The Fast Show

Mclaren sends us more to ogle.

- Mike Duff

McLAREN MARCHES TO A SPEEDY TECHNO DRUMBEAT. It’s been only six years since the company’s supercar-making Automotive division launched its first product, the MP4-12C. McLaren gave that car what was essentially a heavy facelift—and a far less clunky name—just three years later, rechristening it the 650S. Now the mostly new 720S is here, based around a substantially advanced version of the 650S’s carbon-fiber tub and a turned-up-to-11 twin-turbo charged V-8 mounted amidships. McLaren, a brand we don’t associate with hyperbole, claims on-track performance will make that of the 650S feel almost leisurely. Certainly looks that way.

CHASSIS

McLaren has stuck with commendable adhesion to the plan it announced when it launched its road-car division back in 2010. That is, to use the same core architecture to create a family of models graded thusly: entry-level “Sports,” mid-ranking “Super,” and extreme “Ultimate” series. The 720S coupe is the first of the second-generation Super Series cars, and as such brings forth a new iteration of the company’s carbon-fiber tub. The so-called Monocage II is more robust than the MonoCell of the 650S, incorporating an upper structure that integrates the windshield framework, the roof spar, B-pillar hoop, and buttresses. The upper A-pillars’ moldings are sufficiently well finished that they don’t need interior cladding. The roof spar includes attachments for the new wider-opening dihedral doors. The tub weighs 39 pounds less than the old MonoCell, with the car’s overall weight falling to a claimed 2829 pounds.