McLaren 570S 2016 Review

McLaren's 'junior' supercar arrives with the muscle and panache to take the fight to the Euro sports-car establishment

Best of British: McLaren 570S
Road Test
Woking, England

McLaren’s new 570S, like the factory within which it's built, looks and feels like it came from outer space. The sinuous road rocket is one of the brand's new entry-level Sports Series cars. It's not as hard core as its 650S sibling but its carbon-fibre chassis and 419kW mid-engine turbo V8 make this rear-drive British bullet entirely engaging. Priced from $379,000, McLaren's latest sports car could be the best value-for-money exotic yet.

If the McLaren 570S had an occupation, it would be an elite assassin. It's so ruthlessly efficient in almost every way – acceleration, cornering ability and deceleration – that the art of driving almost becomes a clinical exercise. Almost, being the key word.

For despite the McLaren 570S' inherent performance capability and its surgical precision, there's still abundant emotional reward for the driver. Front end grip is vast, feedback is luscious, the way the car squeezes bodies into seats under full throttle is breathtaking. And the carbon ceramic brakes? Arresting!

Even when you're not hunting apexes, the McLaren is a sensation. The dihedral hinged doors turn heads and, well, just look at it! There's nothing Germanic or Latin about the design. It's a four-wheeled tribute to organic forms and nature, and that's refreshing.

Drop the hammer from standstill and the 570S muscles up swiftly, with very little turbo lag from the pair of hair-dryers huffing and puffing into the 3.8-litre dry-sump V8.

The tachometer needle moves frighteningly fast. At 3000rpm it's hard not to smile, by 6500rpm when the full force of 600Nm arrives, it's impossible not to grin like a love-struck teen.

The fun doesn't end there either… At 7500rpm peak power of 419kW or 570hp joins the party, and by this stage all thoughts of retaining demerit points are off. Built by motorsport company, Riccardo, the dry-sump 90-degree V8 propels the McLaren forward with the kind of thrust that pins you into your seat and makes your heart flutter as fast as the wings of a hummingbird.

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The engine will spin to 8500rpm if you push it (and have the courage!) and it feels like it could stretch further without batting an eyelid. It makes a fair bit of noise above 6000rpm but it's not the most harmonious eight-cylinder tune you'll hear. It's more akin to an inline four’s scream than a rumbling V8. As such, the soundtrack is the only part of the powertrain that doesn't flabbergast.

The 570S’ seven-speed automatic transmission adds another level of excitement, delivering rapid shifts that enable the car to rip from 0-100km/h in 3.2sec and 0-200km/h in 9.5.

Flicking the chassis mode selector dial from normal to sport firms up the 570S’ dampers and steering appreciably, and the doing the same with the powertrain toggle changes the gear shift points and turns up the exhaust volume.

And when in its most aggressive settings, the car cuts through corners like governments cut education budgets, with a stone-cold callousness that'll make your jaw drop. I clearly remember the first corner I pumped the car into, at what I thought was a fair trot, yet the 570S virtually rolled its eyes at me.

The aerodynamic wizardry McLaren has wrought on the 570S combined with double wishbone suspension and adaptive dampers at each corner of the car ensures that grip level are supreme. That's right, a pizza with the lot. Even anchovies... And artichokes…

It takes just a few corners to realise the connection between car and driver in this McLaren is unusually rich. The 570S informs you of everything you need to know, such as when it's losing grip, and (unlike some other mid-engined supercars) usually long before it actually occurs.

The fixed-rate steering rack delivers a wonderfully linear measure of grip. Bowl into a corner with too much heat? No dramas, just dial in more steering lock. Bombing along with too much pace? Hit the stoppers and big six-piston monobloc calipers bite deeply into 394mm carbon-ceramic discs, decelerating the car's 1344kg mass with potent, progressive ease.

And despite shunting big dollops of torque to the driving wheels, the rear-end generates just as feedback, providing the certainty required to get on the throttle early and blast out of corners.

Yes, there's scope to spread the car's rump all over the road, but to wag the tail you need to be pretty forceful (and brave!), such is the rear end's conviction to resolutely tracking through varied corners.

