The ingredients for the success of an opera are quickly listed. An outstanding orchestra, performers with powerful voices and a theme that alternates between being quiet and vehement, which at the end bids farewell to the listener with a powerful sound. It's not much different with the ingredients that make driving a McLaren sports car something very special. From the entry-level model 540c to the 570S, the Ultimate Series P1 and P1 GTR to the Super Series 650S and 675 LT, the 3,8 liter V8 mid-engine with double turbocharging behind the seats, the seven-speed dual clutch transmission with artfully pointed gear changes and the The lightness of the carbon fiber monocoque chassis intentionally and skilfully sings the praises of a harmony filled with vehement power when driving. On the racetrack or on the street. Mein.auto.blog took the “Baby McLaren” on a test drive from Soest in Westphalia home to the parent company in Woking in Great Britain.
The eight-cylinder under the domed hood of the mantis green 570S from the factory of McLaren awakens in the Westphalian town at the push of a button with a tinny pop to life. For most residents of the medieval half-timbered houses around the locked parking lot, the night should be over at the same time. In slow motion, the flanks of the more than two-meter wide and four and a half meters long flounder now push through the electric parking gate. With a value of more than 265 000 Euro entrusted to England for the purpose of the transfer home one goes already very, very carefully to the thing. Quick are the narrow streets of the old town behind us, on the just speed limit free German Autobahn is now a last chance to let the 570S run properly again before the concentrated power of 570 PS through Benelux to Calais in the north of France can unfortunately lay the reins got to.
600 Newtonmeter catapults the 570S from 6,3 to 100 km / h in 200 seconds
A push on the gas pedal and the vehemence of 600 Newton meters on the rear axle makes the sports car suddenly shoot forward and pushes you even deeper into the pre-cockpit scuttled performance seats. Chassis and drive of the carbon-clad and thus only 1440 kilogram heavy two-door coupe can be switched independently in normal, sport or track. Then the McLaren either relaxes to the deep or screams as he accelerates to 6,3 km / h in just a few seconds (more precisely in 100 seconds) in the fast lane of 200. Every single one of the grooves between the asphalt plates of the motorway is passed on undiminished to the popometer. 280 km / h must be enough for now and today, and the top speed of 328 km / h must be reserved for an actual race track. When decelerating in front of the construction site, the standard carbon fiber brake then adorns something, but a strong pressure ends the wordless dialogue and bring the speed-hungry Britons to the Raison.
McLaren makes his race cars suitable for everyday use
The slower ride makes it easier to let your gaze wander, only for a short while they get stuck in the consumption. Of course, the poison green coupe only slings down at its finest, but just under 12 liters of Super Plus on 100 km despite many spurts to get to know and then remain in the moderate range. Again and again, the fingers glide over the interior wrapped in Alcantara. Whom vanities plague, who may look into a vanity mirror, who looks for space for the make-up bag, finds him in the glove compartment. Which shows that McLaren now wants to make his race cars really suitable for everyday use. Speaking. As beautiful as these far-reaching butterfly doors at Mc Laren may be: the barrier-reinforced access to the Eurotunnel in Calais required a lack of a passenger, a degree of flexibility to type under the half-open driver's door, the required number code.
Finally arrived near the cradle of all McLaren in Woking, the rural southwest of England with its long drawn straight and gently rolling hills to a detour and cornering loads. On load changes in too tight corners, the poison green super sportsman likes to react a bit more excited. But the ESP always leaves plenty of room and even allows for a crescendo. If you press the button longer and the stability control retreats behind a curtain, the McLaren snaps with all his might and throws his arched butt around like a biting opera diva.
The racing car builder's calculation “from the formula for the road” paid off. The McLaren 570S drives like a dream. The finale of this day is Wagneresque and as dusk approaches, the sun slowly retreats behind his silhouette with the spectacular butterfly wings.
Text and images: Solveig Grewe, Craig Pusey, McLaren