McLaren are marketing their new 570S as a Sports car not a Super car and as a direct rival to the 911. They say it's very reasonable to lease (£995 per month), just as practical as a daily drive and better dynamically in every way. So I though it would be rude not to try it out for myself. First impressions are good - it really looks great and the scissor doors are something else. It's big though, or wide rather, you don't notice this when driving as its so nimble but parking might be an issue and those doors don't help. Interior quality is nice, very different style to Porsche, and the width makes the cabin feel a bit less intimate. The switches are fine and the air vents are particularly lovely. The Mac has a rather odd steering wheel, not exactly round, knobbly, I guess you'd get used to it. The "
PDK
" lever is amazing though. It pivots through the steering column axis so when you press one side forwards the other side tilts back, this is a really nice piece of design and the mechanism is beautifully made. The seats are very comfortable if a bit too wide for my liking, and the lumbar support is much better than Porsche. The electric seat buttons are a disaster though, hidden under the front, you have to fumble around for them, much better on the 650.
Onto the drive... The steering is significantly better than the Porsche, any Porsche than I've driven, excellent weighting, feedback and precision - McLaren have kept with a hydraulic system and it's obviously a sound move. Power is well up on the 991S engine and torque too. After a short familiarisation we switched the suspension and engine settings to race - which turned out to be fine for the road - for a wet, cold twisty road on cup tyres! One rather bizarre thing is that the electronic display that replaces the instruments changes when you change the settings. So I spent my time looking at a race pack type display with shift lights, fun but the actual speedo was not easy to see. The tyre pressure and temperature is displayed in this mode, great apart from the little numbers are so tiny I couldn't read them. Instrument clarity is so much better in the Porsche. The Normal engine setting smooths out power delivery perhaps with a little lag and is probably just for the valet. Sports suspension is probably OK for a long drive. The 570 has much narrower tyres than the Porsche which means that you get a bit of wheel spin when you give it a prod, nicely controlled mind, but not for the faint hearted. Visibility is excellent out front with a lower bonnet and more defined wings which allow a more accurate positioning than the 991 whilst sitting a lot lower down. Rear visibility is less good. Brakes are odd. I've not driven a car with ceramics before so can't comment on how they compare to
PCCB
but there's not much movement in the pedal, you just press down hard, and it slows down very quickly, can't say I liked that much. The turbo V8 does not sound anywhere as good as the NA6, although as that's history now it might not be an issue to buyers. Inside the cabin the 570 did seem a bit louder, loud V8 hum with less tyre roar. I did notice much more noise from gravel and stuff coming up from the under tray - made it feel like a race car. After the drive - which turned out to be quite a long one - I asked the man about the whole practicality / daily driver thing. We agreed that's probably not really the case. People who buy McLarens generally have lots of other cars, put few miles on them and don't take them to the supermarket. I did have a look round the rest of the showroom while I was there. And actually I thought the 650 was a bit nicer, better seats and it comes as a
Spyder
. The higher sill really is not a problem at all, nor is the slightly tighter door opening, in fact they make the car feel a bit more special.
So, in conclusion, the 570S is better in many ways as a pure sports / race car than the 991, but it's not more practical, and whilst there are some lovely design features the overall cohesion and balance of the 911 is not bettered. So I think the 570 is a car to have as well as the 911, but not instead. The one I drove was orange, very orange, inside and out, it's the most popular colour. Doesn't exactly blend into the traffic, had all kinds of loonies waving at me driving down the motorway doing the "normal driving" part of the drive. I think if you did buy one every day would be an event. Might get a bit tiresome.
Thanks for the write up. It has been one of the cars on my 'if I win the powerball' list, so good to know that it would complement the 911.
Thanks! That's probably as close as I'll get to ever driving one.
What is the point of connected paddles on both sides?
Hi. Well the chap said that it's useful to be able to change up and down with either hand if you've got a lot of lock on as with one paddle your hand is sometimes in the wrong place, or if you're multi tasking with a sandwich or something. But it's still nice.
Does that make sense, based on the way you described? IOW, if both sides are up and down, and from your description pressing forward on one side pulls back on the opposite, that would mean you've got opposite directions of manipulation on either side for the same result. IOW2, pull back on right or push forward on left to upshift? That's just crazy, and can't really be the way this works.....
Er yes it's a rocker on a pivot, just like an F1 car apparently, does not take long to recalibrate your brain, although I used both hands as I was being mindful not to over rev the thing accidentally
Poster says he has never driven a car with ceramic brakes so I assume that means he has no comparison to 911 Turbo S ?
Just asking because the Turbo and Turbo S would be the fairest comparison to 570 s. Good review though.
Cars:
2013 Ferrari 458 Spider
2014
Porsche 911 Turbo
S Cab
Fantastic review. If I win the powerball that McLaren would be going in my garage next to my
Spyder
!
