McLaren 720S - 2017

The Huracan (I owned it) is a LOT more fun to drive than Aventador and is not short on looks dept. Good friend is a Aventador guy and I have driven his car many times. Too cumbersome for me vs Huracan. If I wanted a Lambo again H Performante is an absolute beast (I think).

 

That was my point on Lambo. You can't have your "budget" car outclassing your flagship in the dynamics department. That's why I can't put them on the other manufacturers level yet.

 

458/488 was more dynamic than the F12. F12 is the flagship. GT3/RS is more dynamic than the Turbo, though the Turbo is still faster and the flagship.

 

I don't think of F12 as flagship. It's like a super GT. Front engine V12 has always been a Ferrari thing (except during the testsrossa body style years). But the mid engined cars are best driving cars and that's pretty common knowledge. F12 is far superior to Aventador btw. I've driven GT3/RS and Turbo and I think Turbo is every bit as dynamic as the GT3 just not as fun bc the GT3 has that engine.

Aventador is THE "hypercar" flagship of Lambo. SV was a big improvement but it still wasn't as good to drive as a 675 or even a Huracan imho. It just felt too big. I'd love to have one in my garage but mostly just to take out and have people stare slack jawed.

 

Guess we'll have to agree to disagree.

 

What will be the msrp in the US? Still no word on having the roof painted other than through MSO?

 

That's not true. Henry Catchpole has never been a McLaren fan. The 720S is easy to love. It's way more engaging than 650S and 488.

 

There honestly isn't much roof to paint. The C-pillars are glass and the roof portion of the doors are glass. You really only have the a-pillar, the a-pillar's extension over the side window, and the center line of the roof to paint (between the glass roof/door panel top). The rest is glass and like a greenhouse. I suppose you could put a custom wrap on them, but you'd reduce visibility.

Edit: I think the roof glass may be an option so I guess painting it in that case wouldn't look too odd.

 

You really can't paint the roof before the c pillars are glass. You'd end up with painted roof and a pillars, and then dark/glass c pillars. They'd have to make you solid c pillar panels if you wanted to paint it, which the may or may not do and which may or may not really hurt the value of the car since you'd be covering up one a major design aspects of the car.

 

But what I said about Ron is certainly true.

 

Henry gave the LT Spider a 5 star review.

 

So did Shmee ;-)

 

I would have too lol

 

I would as well to be honest. I think that is the best modern McLaren.

 

Agree, and the Miura is far prettier than anything McLaren has done thus far IMHO.

 

Cannot understand how anyone says mac isnt engaging enough or doesnt have a soul? Yet same reviewers complain about Aventador as being a poor drivers car. Shouldnt the poor outward vision, rough ride, clunky sct, heavy steering, etc qualify as soul? Big lambo should be best drivers car in world with all its flaws. Weird.

 

There is one flaw to your statement.

You assume that auto journalists are LOGICAL!

 

Seems to me McLaren have built a winner here...

2018 McLaren 720S: A 212-MPH Roman Holiday - The Drive

"Hmmm ... so the $290,000 McLaren weighs 225 fewer pounds than the $450,000 Ford GT. It’s got 63 more horses and a larger 4.0-liter V-8 to the Ford’s 3.5-liter twin-turbo V-6, to win the critical power-to-weight battle. If tire grip and aerodynamic efficiency are roughly equal (and I’d put McLaren’s F1-honed expertise up against anyone’s) the 720S will surely be the faster supercar. But that’s a battle for another day."

What they don't mention (and it's a matter of taste of course) is the Ford GT is more exclusive and better looking than the 720s (however the 720 interior is one of the best in the industry IMO).

But still, they have a point. More power, lighter weight, better performance at 2/3rds the price should be a wake up call for enthusiasts to flock to the 720s

 

that is a great review of 720. its what I expected from the beginning. crazy fast yet still comfortable. has 8000+ redline, drift mode, loud startup, glass roof, great looks inside and out. its a winner all the way. whether I would take it over 488 would require a looksee and a test drive but probably couldn't go wrong either way. now as to the nfgt in that comparison, not sure how it will hold up at all. will be great to see the tests

 

I gave up on EVO when they rated a front wheel drive VW Golf hatchback for car of the year over the 570s. I mean they seriously lost all credibility at that point. If I gave 2 sets of keys to 100 people only HC would pick the Golf lol

 

Its always about exhaust sound. This is how you get stupid review like -- its better looking, better handling, faster, more comfortable, buuuuut --- WE'D STILL BUY THE FERRARI

Seriously I think you could build a crap car with a loud exhaust and they'd love it.

I've had many loud cars, some with straight pipes, and quite honestly I'm over it. I like my car (yes even my exotic car, because I actually go on long road trips) to be quiet when I want it to and have a nice sound (not stupid loud obnoxious cop bait sound), but nice sound when I want it to.

mac has done a nice job with the 675LT (p1 is too loud), and its my understanding the 720s has a similar setup as the 675 but of course its a 4L engine so thats different. It also has more sound deadening material to make the car more GT like. It does have the tuned equal-length headers like 675 (unlike 650) and longer titanium exhaust runners.

From what I can tell it looks like the journo cars are comfort spec, which if thats the case a bit of a blunder IMO as that will dumb down the feel over the sport-spec cars.

 

IMO, the problem with "super cars" now is that they are still useless on city streets where 99.999% of the miles will be used.

I wish they would take the level of lightness and technology and engagement and make something that you can push into 3rd gear without being tossed into jail.

All this stuff is really impressive -- if you track it. Otherwise it's just another dramaless car on the road taking up space.

 

you'll be fine in 3rd gear. you live in NV so you know we have some nice canyon roads. 3rd has a lot range, probably 40-100MPH. Now I wouldn't do that past city hall, but on a remote canyon road where I can safely have at for a few seconds is quite exciting.

one thing about macs is they're always 3 gears too high. cruising through a 25mph city street and it'll be in 7th gear. definately no drama in that. but put in manual mode and drop it down into 2nd or 3rd and it definately has drama.

when I let people drive my car I notice they tend to shift early; literally they shift at 4k when the drama starts at 5. Its because the torque is so massive you just don't want it all the time. which I think feeds into your point. Its easy to make a slow car go fast but its hard to make a fast car go slow.

 

IMO, this car really pushes Ferrari to do something special with the 488 replacement.

I don't see Ferrari losing sales to this car. I see the market expanding because of it. But the idea that McLaren is ahead of them technically would be bad for the brand image.

Competition is good for the breed. And, I'm still not a big fan of the 720s styling so Ferrari has a big opportunity there to beat it. But, if Ferrari does not move to a CF tub I see them looking like they appear to be "stuck in the mud" dinosaurs.

The downside: The first base model $300K MSRP 2 seat V8 non-convertible sports car is just around the corner.

Also I don't see how McLaren makes a spider version of this design. Ferrari for sure will want a spider version.

 

Bob the spider version will probably have conventional doors. It also further delineates the spiders from the coupes, which is a good move. At least thats the rumor.