WHEELS
McLaren Artura Spider
£221,500 / mclaren.com
Is summer here already?
Looks that way. This is McLaren’s ArturaSpider,aconvertibleversion of its already very tasty Artura hybrid supercar. McLaren has given it abunch of cosmetic tweaks, topped off with an easily retracted carbon fibre roof.
Presumably it’s still nippy?
The Artura Spider has aplug-in hybrid drivetrain, which means the 3L V6 has plenty of pep but there’s electric power too… and in fact, McLaren’s engineers have given this model an extra touch of zing in the shape of more horsepower. So it’ll get from 0to 62mph in 3secs flat thanks to acombined output of 690bhp.
And the top speed?
Owners should be more than happy with 205mph… but the real magic is in how it gets there, because this 1475kg car has an enviable power-to-weight ratio of 473bhp per tonne. This is further helped by reworked aerodynamics that mean it cuts through the air that little bit better.
So what about the plug-in bit?
Admittedly, most folks are likely to be focusing on the petrol-driven performance here –aided by an 8-speed dual-clutch gearbox that can shift through the gears faster than earlier models. But yes, there’s a 7.4kWh battery pack, which is now good for up to 21 miles of all-electric range.
Any party tricks?
There’sSpinningWheelPull-Away, which effectively allows you to do burnouts whenever you fancy by spinning the wheels while producingalarge cloud of tyre smoke. Maybe not agreat idea on public roads, that; but stopping power looks like another area of improvement, thanks to carbon ceramic brakes and tweaked ABS.
