There are a few ideal environments in which to experience a supercar. They typically involve gorgeous sunny weather, and equally enticing roads, whether those are of the closed-course variety or country roads. Most of the world, and thus, most of the time, does not include either of those criteria (particularly this editor's location in south-east Michigan). So, supercars are usually experienced in pretty mundane situations, like driving around a city on surface streets, freeways, parking lots like a normal Corolla.That can be stressful and uncomfortable if the supercar in question wasn't designed with the rigors of daily life in mind, but the McLaren Artura is unusual. It has quite a bit going for it that makes it one of the most daily driveable supercars on the market. It also has some foibles that just keep it from being the unquestionable choice in practical supercars. So read on for a slightly unique review of a rather unique ride. What It Does Right Joel Stocksdale / CarBuzz / Valnet It's Insanely Comfortable For A Supercar Looking at the Artura, with the sliver of daylight underneath and in the wheel arches, one would assume that it would have brutally stiff suspension, and that my time driving it around metro Detroit would have shaken both the car and my body to pieces. Instead, the Artura is freakishly compliant and comfortable.Don't get me wrong, the tuning is certainly on the firm side, but it's comparable to, say, a BMW M340i. Going over bumps feels like a sport sedan, rather than a race car. It's a bizarre but beautiful sensation. Even switching out of the normal drive mode into sportier and stiffer settings sticks to that sport sedan ride range of feeling stiffer, but still not painful or wheel-bending.Also impressive is that the Artura doesn't use the fancy interconnected hydraulic damping system made famous in the MP4-12C. It just has really brilliantly tuned adaptive shocks (with compression and damping adjustment) with conventional springs and anti-roll bars. That's not to say McLaren hasn't used any fancy suspension tricks. It has some rather complex control arms. However, the fundamentals of the suspension aren't otherworldly except for their tuning. Bravo, McLaren. The Battery Pack Is Big Enough For A Useful EV Mode Joel Stocksdale / CarBuzz / Valnet High-end, high-performance plug-in hybrids are fairly common at this point. Supercars, sports sedans, and even SUVs have all leaned on electric power to attain insane power and acceleration numbers. Frequently, though, the plug-in capability feels phoned-in, almost like something done to avoid regional regulatory penalties. Take, for example, the Mercedes-AMG GT 63 S E Performance. It has between 10 and 11 miles of total electric range, and that's in pretty ideal conditions. That's hardly worth plugging in.The McLaren, on the other hand, has an EPA-rated range of 21 miles on a full charge. That's still not a huge amount, but, according to Kelley Blue Book, Americans drive an average of 33 miles per day. So a single charge would cover two-thirds of that average, and if half of that drive is to a location where the driver could plug in and recharge, it would hypothetically be possible to not use any fuel in the Artura on the daily commute.Joel Stocksdale / CarBuzz / Valnet Furthermore, if that commute is mostly boring stop-and-go driving, it's not like the Artura owner would be needing more than the 91 ponies that the electric motor provides. Well, maybe the owner might still want a few more ponies and dip into the engine power. The point, though, is that McLaren gave the Artura enough battery capacity to make plugging it in worth the hassle, however minimal it may be. It Looks Like A Supercar If you're going to buy a supercar, it had better look like one. The McLaren Artura absolutely does. It has the right proportions with a low, stubby nose, a rakish windshield and roofline, and a wide tail with purposeful exhaust tips. The body is all curves, as are all the enormous side intakes. The wheels and tires leave hardly any gap in the arches, and the brakes fill up the wheels just as fully.Joel Stocksdale / CarBuzz / Valnet Looking more closely, aside from radiators, you'll see beautiful exposed carbon fiber accents. You'll spot some of the radiators necessary to keep the McLaren cool. The arching roofline is partly made up from glass flying buttresses. Plus, everything looks tight and well put together. If there was one thing that we might complain about, it's that the Artura still looks like many of the McLarens that have been released over the last 10 years, all of which aren't particularly identifiable. They all look like a supercar, but not everyone might realize that it's a McLaren. Visibility Is Great This is a big surprise, because of the last point. The traditional supercar proportions and shape would suggest that it's as hard as any other to see out of, but that's not remotely true. Forward visibility is incredible, thanks to thin pillars and a low dash and window sills. More impressive is the fact that you can see out the back.Joel Stocksdale / CarBuzz / Valnet The rearview mirror is actually usable, and the blind spot isn't that big. Much of the credit for that last part goes to those futuristic flying buttresses we already mentioned. All of this means that it's impressively easy to navigate the Artura around tight streets and parking lots while avoiding curbs that could jump out and clobber your gorgeous wheels and body work. It Goes Like A Supercar Joel Stocksdale / CarBuzz / Valnet One of the few things that wasn't a surprise about the Artura was the fact that it's absurdly quick and exciting to drive. Between the electric motor and the twin-turbo V6, it makes 690 horsepower and 530 pound-feet of torque. It takes virtually no time for that power to hit the