Since the glory days of Ayrton Senna, racing’s gospel has held that coupes are for the track while convertibles, on the other hand, are what you take to town.
Part of this is because of basic engineering: A car with a roof is more aerodynamic than one without. A roof is also stronger and more rigid. From a physics perspective, taking a roof out of the equation turns a car heavy and wobbly.
The 2019 McLaren 600LT Spider, however, has evolved past such ancient axioms. It comes with a 592-brake-horsepower, 3.8-liter, twin-turbocharged V-8 engine and a zero-to-60 mph sprint time of 2.8 seconds—both identical to the coupe version of the car. Top speed is 201 mph.
More crucial for those interested in dissecting power-to-weight ratios, the 600LT Spider weighs just 2,859 pounds. That’s a relatively scant 110 pounds more than the coupe, thanks mostly to the added weight of a push-button, threefold retractable top. It’s still 176 pounds lighter, by my estimate, than any direct competitors from Ferrari or Lamborghini.
The men and women at the brand’s factory in Woking, England, seem obsessive about saving weight. They made the glass on the 600LT Spider thinner than in previous models. They took out the carpeting in the footwells altogether. And they used netting, rather than door pockets, for storage and eliminated the glove box.
McLaren is also offering the skeletal seats from its $958,966 Senna—which weigh a little more than 7 pounds each, a third lighter than typical racing seats—in the 600LT Spider. Buyers have the option to delete such outré nods to decadence as the radio and air conditioning. (I suppose it’s worth it for drivers who are serious about track splits: Removing the air-conditioning system alone saves 28 pounds.)
All of which bodes well for McLaren’s topless proposition. Before I drive the new Spider on the Arizona Motorsports Park track—and after a good two hours in it beforehand, passing through empty desert landscapes—I ask the carmaker’s lead pro driver, Danny Buxton, how a convertible could possibly be considered track-suitable by any serious driver.
“I forgot it was a convertible by the second turn,” he says.
Maybe he’s just biased, I think, as we alight from the command RV parked near pit lane. It’s directly next door to the constant, deafening blast of F-18s doing daily rotations at the U.S. Air Force base. The only thing louder is the row of Skittle-green, lantana-purple, and Fanta-orange 600LT Spiders.
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2019 McLaren 600LT - FULL REVIEW!! (LANTANA PURPLE) autodesk | |
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| Cars & Vehicles | Upload TimePublished on 1 Apr 2019 |
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