Prod the start button in the McLaren 720S and settle back for some automotive theatre. The carbon fibre pod in front of your eyes pivots through 90 degrees to reveal a cluster of digital instruments. In the centre, a portrait-style infotainment system comes to life as your shoulders vibrate to the launch cycle of the 4.0-litre, twin-turbo V8. Then an angry bark from two exhausts, mounted waist-high at the rear, signals the start of play. It’s a performance not even the rival Ferrari 488 GTB can match. alk to McLaren insiders today and they’ll admit they underestimated the importance of such theatrics when they launched their first production car, the bafflingly-named MP4-12C, in 2011. Back then, McLaren was determined to best Ferrari’s heritage and passion with engineering efficiency. But talk of class-leading downforce at 150mph missed the point that supercars need to feel super in the showroom.
For the 720S, the need for histrionics was further compounded by a problem of McLaren’s own making. The company already makes a critically acclaimed, 200mph mid-engined supercar called the 570S, which sells for £143,250. The 720S starts at £208,600. “When a customer walks into a showroom and sees both cars, we had to give them a reason to gravitate to the 720S,” vehicle line director Haydn Baker, told WIRED. “Given how fast the 570 is, that appeal had to be about more than pure performance.”
the most obvious differentiator was the styling. While most manufacturers develop a family of aesthetically similar cars – think Audi, BMW and Mercedes – the 720 and 570 are dramatically different. Of the two, the 720S is the more “Marmite”. Where you might expect to find conventional headlights are two gaping “eye sockets”, designed to help channel air to the radiators. Even McLaren’s signature “tick” daytime running lights have been jettisoned to differentiate the pricier car.
“We wanted to make a statement with the headlights,” says Baker, “and we also wanted the sides of the car to be as clean as possible.” The 570’s side air scoops, used to cool the engine, have been replaced by a channel running along the top of the bodywork (where it meets the window glass) and a more discreet intake low down behind the door.
McLaren’s signature airbrake, which can fully deploy in just 0.5sec is also present and correct. The engineers claim the 720S is twice as aerodynamically efficient – defined by the ratio between undesirable drag and desirable downforce – as the 650 model it replaces.