pavement thanks to the motor providing a bit of instant response and the turbos spooling quickly. The power doesn't relent either, pushing you back harder the longer you keep the throttle down. The numbers back it up, too, as we previously tested an Artura with a 3-second 0–60 mph time.The engine is further coupled to a crisp dual-clutch eight-speed automatic. It's plenty capable in automatic mode, but it's a rare transmission that you'll probably want to shift yourself most of the time. Part of that is simply the fun of having the ability to downshift at will and hear the unique howl of the V6. Part of it is how satisfying the paddle shifter is, coupled with the snappy shift response. The shifter is a single piece of metal placed on a pivot in the center. Pull on one side, and it moves the other. As you pull it in, you get a tactile click followed by that quick gear change. It's so slick you'll be shifting for no reason whatsoever just for the sensation.Joel Stocksdale / CarBuzz / Valnet Cornering is naturally excellent, too, not suffering one bit for having a comfortable ride. Body roll is hardly perceptible on public roads, and the steering is incredibly sensitive and precise. It's even quite light. Combine that with the compact shape and feel of the Artura, and it's as easy to thread around tight country roads or parking lots as a Porsche 718. That feeling of being small and nimble also makes it less intimidating to wrangle the nearly 700 ponies behind the seats. What It Does Wrong Joel Stocksdale / CarBuzz / Valnet It's A Pain To Get Into One of the things that helps give the Artura real supercar vibes also makes it hugely annoying: butterfly doors. To be fair, it's not just the super stylish doors, it's the opening that they fit into. The carbon fiber tub that makes up the central core of this car has a thick sill that extends pretty far forward before it roughly reaches the floor.The result is a sort of tilted egg-like opening that's placed about as low as any car can have. It feels a little like having to do the limbo in two directions to climb in or out of it, made worse by having to duck under the aforementioned butterfly doors. In some ways, it does sound silly to complain about, but if you've had a long day, the last thing you want to do is gymnastics to get into your ride home, let alone to climb out of once you arrive home.Joel Stocksdale / CarBuzz / Valnet Being inside isn't the most comfortable either. The front wheel wells and door panels take up a fair bit of space, and that means you may find your left leg pushed uncomfortably far right. The seats in our model were also lacking in adjustments, and the cabin lets in a surprising amount of road and tire noise when cruising on the highway. As good as the McLaren rides, these little gripes will make long-distance drives more of a pain. The Controls Are Terrible (With One Exception) While McLaren nailed the steering wheel and shifter on the Artura, it has much to improve when it comes to everything else you interact with in the cabin. The infotainment system is the biggest issue. While nicely integrated in the dash design with a quality knob, the interface is a mess. Everything is black and white with icons that are overly similar looking. It's sluggish and not particularly responsive. That single knob is the only physical control for anything in the infotainment system, including the climate control, which is also annoying.Joel Stocksdale / CarBuzz / Valnet We also ran into a few electronic glitches. None of them were too serious, mainly just annoying, but they weren't confidence-inspiring. These included occasional Bluetooth disconnects and a disconcerting warning message saying that the car "denied" a request to open the frunk while driving. While I appreciated that the car did not release the frunk, since those errors happened while enjoying some country roads, I was baffled by how such a request came up, since I checked and there was no way I could have bumped the frunk release button with my knee or arm. The V6 Is Nice, But It's A V6 We don't believe that a car must have more than six cylinders to sound great. There are many four- and six-cylinder engines that we adore. The Artura's V6 even sounds quite good. But a V8 would've sounded better. Plus, when you're buying a supercar that costs well into the six-figure range, you really want to have a distinct soundtrack for both yourself and those around you. There's plenty of competition that can do that, too, such as the Lamborghini Temerario and its sky-high revving V8. Other Companies Provide Similar Performance And Practicality For Less The other thing about the Artura and the idea of having a daily driver supercar is the fact that you can get a shockingly similar experience, and maybe an even better one, with much more affordable options. The two cars that come to mind are the Chevy Corvette and Porsche 911. They aren't perfect options. Neither have the street presence of the McLaren. However, they both have even more comfortable and easy-to-use cabins with easy cabin access. They have more cargo space. They have amazing blends of performance and ride comfort. They also have incredibly characterful engines.Joel Stocksdale / CarBuzz / Valnet You can have a deep, rumbly naturally aspirated V8 in a base Corvette, or a screamer of a flat-plane crank V8 in the Z06 and ZR1. Porsche has flat sixes that you won't find anywhere else, and you can have them in high-strung naturally aspirated form, or autobahn-destroying Turbo form. Plus, they can be had for a fraction of the price of the McLaren, even at the high end. So if you were to buy with your head, these options are arguably better. But, of course, you don't buy a supercar just with your head, and McLaren does deliver a supercar look and feel that the others can't.