McLaren 750S 2023 Review – International

The 2023 McLaren 750S takes a pretty big hike in pricing terms, to the order of about $80,000 over its closely-related 720S predecessor.

As such, the coupe version of the new 750S costs $585,800 plus on-road costs, while the Spider variant is priced at $654,600 plus ORCs. Both versions are slated for Australian arrival from the first quarter of 2024.

It’s something of a moot point for genuine buyers, you could argue, and McLaren says the premium is more than justified by the significant number of running changes and the extensive R&D invested into making the new model better.

Although it looks similar to the outgoing 720S, McLaren says 30 per cent of 750S parts are new or upgraded.

But at either side of $600K, the 750S is dearer than just about every key rival, including the Ferrari 296 GTB ($568,300 plus ORCs), Maserati MC20 ($467,000 plus ORCs) and the Porsche 911 GT3 RS ($537,600 plus ORCs).

The 2023 McLaren 750S scores a new interior bristling with new displays and controls, which we’ll get into in the technology section.

Otherwise, there’s an updated hydraulic front lift system which is faster to operate and easier to access than before, new 10-spoke lightweight forged wheels measuring 19-inches up front and 20-inches at the rear, full-LED headlights and LED tail-lights, climate-control and the choice of Nappa leather trim or a combination of Alcantara and Nappa leather depending on which interior theme buyers select.

As ever, buyers can further tailor their ride with optional extras including lightweight carbon-fibre racing seats with five-point harnesses or a new Bowers & Wilkins premium audio system.

There’s also an optional track brake upgrade, combining ceramic discs and monobloc callipers derived from McLaren Senna with a new booster and vacuum pump, plus sticky Pirelli P Zero Trofeo R rubber and lightweight titanium wheel nuts.

Visually, the 750S makes evolutionary styling progress with an extended front splitter, narrower eye-socket intakes, new rear wheel-arch vents, a lengthened carbon-fibre active rear wing and new front and rear bumpers.

The 750S is backed by a relatively generous five-year/unlimited kilometre warranty in Australia, while servicing is inclusive for the first three years of ownership, based on 12-month/15,000km intervals.

It’s very safe. Although Australian safety specifications haven’t been fully outlined for the 2023 McLaren 750S yet, the 750S is expected to include adaptive cruise control with road sign recognition, lane departure warning, high-beam assist and 360-degree park assist.

There’s also full airbag coverage and a suite of electronic driving aids, in addition to solid structural integrity courtesy of a carbon-fibre monococque platform. The 750S is yet to be independently crash-tested.

The 2023 McLaren 750S makes evolutionary progress where infotainment is concerned. An updated 7.0-inch centre touch-screen display scores richer graphics and increased touch sensitivity than before.

It also offers wired and wireless Apple CarPlay for the first time (but no Android Auto of any kind), higher-quality rear-view and 360-degree cameras, a better in-car microphone for phone calls and an upgraded Bowers and Wilkins premium sound system.

There are also USB-C and USB-A ports for charging devices.

McLaren’s long-standing M840T 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 continues with the McLaren 750S, now producing 552kW of power and 800Nm of torque.

Although it has been around for more than 10 years, there is nothing wrong with the outputs and performance it produces: 0-100km/h in 2.8sec, 0-200km/h in 7.2sec and a top speed of 332km/h.

McLaren says numerous small but meaningful changes to the V8 have helped keep it at the pointy end of the performance spectrum, bringing a 25kW/30Nm increase over its predecessor and offering a best-in-class power-to-weight ratio.

Changes include increased turbo boost pressure, lightweight pistons borrowed from the 765LT and an additional high-flow fuel pump, plus retuned mapping for the engine management system.

The engine shuffles drive to the rear wheels via a retuned seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission with a shorter final drive ratio, and a new limited-slip rear differential.

Additionally, if the driver calls for a downshift that would over-rev the engine, there is now software to essentially queue the downshift for when it is safe and appropriate.

Elsewhere, the 750S deploys a new central-outlet exhaust system that is said to offer improved sound and shed 2.2kg in weight, plus a 6mm-wider front track, lighter dampers and softer springs up front and stiffer springs at the rear.

The electro-hydraulic power steering is imbued with a faster rack speed and there are overhauled drive mode settings including a reworked variable drift control function.

The carbon-ceramic brake rotors measure 390mm up front and 380mm at the rear, gripped by six-piston front and four-piston rear callipers plus a new brake booster.

The 750S retains the carbon-fibre structure of its predecessor, but shaves 30kg in standard coupe form to help pare its official kerb weight figure back to just 1389kg.

The carbon-fibre sports seats now standard on the 750S are 17.5kg lighter than the 720S coupe’s sports seats – even lighter carbon-fibre racing seats are available as an option – while the standard forged alloy wheels are 13.8kg lighter than the 720S wheels.

Incredibly, the carbon structure at the core of the 750S means the Spider version with its composite retractable hard-top incorporate no additional bracing, resulting in a minimal 49kg of extra kerb weight (1438kg).

A combined fuel consumption figure of 12.2L/100km is claimed for the 2023 McLaren 750S and we reckon that figure is entirely achievable in docile settings, especially on quiet rural roads.

However, as is the case with these things, expect fuel use to spike as soon as you bury your right foot.

Imagine piecing together the best dynamic elements of McLaren’s most successful supercars over the past eight years and then distilling them into one package.

That’s the 2023 McLaren 750S.

There’s been lots of rhetoric around improved handling performance, a more powerful engine, higher rigidity and less weight, but McLaren has genuinely broadened the envelope in terms of both performance and useability.

