McLaren Special Operations headed to Australia

McLaren owners will soon be able to make their supercars more potent, following confirmation that factory-developed optional kits are headed Down Under.

The recently-formed McLaren Special Operations (MSO) division is becoming a lucrative side business for the British car-maker, particularly for enthusiasts who regularly track their cars.

The first such kit is a “high downforce” package that is retrofittable to the McLaren 570S.

“We’ve got the high downforce kit that will be coming to Australia, in fact our showroom in Melbourne already has one of those,” explained George Biggs, managing director of McLaren Asia Pacific.

“It’s an offering that we have and we bring to all of our markets, there’s a high demand of personalisation, and MSO is the most extreme version you can do.”

The ‘MSO Defined High Downforce Kit’ introduces just two elements to the existing car’s aero – a high carbon-fibre fixed rear wing and new underbody guide vanes.

Located towards the front of the vehicle, the vanes help to reduce drag by channelling high-pressure air away from the rear diffuser to exit below the doors.

This, says engineers, helps create a low-pressure area at the front of the car balancing out the extra downforce mustered from that massive wing.

The result is a net gain over the standard car of an additional 75kg of downforce at high speed, resulting in greater stability.

The trick, says MSO, was not to compromise the 570S’ agile dynamics at lower speeds.

Finished in gloss carbon-fibre, the big downforce parts are offered on both the 570S and the 570S Spider, but not the 570GT – as that car’s rear deck features a different design.

As well as adding extra downforce at high speed the rear wing, that features prominent ‘MSO’ branding on the end plates, also neatly incorporates a third high-level brake light.

“The high down force kit is a retrofittable option,” said Biggs. “We’re simply responding to customer demand, we’re finding that people get their car and have driven it for a period of time and say ‘I really enjoy that, let’s see how we can take things further’.”

Pricing is not yet available for the MSO kits in Australia, but watch this space.