2024 McLaren 750s Coupe Driven: The Ultimate Track-Ready Road Car?

At MotorTrend’s 2024 Performance Vehicle of the Year

Transcript

00:00The McLaren 750S, an evolution of the 720S, sits a little bit below the 765LT though the

00:19idea the designers had was to make this car a little bit more accessible.

00:26Put simply, the 720S was a phenomenal machine, one which arguably didn't need to be improved

00:34upon. It had 710hp and brain-rearrangingly comprehensive steering, suspension and brakes.

00:42However, when it came time for McLaren to put a bow on it, they happily obliged by pulling

00:48176lbs of mass from the original car, strapping on a few bits from the McLaren Senna and jacking

00:55the price way up. The resulting 765LT now had 755hp and weighed in at just 3,093lbs.

01:08It was technically an improved 720S, but in reality, many thought that McLaren had gone

01:14just a step too far in their pursuit of speed. Now we have the 750S, which, whether McLaren

01:20will admit this or not, is to right those wrongs.

01:26Luckily for me, I'm on the racetrack, so let's talk about it. Of course, that beautiful sonorous

01:34noise you can hear behind me is that mega twin turbocharged V8. 4L, 740hp, wow these

01:47brakes. 590lb-ft of torque. Let's open it up. Holy mackerel. Gear shifts are so aggressive.

02:01Wow and that airbrake. The brakes on their own do an amazing job, but the fact that that

02:07wing cantilevers up, giving you all that incredible downforce, is not only epic to

02:17think about, it's epic to see in your rear view mirror, I have to be honest. Wow. I mean,

02:26this thing lives to be north of 100mph. Gosh, did McLaren make the best sounding V8 still

02:33in existence. The grip, the grip. It's different to the Porsche. It's different to the Ferrari.

02:49There's less drama about it. A lot of drama in the shifts, a lot of drama in the braking,

02:53but in terms of the body roll, the way that the car acts in the corners, there's less.

03:00I think I know why, it's because this McLaren has the third generation of the proactive chassis

03:06control PCC3. Of course you've got fully adaptive dampers, shocks, electronic anti-roll. You can

03:15feel the car working beneath you. Gosh. 120 like that, nothing, like it's nothing.

03:30This car ain't going nowhere. It's nimble, it's light, but it feels planted, it doesn't feel

03:39unsettled, it feels like it's at one with the asphalt. It's not dancing on top of it,

03:45it's cutting through it. This seat is great. The seat is like the best seat here, I think.

03:50I love these great big wide shoulder holders. Is that a technical term? I don't think so.

03:59Chassis feel, body roll, suspension, steering turn-in, braking, power delivery.

04:11And I've got to say, across those disciplines, McLaren is kind of hard to beat. McLaren is,

04:19you know, every bit the lethal track weapon you'd imagine.

04:24The superpower of the old 720S was that it was as at home on the street as it was at the racetrack,

04:35and the exact same can be said about this 750. With its adjustable ride and that trick suspension

04:42and chassis control, you can dial the McLaren's ride to your liking and drive hundreds of miles

04:47in a single sitting. Still, it's on the track where the 750S thrives. I've not driven a more

04:53comprehensive track attack car than this. The steering is incredible. The direction change,

04:59nothing short of instantaneous. The front end is so darty that you feel like you're on the front

05:05axle, and to be fair, you practically are. The engine is sumptuous. The exhaust note gets in

05:11your chest and refuses to leave even long after you finish driving it. And the shotgun-like gear

05:18changes are addicting. The 750S will have you reaching for gear after gear after gear,

05:24achieving uncomfortable speeds in unfathomable times again and again. The 750S is practically perfect.

05:34Oh, bloody hell. Come on, England. Oh, it's so good. Pretty nice, McLaren.