The heavily anticipated McLaren 650S now has an official price tag for North America. For the MP4-12C-based supercar with P1 hypercar front fascia design you'll need to cash out no less than $265,500 (CAD $287,000) for the Coupe, while the Spider's price creeps all the way to $280,225 (CAD $305,500). Both variants are now on sale across 15 retail locations: 13 in the U.S. and two in Canada. The McLaren 650S will make its U.S. debut at an offsite location during the New York International Auto Show next month.
McLaren Automotive unveiled its newest model at the Geneva Motor Show in March with great pomp and circumstance, as expected from a car does the standing quarter mile 0.6 seconds faster than the iconic F1. The british manufacturer's latest addition is a full second quicker to 124 mph than its 90's grandfather. So where does the new 650S sit in McLaren model range?
Well… bang in the middle of it. Although not cheap, the MP4-12C and MP4-12C Spider now fill the shoes of the entry-level models, the McLaren range being topped by the stellar P1 hybrid hypercar. This argument stands even price-wise: the 12C starts from $240,000, while the sold out P1 had a U.S. price tag of $1.15 million. It's the same story for performance figures as well.
If Porsche has the laziest design department of all sports car manufacturers, McLaren Automotive's is the second laziest if you analyze the exterior design of the new 650S. The back is borrowed almost entirely from the MP4-12C, while the front is a copy-paste kind of job from the P1. Not sure about you, but I wouldn't be exactly happy to part the better part of $200,000 for a car designed in a Frankensteinian way.
However, the performance stats on this thing beggar belief. Both the Coupe and Spider share the 12C's twin-turbo 3.8-liter handbuild V8 engine, upgraded to produce 650 horsepower and 500 lb-ft (678 Nm) of torque. Serious power figures come with serious acceleration times: the Coupe manages a 0-60 time of 2.9 seconds and a standing quarter mile of 10.5 seconds at 139 mph.
Performance is harnessed by the a 7-speed SSG dual-clutch automatic, that sends power to all four wheels fitted with standard Pirelli P Zero Corsa tyres front and back. Braking power comes from carbon ceramic discs with forged aluminum hubs, while the ProActive Chassis Control changes driving dynamics to suit the driver's mood.
If you're having a slow day at work and fantasize about owning one of these babies, then have a go at configuring the 650S Coupe or Spider by clicking here. Also, we've attached a video for all you walkaround enthusiasts that want an in-depth look of every square inch of this McLaren.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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