Racing Form

There’s an electric atmosphere around the new McLaren supercar. Will Hersey gets behind the wheel

After a fairly rocky few years, during which the launch of this all-new £190k Artura was itself delayed, McLaren has something to shout about again. The British marque has once more been able to focus on what it does best – engineering an outrageously fast and phenomenally capable supercar. For McLaren, it’s also one that features a number of genuine firsts.

Starting with the name: it’s the first time an actual word, albeit made up, has been used on one of its regular production cars. True, it has a familiar faux-exotic ring beloved of supercar marketeers, but it’s still a welcome change from the sometimes baffling combination of numbers and letters which it has used in the past. Far more importantly, the car itself has been developed from the ground up, including a brand-new carbon tub that, for the first time, has been developed in-house.

But the biggest headline of all, of course, is that this car is – at least partially – electric. McLaren has employed an electric motor in combination with a three-litre six-cylinder twin-turbo, in a move that marks a generational shift that will likely be rolled out across all its new models from here.

This electric motor is geared more towards enhancing performance than reducing the car’s reliance on fossil fuels, but it is possible to drive the Artura purely on electric power, for a reported 30.5km (19 miles), and the battery is recharged by the engine on the move. There’s no regenerative braking, though; it was considered but rejected as a rather un-McLaren driving experience.

The two power sources combine for a total 671hp, achieving a 0-100km/h (0-62mph) time of three seconds and a top speed of 330km/h (205mph). While we didn’t reach the outer limits of these figures on our own road trip in Surrey, its abilities were still very clear; and achieved in the laser-focused and fuss-free manner we have come to expect from a McLaren.

On a clear road, the superb chassis, hydraulic steering and sensational traction combine to serious effect. Surprisingly, despite the extra weight associated with electric cars, the Artura still tips the scales at a lighter weight than several of its competitors – another McLaren hallmark, and an attribute which again translates directly to how it feels on the road.

Inside, the two-seat cabin has had a makeover too, retaining the same driver-focused arrangement but with a little more luxury and convenience on show. Past niggles, such as seat controls which required the touch of a neurosurgeon, have been resolved. Apple CarPlay is easy to set up and use, while there are decent nooks and crannies in which to empty the contents of your pockets when you swing the gullwing door shut behind you.

Once strapped in, there can be few cars you’d rather be in with a road trip ahead of you. The longer the better, in fact – although, like most modern supercars, the Artura is just as happy on a short hop to the shops. In electric mode, you can do these quick trips stealthily too, without the attention-grabbing low-gear roar of the old V8.

Despite all these advancements under the skin, you wouldn’t know it from the outside. It looks good, sure, but the Artura’s design is hard to distinguish from the existing McLaren range. Given this car in many ways marks a new era, it’s perhaps a bit of a surprise that the opportunity wasn’t taken to represent this visually too. One step at a time, perhaps. With a new boss, a new plan and the new Artura as a line in the sand, let’s hope McLaren finds more things it can shout about in the years to come. (cars.mclaren.com)