For the die-hard, track-focussed enthusiast, there is still a case for more manic offerings like the 765LT, but for 95 per cent of driving, you’d argue this is the consummate McLaren. It wants for very little, if anything.

On regular roads around Lisbon in Portugal – highway, gentle scenic passes, urban roads, even cobblestone surfaces – the 750S is perfectly civilised, offers good noise suppression and an ease of use more akin to a humble passenger car.

Some supercars often induce wincing, but this one only brings smiles. The steering is light at low speeds, the suspension by and large takes the edge off bumps in the road and visibility is surprisingly good for a supercar, thanks to an airy glasshouse design and generous wing mirrors.

In brisker driving on public roads, the 750S electronics suite keeps a judicious yet considered hand on proceedings, avoiding any awry moments with swift yet benign interventions. And the steering is so precise and articulately weighted that it helps shrink the car’s formidable 2.16-metre width, allowing you to easily place it in your lane.

What’s more, the exhaust note is much more enjoyable in everyday conveyance, with a throatier tenor across the rev range and more meaningful cracks between up-changes, as well as belching and popping on the overrun.

It still won’t rival a wailing Italian for sound, but it does offer much more theatre than before – especially when you’re not climbing to 8500rpm. The key take-away is you don’t need to hit blinding speeds in the 750S to enjoy its true character – something that couldn’t really be said for its predecessor.

All of these elements are heightened in the 750S Spider, which gives away virtually nothing in rigidity and on-road composure while providing a front-row, unobscured seat to the exhaust. At it takes just 11sec for the roof to stow.

Across both models, the hydraulic front lift system has been improved over the 720S and is now accessed via a simpler dedicated button rather than on a column-mounted stalk, taking only four seconds to raise or lower the vehicle (previously 10sec).

The engine will naturally push for efficiency, working in concert with the smooth shifting transmission, and offers a broad power curve to make light work of mountain passes and highway transitions. There’s no low-speed binding or lurching to speak of either.

Which brings us to the track component. To my mind, the 750S delivers the perfect blend of prerequisites for a bona-fide track car for 99 per cent of drivers: it’s quick, it’s stable, it’s dynamic and it offers superlative braking performance.

At the former F1 circuit in Estoril, the 750S doesn’t put a foot wrong. There’s stability in faster corners as well as delicate rotation through tighter apexes – all telegraphed by keenly weighted steering, excellent front to rear balance and a taut body.

The engine naturally finds its happy cadence around middling revs, with peak torque chiming in from 5500rpm and peak power materialising at 7500rpm. Holding these kind of revs helps settle proceedings and makes the vehicle feel much calmer.

Similarly, the electronics suite is such that the 750S wills you on, rather than hinders you. An example is when walking the dynamic tightrope through Estoril’s lengthy turn 13 right-hander, where the perfect throttle modulation allows its driver to carry ultimate corner speed without pushing the nose wide.

It means yours truly can exit the final turn at about 160km, before confidently pulling 282km/h in sixth gear then washing off about 200km/h in the space of 190m before slicing through turn one.

At this point, stability under braking is critical and the 750S performs admirably by combining its active ‘air brake’ wing and taut underpinnings to offer rock-solid stopping performance.

There’s something properly poetic about the process. The Trofeo R rubber doesn’t fade or overheat, the brakes offer repeatable power and feel through the pedal and the stability while either piling on or washing off such speed is seemingly infallible, with not so much as a squirm from the driver’s seat.

Twenty minutes on a foreign circuit in a left-hand drive supercar isn’t nearly enough time to completely come to grips with any car’s limitations, but it is enough to come close in the 750S, which clearly contains the right stuff and is undeniably impressive.

The 2023 McLaren 750S is a mild evolution of its predecessor where the interior is concerned.

Not that we’re complaining. The minimalist cabin is still a proper driver’s cockpit, with no buttons on the steering wheel and much more consideration around placement of buttons and switchgear than before.

For example, there’s a new ‘driver-centric’ column-mounted instrument display which is now electronically-adjustable and topped by adjustable rocker switches to select powertrain modes and suspension settings – ala McLaren Artura.

The British manufacturer has also introduced separate buttons on the dashboard for the hydraulic front lifter, as well as a ‘Speedy Kiwi’ button that allows drivers to set a custom mode for engine, transmission, suspension and aerodynamics settings.

Entry into the cabin isn’t easy for everyone, with dihedral doors offering the first clue. Occupants need to gently lower themselves between the steering wheel and the door sill to sit within the carbon-fibre tub.

Once there, however, the outward view is quite generous despite being so low-slung and the seats offer high bolsters to hold you tight on track or during hard cornering and a shape conducive to longer drives.

Storage is likewise sound with a decent array of open cubbies and hidey holes to accommodate personal belongings.

The 150-litre ‘frunk’ will easily swallow soft overnight bags, with an additional 210-litre space behind the seats of coupe models being suitable for jackets and smaller items.

The 750S won’t stow your golf clubs, but that’s really beside the point.

If you have the means, yes. The 2023 McLaren 750S is arguably the most rounded supercar to emerge from the Woking brand, comfortably offering a broader bandwidth of performance than the 720S it replaces.

What’s more, it could be something of a last-hurrah as the final non-electrified series-production V8 to come from McLaren.

If that turns out to be the case, the company has definitely finished on a high, creating a vehicle that should be the new envy of its peers.

2023 McLaren 750S at a glance:
Price: $585,800 (coupe), $654,600 (Spider), plus ORCs
Available: First quarter 2024
Engine: 4.0-litre twin-turbo petrol V8
Output: 552kW/800Nm
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Fuel: 12.2L/100km (WLTP)
CO2: 276g/km (WLTP)
Safety rating: Not tested

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