Convertible’s arrival coincides with major mechanical revisions for PHEV supercar
MATT SAUNDERS @thedarkstormy1
TESTED 6.6.24, MONACO ON SALE NOW
Michael Leiters wants to take McLaren’s cars back towards its motorsport roots; to draw clearer and more evocative parallels between them and the racing machines for which it’s even more widely known.
That sounds sensible, but the two years he’s had in the job of CEO is a short time in product development terms. Isn’t it too early to try to judge any Leiters effect? Well, perhaps it isn’t. The 750S certainly shows signs of a shift in priorities towards the wild, expressive and dramatic (see p46), and now we know that its little sibling, the revised Artura plug-in hybrid supercar, does too.
‘Revised’ might be the wrong term, actually. It feels more as if the Artura’s launch has been reset. Leiters came to the chair in Woking around the time of the Artura’s delayed and troubled arrival. Significant technical revisions followed, but sales have been slow to do likewise, executives admit.
So, in addition to a drop-top bodystyle, McLaren has given the Artura powertrain, suspension and interior updates for the 2025 model year. It’s not a night-and-day-different sort of mid-engined supercar, but it is more forthcoming in its persona, firmer-riding; more urgent-feeling and more powerful in how it gets down the road.
Output has risen from 671bhp to 690bhp, courtesy of some engine management software changes (which will also be offered to existing Artura owners via a free software update). The extra grunt comes entirely from McLaren’s wide-angle 3.0-litre V6, though, with the 94bhp axial-flux electric motor working to top up its reserves and fill the gaps in its torque curve.
McLaren has also worked to give the whole PHEV powertrain more ‘crescendo effect’ as it spins under load to its near-8000rpm redline. It has fitted firmer engine mounts too, a couple of revised active exhaust systems (standard and optional sport) and an actively controlled exhaust sound symposer.
The dual-clutch gearbox, which uniquely in a McLaren drives the rear wheels via an electronic locking diff, now shifts faster.
The suspension uses the same coil springs as before but has all-new adaptive dampers, governed by much faster-acting electronics that can better act to check body and wheel movements and help to manage and influence handling and stability that bit more effectively.
The Artura certainly has a greater appetite for spe
