McLaren 720S leaked… again

The successor to McLarens 650S, the all-new 720S, has broken cover – again – ahead of its official debut at the Geneva motor show on March 7.

The latest image was leaked by Bloomberg.com, confirming the new McLaren 720S – as it's expected to be called – gets the same gullwing doors as the iconic McLaren F1.

The doors aren't massively different in operation from McLaren's current vehicles, which use "dihedral" doors that open diagonally upwards, but this one now features two hinge points instead of just one.

Look closely and you'll see one hinge in the roof and one in the front guards, just like the legendary McLaren F1.

What's the upshot of these dramatic new doors? Well, it adds more theatre for a start, as the doors form part of the roof, but it should also improve entry and exit into the car, a known complaint among some 650S owners.

McLaren is able to create the wild new doors via its new Monocage II carbon-fibre chassis, to which all other parts of the car are attached. It also makes the car lighter and stiffer.

Codenamed P14, the McLaren 720S name has not been confirmed yet.

This latest disclosure follows a previous leak in late January, when the re the new McLaren super sports car was previewed to customers in Palm Beach, California.

UK-based McLaren just yesterday showed off the car's steering wheel and instrument cluster, which can fold flat to reveal a secondary F1-inspired slimline rev meter, and based on the new leaked image there's more changes at play inside the car.

The infotainment system appears to be new, as do the controls around the centre console and also the gear shift buttons mounted on a stepped bridge that bisects the cabin.

Some detail is known about the car but new model, which draws aesthetic parallels with McLaren F1, will deliver higher performance than the 650S through the adoption of a new twin-turbo 4.0-litre V8 engine.

Expected to belt out an unholy 530kW (720hp, hence the name), the new model it tipped to accelerate to 200km/h in 7.8 seconds and complete the quarter mile in 10.3 seconds.

Braking will be via carbon-ceramic disc brakes, fitted as standard, stopping the car from 200km/h in just 4.6 seconds, spelling enough deceleration to bring up breakfast.

The 720S will tip the scales at around 1280kg and although McLaren has big plans to add hybrid modules to its supercars, it's unlike we'll see it on this model.

Stay tuned for the official reveal.