McLaren Artura

FIRST UK DRIVE British roads show plug-in hybrid is one of the company’s best cars

affordable model (a relative term, of course), so to start, let’s recap the Artura recipe.

YOU’D buy the £189,200 McLaren Artura for its steering alone Never mind its punchy powertrain, a ride that’s beautifully refined for a supercar, or the arresting looks that signal a new (albeit only slightly evolved) era for the British firm’s identity; it’s the feedback relayed through the steering wheel that really makes this new machine what it is

The Artura’s gestation hasn’t been without some reliability and electronic issues, but we reported on these when we first drove the car abroad last year, so we won’t dwell on them any longer Instead, let’s answer the big question: what’s it like to drive in the UK, apart from that sublime steering?

The answer is really, very good McLaren has dabbled with electrification before, via its P1 hybrid hypercar nearly a decade ago But the trickle down of technology means that this is now available in its most

It’s new territory for the British firm on the engine front, since the Artura’s combustion unit is a wide-angle 3 0-litre twin-turbo V6 It’s joined by an electric motor that’s fed by a 7.4kWh battery, providing an electriconly range of some 19 miles

Plugged in, the Artura’s battery will take two and a half hours to recharge to 80 per cent, but you can replenish the cells on the move, too Then the engine quickly boosts the battery back to full health from empty

The plug-in hybrid system is clearly focused on performance, however (although, for what it’s worth, McLaren claims 61 5mpg and 104g/km of CO2), and the two power sources combine to produce a total of 671bhp and 720Nm of torque, which is sent to the rear wheels through an eight-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox

That’s good enough for a three-second 0-62mph time (two tenths faster than the McLaren F1 – that’s progress for you) and

Equipment

a limited top speed of 205mph It feels every bit good for those claims, too.

On the move in e-mode, though, the Artura lacks a little refinement There’s some obvious motor whine and the gearbox’s shifts are noticeable; it feels like this element of the system could be smoother There’s also plenty of percussion as stones and other debris get flicked up and hit the underside of the all-new carbonfibre monocoque chassis, but this simply serves to frame the overall experience

Switch the powertrain to Sport or Track modes (now initiated by toggling a rocker switch mounted up near the instrument binnacle, a much more intuitive solution than the Active Panel in older McLarens) and with both petrol and electric providing power, it’s a more convincing set-up.

The engine is still a little laggy despite its hot vee-turbo configuration, but the electric motor does its best to fill in here, providing some instant punch for when the ICE gets into its stride When it does, the V6 is best described as effective rather than a true great, but you learn to appreciate its industrious nature because it provides solid mid-range performance and – combined with the electrical assistance – superb any- gear flexibility It sounds gruff, but the note is recognisable and gives the car personality It’s a new personality for McLaren, but the way the Artura performs in other areas is very familiar – and for very positive reasons

The ride is sublime for a supercar, with sophistication to its damping that would embarrass some luxury models on sale today With the chassis set to Comfort, the suspension feels brilliantly fluent Step up to Sport and then Track (activated in the same way as for the powertrain) and the Artura’s body becomes better tied down, the dampers controlling its 1,498kg kerbweight (light, given the hybrid tech, which adds 130kg of ballast) more tautly

It adds an extra level of precision to the way the car corners in each mode, but what remains consistent is that beautiful steering weight and the clarity of feedback through the solid, slim steering wheel rim With the possible exception of Lotus, no other company can match McLaren in this field. The punch you get from the engine combined with the sophistication from the chassis means the Artura is a really, very good performance car

It’s not without fault, though. Aside from the engine, while the Artura might be more than £50,000 cheaper than – and 148bhp down on – Ferrari’s 296 GTB (meaning they’re not strictly direct rivals), judged purely on the integration of petrol and electric, the Artura leaves a little to be

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desired. When the battery was low, we felt a few jerky transitions between the two modes of propulsion It could be smoother

However, we still love the brake feel and appreciate that McLaren didn’t opt for a regenerative system, instead preserving the purity a solely mechanical set-up brings

Packaging a battery hasn’t hurt practicality too much, since there’s 160 litres of luggage space The bigger issue could be range, given that the 66-litre fuel tank isn’t the largest

The car’s infotainment system is a step on, if far from the best, but it’s proof that McLaren is still learning Don’t forget, the road car division as we know it is only just over a decade old, yet it’s come so far and made some brilliant cars in that time.

The Artura is definitely one of them, and we’re sure it’ll get better as time goes by, too

Even in Comfort mode, there’s a real fluidity to the McLaren’s chassis