2015 McLaren 650s Spyder: The Ultimate Road Going Drop Top

MotorTrend

On this weeks episode of Ignition

Transcript

00:00 This is the McLaren 650S.

00:04 And if you think it looks similar to the P1, it's for a

00:07 good reason.

00:08 You see, when you make one of the world's most powerful,

00:11 fastest, and extreme cars, you learn a thing or two.

00:15 And McLaren says that what it's learned, it's applied to

00:18 the 12C, in effect creating the 650S.

00:24 It still uses a lightweight carbon fiber tub and a

00:27 dry-sump flat-plane 3.8 liter twin-turbo V8, but now it

00:31 makes 641 horsepower and 500 pound-feet of torque.

00:36 It is, of course, more powerful and faster, but its

00:39 array of clever electronic tricks has been improved, too,

00:42 from active aerodynamics and suspension control.

00:46 McLaren says it's a better driver, too, thanks to a new

00:49 damper mount and revised steering.

00:51 [MUSIC PLAYING]

01:10 Press the launch button, wait two seconds for boost to

01:13 build, and then the 650S launches hard, passing the

01:17 quarter mile in a single lap.

01:19 Passing the quarter mile in 10.7 seconds at 134 miles an

01:23 hour, it's nearly half a second faster than the 12C,

01:27 and it falls into the select group of production cars that

01:29 come up in the tens off the factory showroom.

01:33 Braking was good, but less impressive.

01:36 The 650S may have large carbon ceramic rotors, but the power

01:40 they put through the Pirelli P0 Corsas was only able to

01:43 produce a best 60 to 0 stop of 105 feet.

01:49 Around the figure eight, though, the 650S ran a very

01:52 respectable 23.1 second lap, with an

01:58 average lateral G of 1.05.

02:10 The first thing you should do if you ever find yourself in a

02:12 McLaren 650S is find a straight bit of road, downshift a gear

02:18 or two, and then just do that, because the resulting

02:27 acceleration will leave you with a pretty big dumb smile

02:32 on your face.

02:34 That 3.8 liter twin turbo V8 that revs to 8,500 RPM, it

02:40 does terrific things with the power that it makes.

02:52 I love that you can hear the turbos spool up, too.

02:55 In fact, that's the first thing when you hear it, when

02:58 you get on the throttle, is just that--

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03:05 We're working with quite a bit of power here, 641 horsepower.

03:09 But the McLaren's very light, too.

03:12 So that power to weight makes it feel so great when you

03:15 power out of corners.

03:17 Now, that low weight is the byproduct of having a

03:21 construction that's basically built entirely out of carbon

03:25 fiber, at least the tub is.

03:28 The carbon fiber is high strength, but also low weight.

03:32 And that pays dividends throughout the car's

03:34 performance.

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03:38 What this car has in place of any roll bars is basically a

03:42 complex series of hydraulics that link the left side of the

03:45 car to the right side of the car.

03:48 Now, what that means is the car's computer can control the

03:52 roll stiffness.

03:53 So when you want to go fast, you can crank it over to track.

03:56 It tightens everything up.

03:57 But when you just want to go cruise, you know, commute,

04:01 whatever, you can crank it over to track.

04:04 Whatever.

04:05 Go to the local car show.

04:06 You can put it in normal, and it softens up.

04:10 The result is a ride quality that feels really, really good.

04:15 You don't get this kind of comfort out of this kind of

04:18 car unless you have a system like this.

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04:26 This is obviously the spider version of the McLaren 650S.

04:31 And McLaren says there's basically no downside to

04:34 taking the roof off.

04:35 That's another advantage of the carbon fiber tub is that

04:38 it's so strong that you don't need to add extra structural

04:42 support when you remove the roof.

04:46 Now, let's just enjoy ourselves.

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05:00 You simply have to love mid-engine supercars or

05:03 mid-engine super sports cars.

05:06 They just feel so tight and together, especially when

05:11 they're low weight, especially when they're this focused on

05:13 performance.

05:15 It's really satisfying to drive them, even at 8/10,

05:20 like we are.

