Tourer and the McLaren GT just isn’t that. For sure it is a very comfortable car and it has very nice materials inside but the overall package just isn’t as refined as a Bentley Continental GT or an Aston Martin DB11, both cars which are two huge rivals for the GT.
The GT was launched back in 2019, it was some sort of replacement for the 570GT. The McLaren GT is based on the 570S and the 720S sharing parts from both cars. The engine is a 4 liter V8 twin-turbo with 612hp and 465 lb-ft of torque, which is very good indeed. The 0-60 time is 3.1 seconds with a top speed of 203 mph.
The GT includes a suspension system that is from the larger 720S. It utilizes double-wishbones at the front and rear axles and a modified version of the ProActive Chassis Control II active damping system called Proactive Damping Control. The handling is fantastic and the carbon-tub body makes the car feel a lot stronger and stiffer.
Unfortunately, all of this does make the GT less refined. A carbon tub will make the cabin noisier despite all of the sound deadening material that has been fitted to the cabin. The noise is acceptable, but it’s not as quiet as its rivals whatsoever. Those who are coming from say an Aston Martin DB11 will be somewhat uncomfortable in the GT since the road noise is a lot more obvious.
Anyways, should you buy one? Or should you leave it out? Let’s find out.
picture via: mclaren.com
Is It The Best of Both Worlds?
Maybe we’re all wrong about the purpose of the McLaren GT. Maybe it isn’t exclusively a GT car? I do think that McLaren tried to combine the idea of a supercar and a GT car into one. It definitely looks like a supercar with its dihedral doors and with those huge air intakes on the side of the car. The roofline is low and the overall silhouette of the car is very sexy.
Inside, the interior is very organized. As mentioned before, the materials are all very nice and the chrome just enlightens the interior massively. The build quality is also very good. In the back, you have enough space for a bag of golf clubs with ease in the back. The fridge-like rear door from the 570GT has been replaced with a conventional hatchback trunk. The front trunk is quite small though, just like any normal supercar.
The ride is comfortable, just like any other McLaren. The throttle is slightly toned down compared to other McLaren cars but it still is very exciting this car, doing a 0-60 time of 3.1 seconds. Faster than any of its rivals to 60 by a country mile. Flat out, the top speed is 203 mph which is definitely impressive. Make no doubt about it, the McLaren GT is a proper textbook supercar.
But is it a Grand Tourer? Well, that’s where the GT falls short. There are too many impracticalities that make the car annoying. The door handle is in an awkward position, the rear trunkload sits above the engine and is in open view to others. The rear visibility isn’t too great either, and the practicality isn’t all that.
Overall quite comfortable, well made, and very fast. But it’s just not as refined as its rivals and for those who want a Grand Tourer, things like refinement come up as the number one priority. It is somewhat the best of both worlds, but by doing that McLaren has created many compromises. You get a sexy supercar body for the price of extra practicality. You get a softer throttle for the price of increased performance.
It’s a Confusing Car.
The McLaren GT is McLaren’s cheapest car sitting below the Artura when it comes out. It starts at $212,000 whilst the Artura starts at $225,000. Originally, when the GT was made it was meant to be above entry-level cars like the 540C, 570S, and 570GT. Yet all of these cars are just as fast, they’re comfortable and they look as good. Plus the 570GT is just as comfortable as the McLaren GT.
The 570S, 540C, and 570GT models are no longer in production. They’ve been replaced by the Artura. Or has it? In my opinion, I do believe that the GT sort of combines all of the traits of these cars into one. It looks similar to all of them for a start and the interior is near enough identical. The Artura features a smaller engine than the GT. But it has a slightly faster 0-60 time and more power.
The GT was advertsied by McLaren as the lighetst and sportiest GT. Though I am not quite sure potential Grand Tourer buyers are really after these things. That leads me on to the marketing, which in itself is confusing. It states that this is a Grand Tourer reimagined yet McLaren did the same thing with the 570GT a few years ago. It’s almost as if they have contradicted themselves.
McLaren says that a mid-engined supercar can’t be a Grand Tourer. So they decided to defy the rules and create something for the future. Well, unfortunately, there is a reason why Bentley or Aston Martin put their engines in the front and don’t focus on lightness. Mainly because it makes the car less refined.
In my opinion, McLaren has tried too hard to make this car into a Grand Tourer. For sure it is comfortable and in some ways, it is a Grand Tourer. But unfortunately, it just is nowhere near as good as its rivals. It is the best of both worlds, but unfortunately, nobody wants the best of both worlds. They either want a Grand Tourer or. supercar, not a 2 in 1 car. It’s a bit of a waste of time for McLaren in all honesty. It is a flop, but it isn’t a bad flop. It’s a flop mainly because McLaren have tried to make tjis car into too many things at once.