Stunning McLaren 650S debuts

You can visit their impressive showroom at McLaren Johannesburg, Sandton Isle, 126 Rivonia Road, Sandown or call Grant Dryden on 011 301 7000 or on 083 777 0700 or browse their website at www.johannesburg.mclaren.com.

The McLaren 650S joins the range as an additional model alongside the 12C and sold-out McLaren P1, and learns from both models.

Available as a Coupe or as a Spider, with a retractable folding hard top, the McLaren 650S promises to redefine the high performance supercar segment.

The 650S badge designation refers to the power output of 650PS (478 kW) from the British-built McLaren M838T twin turbo V8 engine. ‘S’ stands for ‘Sport’, underlining the focus and developments made to handling, transmission, drivability and engagement.

The design is inspired by the McLaren P1, previewing a new family design language. The front bumper gives the McLaren 650S a dramatic, yet clean appearance and sits below new LED headlamps which reflect a similar look to the McLaren P1.

The more integrated front splitter contributes to increased levels of downforce, giving a greater level of steering feeling and confidence to the driver on turn-in, while also adding to the agility and the car’s handling balance.

The Coupe accelerates to 100km/h from rest in just 3.0 seconds, and can reach 200km/h in just 8.4 seconds. The standing quarter mile takes 10.5 seconds, and top speed is 333km/h.

The Spider is mechanically identical to the 650S Coupe and this means a 0-100km/h sprint of 3.0 seconds and 200km/h is reached in 8.6 seconds, only 0.2 seconds shy of the fixed-head model along with a maximum speed of 329km/h.

Most competitors do not offer high performance iterations as convertibles due to the compromises that invariably plague open-roof cars. These models will be heavier and have substantially less torsional The carbon fibre MonoCell chassis requires no additional strengthening or reinforcing in open-top guise, and gives the 650S Spider identical handling and ride, and virtually identical straight-line performance figures as already stated.

The overall weight of the 650S Spider is 1 370kg, an increase of only 40kg over the Coupe, with this additional mass coming from the retractable hard top and roof mechanism, and is less than any other car in its class.

Rather than being a stripped out road racer, the 650S Coupe and 650 Spider models are fitted with a high level of luxury equipment as standard. Carbon ceramic brakes sit behind unique “650” lightweight alloy wheels shod with Pirelli P Zero Corsa tyres, IRIS satellite navigation with Bluetooth telephony, wireless tethering, audio streaming and voice control are all fitted as standard, and the cabin is fully trimmed in Alcantara.

“The McLaren 650S represents 50 years of road and racing car know-how,” comments Mike Flewitt, McLaren automotive chief executive officer.
Indicative pricing puts the McLaren 650S Coupe at around R4 000 000 and the Spider at R4 500 000.