The ultra-stiff carbon-fibre chassis helps in this process and the Pirelli P Zero Corsas contribute heroically. Ultimately, the 570S provides a connection between car and driver that rivals the most successful relationships in history; Antony and Cleopatra, or Elton John and David Furnish.

Along a tight, winding British C-road, tightly edged by shrubbery, I'd normally be a little apprehensive increasing the tempo, especially with lots of dips and crests, but the McLaren flows like liquid. The only thing that would make this automotive slab of awesomeness more satisfying would be a manual gearbox, and perhaps a concealed caltrops deployment device.

There are aspects to enjoy in this car even when it’s standing still. Touching the rubber nipple hidden underneath the driver's window pops the door latch and the dihedral door swings up and out effortlessly, pneumatically damped so you can let it slide smoothly of its own volition to its zenith.

There’s an exacting level of engineering here that makes the car feel unique and exclusive.

Although you hunker down low in the leather bucket seats, the view of the road (or track) is impressive, thanks to a very large windscreen. The side sills are narrower and lower than the 650S too, which means you don't have to be Russian gymnast to enter and exit the vehicle.

Although the electric seat adjustment controls are confusing (requiring a mathematics PHD to operate), the seating position is good. And once comfortable, the pomp and circumstance continues. The latest McLarens have really lifted their game in terms of cabin presentation. In our 570S tan leather was carefully mated to almost every curvaceous surface… A warm welcome to be sure.

Scanning the cabin for control placement, the eye is attracted by a compact steering wheel and digital instrument panel; ‘regular’ controls are minimised or done away with completely.

The multimedia screen is a neat unit and the switchgear around the steering wheel matches the car's pared-back attitude, but does feel a little fragile. That said, everything worked as anticipated – including the air-conditioning and sat nav – and there appeared to be none of the niggles that sometimes befoul low-volume exotica.

The engine note inside the cabin doesn't match the sound outside, but the flipside is cabin quietness. Although the paddle shifters do click very loudly... Is this also the right moment to mention also that although oddment storage is good, luggage space is pitiful? Such compromises are to be expected in a supercar, and can be readily forgiven.

Importantly, the 570S is not just a cornering, braking, accelerating dynamo. This is a Macca built to appeal to a wider demographic. Indeed, the "baby" McLaren is a good dawdler and getting to grips with the car at nominal speeds, trundling through villages and towns, is a cake walk.

It's remarkable how mellow the car is pottering around at low speeds; the steering light; the suspension supple. Despite riding on big alloy wheel rims (19-inch front, 20-inch rear) the car soaks up cracks and divots common to cruddy British country roads better than the Honda Civic Type R hot hatch we tested on similar roads.

If you thought the Porsche 911 owned the "everyday supercar" title, think again. Perhaps the only area where the McLaren 570S is not as proficient as the Porker is in the above mentioned luggage space (and the lack of rear seats). In the place of the Turbo’s +2 seats, the 570S’ ‘shelf’ is useless -- everything slides off whenever the brakes are applied. McLaren offers a 570GT to fix this shortcoming.

Rearward vision is average and head checking is pointless but to the 570S’ credit, the side mirrors are good, offering a wide view down the car's sultry flanks.

Ultimately, such considerations are moot when it comes to the exulted world of the supercar, where form always trumps function. Because on flowing roads the 570S sheds its civilian persona and becomes a code-red operative, doing what it was born to do: excite. Here it is a polished performer, an unmitigated pleasure.

Not unlike the futuristic factory that builds it, there's a tangible sense of ultramodern sophistication about the McLaren 570S. This car is, in a word, splendid.

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2016 McLaren 570S pricing and specifications:
Price: $379,000 (plus on-road costs)
Engine: 3.8-litre eight-cylinder twin turbo-petrol
Output: 419kW/600Nm
Transmission: Seven-speed dual-clutch
Fuel: 10.7L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 249g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety Rating: N/A

Also consider:
>> Audi R8 V10 (from $354,616 plus ORCs)
>> Porsche 911 Turbo (from $406,100 plus ORCs)
>> Lamborghini Huracan LP580-2 (from $378,900 plus ORCs)

McLaren 570S 2016 Review

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