The new 600LT Spider has a 3.8-liter twin-turbocharged V8 nestled in its engine bay, good for 592bhp
Brexit and its potential impact on British automakers be damned, McLaren is keeping its foot on the pedal, spitting out the third new car from its £1.2bn Track25 business plan. And it sounds like a belter.
The new 600LT Spider has a 3.8-liter twin-turbocharged V8 nestled in its engine bay, good for 592bhp and 457lb.-ft of torque. In a fit of precision befitting the McLaren brand, dry weight of the 600LT Spider is specified down to the tenth of a pound at 2859.4lbs, equating to just 1297kg in Queen’s English.
Acceleration is said to be on par with the 600LT Coupe, running to 100km/h from rest in an eyeball-flattening 2.9 seconds. Just like every McLaren that has earned the LT name, the 600LT Spider is aggressively aerodynamic and obsessively light. In fact, the company claims the car’s unique carbon-fibre MonoCell II chassis to be so light and strong that no extra stiffening was needed after sawing off the roof in order to maintain the prescribed levels of performance and agility. Weight gain necessitated by motors required to shuffle away the convertible top amounted to just 50 kilograms compared to the 600LT Coupe.
The honed and sculpted profile of the 600LT Spider has been formed by the clear purpose of increasing aerodynamic efficiency and channelling air for cooling that powerful V8. This is a Longtail in every sense of the word, with a rear that measures 47mm longer than the 570S. This extra length increases downforce, something that is welcomed when stretching the car’s legs.
They’re long legs to stretch, with top speed being pegged at a toupee-ripping 324km/h (201mph for our non-Metric readers). As mentioned, 100km/h is yours in just 2.9 seconds, while 200km/h appears in 8.4 seconds, with the latter measure just 0.2 seconds behind the 600LT Spider’s hardtop brother. To quote Dominic Toretto, this is a “ten second car” with the quarter mile flashing by in about 10.4 seconds.
Lowering the roof of the 600LT Spider shows off a performance-oriented interior, which features Alcantara trim and carbon fibre racing seats from the big-daddy McLaren P1 as standard equipment. A set of super-lightweight carbon fibre racing seats designed for the McLaren Senna are available as an option, either on their own or within the MSO Clubsport Pack. Further weight-saving options and measures – including deletion of the audio and climate control systems – are available to buyers determined to punish themselves shave off every kilogram possible.
Price? Customers across the pond will need to dig for at least £201,500 in the UK, with American copies priced at $256,500 in that country, a roughly $15,000 jump over a 600LT Coupe. But really, if you have to ask…
Keyword: McFast: Topless McLaren 600LT will hit 324km/h