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05:23 All that combines into a car that's really

05:25 nice to drive hard.

05:28 And you think of how nice it is to drive at low speeds, how

05:31 nice it is to drive on a mountain road.

05:35 I guess next we'll have to find out how fast it is around

05:38 a racetrack.

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05:52 Get a little heat in the tires this morning at Willow

05:55 Springs, the Pirelli Corsas, a very aggressive compound.

06:01 The McLaren feels light in the way that it's very quick

06:06 responding to the wheel.

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06:12 Not much weight in the front.

06:14 The weight distribution is actually the same as a Porsche

06:18 911, but the polar moment is a little different.

06:23 Great aero stick through the high-speed corners.

06:25 I'll tell you what, Willow Springs has got them, too.

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06:33 The flat-plane crank V8 has a very European feel, smooth,

06:40 revving.

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06:47 8,500 RPM, almost 650 horsepower.

06:51 We're over 150.

06:55 Down into turn one.

06:57 Moves around a little bit in the brake zone.

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07:02 Not instability, but you can kind of see how the car dives

07:06 a bit and moves around a little bit.

07:08 You can feel the brakes working hard.

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07:12 They are giant carbon fiber.

07:15 The McLaren stops really well and wanders just a little bit

07:21 in the process.

07:22 Watch.

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07:26 Not like that.

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07:33 McLaren puts power down really well.

07:37 Puts power down so well it even causes a little bit of a

07:40 power understeer occasionally.

07:43 McLaren has a very sporting feel.

07:47 And by that, I mean it'll loosen up when I let off the

07:49 throttle.

07:50 Just a little, not bad.

07:54 You can see as I go to the brake, I straighten the wheel

07:56 up a little bit because the front end works better.

07:59 I've got to lift off the throttle to get the car to

08:03 bite at the front and come down to the apex.

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08:09 Must have a really good differential setup because the

08:12 McLaren puts power down so well.

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08:19 Soft rev limiter, about 8,500 RPM.

08:22 [MOTORCYCLE ENGINE REVVING]

08:27 I can feel that arrow stick the tail here

08:29 down through turn eight.

08:31 Just a little bit of brake for nine, set it up wide, eyes in.

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08:41 Got to lift to get the nose down.

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08:47 I find the 650S to be a real step forward from the

08:50 original MP4-12C that we drove in Motor Trend's Best Driver's

08:55 Car a few years ago.

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10:41 [MUSIC PLAYING]

10:54 Though it's extremely fast on the track,

10:56 it's the way the 650S behaved on the road

10:59 that kept impressing us.

11:01 [MOTORCYCLE ENGINE REVVING]

11:03 [MUSIC PLAYING]

11:05 From its remarkably smooth ride to the incredible power

11:08 to the great steering feel and response,

11:11 not to mention the amount of theater

11:13 from the turbo spooling up in that moving rear wing,

11:16 there's something satisfying about a supercar that's

11:18 as potent as this one, but also as civilized.

11:21 [MOTORCYCLE ENGINE REVVING]

11:23 It's a remarkable technical accomplishment,

11:25 but that's just what we'd expect from a Claren.

11:28 [MUSIC PLAYING]

11:31 [MOTORCYCLE ENGINE REVVING]

11:34 [MUSIC PLAYING]

11:41 Everything's better when you're topless.

11:44 This is a good time to drive.

11:46 Top down, cool weather, loud car, activate sport.

11:51 [MOTORCYCLE ENGINE REVVING]

11:54 This thing doesn't have heated seats.

11:56 [MOTORCYCLE ENGINE REVVING]

11:58 Got two more cars to do, though.

12:00 Yeah, I know.

12:01 I'm trying to, like-- oh, man.

12:03 I've been up since 2 o'clock in the morning.

12:05 For what?

12:06 Like--

12:07 You're trying to sleep?

12:07 Yeah, I was going like-- my body was doing the hot and cold

12:09 flashes thing.

12:10 So like, you'd bundle myself up because I'm so cold,

12:12 and then wake up, and just like, in a pool of sweat,

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