Track Comparison: 2024 Lucid Air Sapphire vs. 2024 McLaren 750s Coupe

MotorTrend

Although it may seem like a foregone conclusion on the surface

Transcript

00:00This is going to be an interesting one, a track battle between these two beautiful cars

00:09behind me.

00:15On the surface at least, this one's over before it's already begun, right?

00:18What business do we have racing a mid-engine supercar against what is essentially a family

00:25sedan?

00:26As you may have guessed, all is not quite meets the eye because this is the Lucid Air

00:31Sapphire, the top of the tree Lucid Air, and it boasts pretty unfathomable numbers.

00:37Its three electric motors produce 1,234 horsepower and 1,430 pound-feet of torque.

00:45I've said those numbers many times and it doesn't get any less impressive the more you

00:50hear it.

00:51Of course, the McLaren boasts its own very impressive numbers.

00:54This beautiful twin-turbocharged V8 generates 740 horsepower and 590 pound-feet of torque.

01:02There's actually an interesting tale to tell as to why we're running this track comparison.

01:07When we first drove the Sapphire some months ago, we asked Lucid, what should we compare

01:11it against?

01:12And he said, whatever you do, don't compare it against a Tesla, that's been done.

01:15But they specifically said, compare it against a mid-engine supercar, we think it can hang

01:21with a McLaren.

01:22We couldn't make it happen then, but we can make it happen here at Performance Vehicle

01:25of the Year.

01:26So we're going to.

01:39Lucid kind of asked for this, right?

01:41This is what they suggested to us would be an adequate comparison of what they thought

01:46would end up reflecting really well on their £5,300 four-door sedan.

01:56So we've set the baseline here in the 750S.

02:00We're not doing lap times.

02:03What I'm trying to gauge is chassis feel, body roll, suspension, steering turning, braking,

02:11power delivery.

02:12And I'm going to say, across those disciplines, the McLaren is kind of hard to beat.

02:24I can really push it.

02:25You can really push it.

02:27And of course, with that proactive chassis control, their third generation of fully automatic

02:34chassis control, adaptive dampers, electronic anti-roll.

02:44This car ain't going nowhere.

02:46It's doing everything it needs to, to keep pointing the right way, to adjust the four

02:54corners of the car, ensure maximum grip, maximum power delivery, all that downforce from the

03:01wing.

03:02It's nimble, it's light, but it feels planted, it doesn't feel unsettled, it feels like it's

03:08at one with the asphalt, it's not dancing on top of it, it's cutting through it.

03:16Wow, gear changes are violent, something we won't have to experience in the Lucid, of

03:23course.

03:24Though, with 1234 horsepower, I hazard a guess that the acceleration will have a tendency

03:31to be more jarring.

03:34I'm losing my breath.

03:37Wow, OK, so we've established the McLaren is, you know, every bit the lethal track weapon

03:46you'd imagine.

03:48Let's get in the Lucid and see how it compares when you jump straight in, back-to-back them,

03:53give us the maximum amount of comparative time.

03:59Oh, gosh.

04:04The grip, the grip!

04:06If I make it through that corner with understeering in the Lucid, I'll be vitally impressed.

04:14If I thought the Lucid had a tough task ahead of it before, having driven the McLaren and

04:19having been thoroughly impressed by it, I now cannot imagine the Lucid being able to

04:24compete.

04:25Having said that, this car has impressed me every time I've driven it.

04:30So with that, right then, Lucid, let's see what you can do.

04:35Oh, listen to that!

04:39The turn-in, this thing is just too big and too wide.

04:43A little bit of understeer there.

04:45A lot of chassis roll.

04:48The power, the power is there.

04:50The power will kind of propel you through the corner and feels quicker than the McLaren.

04:55It has to be quicker, right?

04:57This is, in fact, the quickest quarter-mile production vehicle we've ever tested.

05:01It's 75 years of motor trend testing, which is, you know, miraculous, isn't it?

05:06OK, coming round the bowl, I mean, the suspension is holding up admirably, considering it's

05:13working with 53-odd hundred pounds of car.

05:18Brakes, yeah, brakes are OK.

05:21The brakes do a good job.

05:23Comparative to the McLaren, come on, of course, the McLaren is just sharper, right?

05:29Considering this thing weighs 53-hundred, these brakes do a good job.

05:35The pedal's dead, the pedal is DOA, there's not a lot of, there's no feedback.

05:40Listen to that, listen to that.

05:42Oh, yeah.

05:45So, quite a lot of understeer there.

05:49Then you get to a straight and the Lucid just, you know, does its thing.

05:53As predicted, I'm sliding around in the seat a little bit.

05:57Look, here's that corner we said, yeah, we're holding on to that double apex line,

06:02but, yeah, that got a little bit close.

06:05That got a little bit tasty for my liking.

06:07Pushing it, the power gives you the confidence to push.

06:11And then, between the weight, the body roll, and the limit of the tyres,

06:18they're good tyres but they have their limits,

06:21you kind of end up steering into no man's land.

06:26A little bit.

06:28Having said that, I can't look past the fact that this is four-seater.

06:36This is a four-door production vehicle.

06:41And I'm doing 100 miles an hour here and can steer with one finger, you know,

06:45it is remarkable.

06:48Comparing it to McLaren, is that a bridge too far? Possibly.

06:51Admirable effort, Lucid, very admirable.

06:54Can you imagine what it would be like if these guys made a sports car?

06:58They've given us the executive sedan, they've got an SUV on the way.

07:03What is next for this company?

07:06The party piece is the acceleration, right? Of course.

07:10And it's effortless, it's insane.

07:12The only thing that tips you off to the fact that you're crossing the line over into treble figures

07:18is the wind noise. There's nothing else.

07:21In case you can't tell, I have run out of steam.

07:25After driving that McLaren and then this Lucid back-to-back, I was ruined.

07:30Because wow, that is a lot of horsepower.

07:33In summary, the McLaren is phenomenal.

07:36A near-perfect supercar, completely at home on the track and, to my mind, without fault.

07:43That isn't to say that Lucid isn't a spectacular effort.

07:47It's a wonderfully liveable, premium-feeling luxury car,

07:52which also just so happens to have 1,200 horsepower.

07:56The Sapphire does a very, very good impression of a supercar,

08:00but electric Moses can only do so much.

08:03And of course, when it comes time to brake and corner, the physics catch up with you fast,

08:08as those squealing tyres will attest.

08:11By comparison, I never got close to finding the limit of the McLaren,

08:15and even if I were to have, I suspect the car would have found something extra,

08:19time-pushing me further than I could push it.

08:22Comparing it against the Lucid is unfair, but hey, this is what they wanted.

08:28And it's worth noting this thing would absolutely destroy the McLaren in a drag race,

08:32so whilst it doesn't have poise, McLaren can boast in the corners,

08:37in the straights, and Lucid would have its day.

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