First Drive: McLaren’s 750S Spider pushes the drop-top performance car envelope

What is it?

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The original McLaren 720S was an absolute smash-and-grab success for the Woking-based brand. Sharp, dynamic and as powerful as you’d like, it was the car which firmly cemented McLaren in the modern-day all-stars list of supercar manufacturers.

Even with its success, the 750S did, eventually, have to be put out to pasture. In its place comes this – the 750S – alongside the drop-top Spider version which we’re looking at today. Can this convertible McLaren still deliver the experience that we’ve come to expect given the success o the 720S? Let’s take a look.

What’s new?

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While there might be some visual similarities between the 750S and the 720S, there are a number of tweaks that have been implemented to help make this car even sharper than before. Each little aspect of the 750S has been refined and honed to give it an even sharper edge, while the convertible version has, of course, got some clever folding roof features too.

Because of the clever carbon fibre tub-based construction of the 750S it doesn’t lose out on rigidity once the roof is taken off so no extra bracing or reinforcement is required, as you might find on other convertibles. In all, the Spider comes in at just 49kg heavier than the coupe version, which is no meant feat considering it has a fully retractable hard top.

What’s under the bonnet?

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Central to the 750S is the tried-and-tested 4.0-litre twin-turbocharged V8 that you’ll find in the majority of McLaren vehicles. It now kicks out 740bhp (or 750ps, hence this car’s name), slightly up from the 710bhp you would’ve found in the old 720S. Torque is up, too, from 770Nm to 800Nm, with both increases brought about through a second fuel pump and revised turbochargers which spool more keenly than before.

As with most McLarens, the 750S Spider gets a rather traditional rear-wheel-drive layout with a seven-speed transmission allowing this convertible to go from 0-60mph in savage 2.7 seconds before carrying onwards to a 206mph top speed. It’s now slow coach, that’s for sure.

What’s it like to drive?

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McLarens often have two distinct sides to them and the 750S Spider is no different. On the one hand, this big, intimidating-looking supercar is an absolute breeze to drive around town where the natural-feeling hydraulic steering allows you to drive through traffic as you would in a more ‘normal’ car. Only the carbon ceramic brakes – which don’t ‘bite’ as quickly when you’re travelling slowly – take a bit of getting used to, but it’s all remarkably user-friendly for this type of car. The folding metal roof also means refinement isn’t too bad, though the cabin is slightly boomy when you’re at motorway speeds.

But press that throttle but a little harder and it unleashes a whole other side of the 750S. It is mesmerically fast but accompanied by a level of balance and control that you don’t tend to find in convertible cars. It feels rigid, taught and utterly involving while the ability to drop the folding roof only adds to the experience. As is a true characteristic of McLarens, it’s the steering which shines through in the 750S due to its ideal weighting and sharpness. The lack of buttons on the wheel itself continues to be a plus point, too, as it leaves you to navigate the wheel without fear of accidentally hitting a control of some sort.

How does it look?

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McLaren has always taken a rather gradual approach to the styling of its cars and that’s the same story here. The front end of the car is remarkably similar to that of the 720S, albeit with a more smoothed-out front end that helps to give this 750S a more rounded appearance than before. Naturally, with the carbon fibre tub in the 750S being shared with the one in its predecessor, there is only so far that McLaren’s designers could take this car look-wise.

However, the Spider version is dotted with neat touches. The glazed ‘flying’ buttresses not only look great but help to boost rearward visibility and there’s even the option to add electro-chromatic glass above your head which means that you can get that open-air experience even with the roof in place. It can go from nearly opaque to transparent at the touch of a button.

What’s it like inside?

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The cabin experience inside the 750S is a focused one. You enter through the dihedral-opening doors to find yourself sitting in a surprisingly wide central cockpit, with large bucket seats which provide a lot of support while still bringing just enough cushioning to ensure that longer journeys aren’t going to turn into a chore. Both people sitting inside can stretch out, too, and though the dashboard is quite high you never feel constricted.

The material quality is good, too, with plenty of Alcantara used throughout to help boost that race car feel. The 150-litre boot in the nose of the car might be smaller in capacity than the one you’d find in a standard hatchback, but it’s deep and simple to access. There’s more than enough space for a large weekend travel bag.

What’s the spec like?

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The 750S Spider is by no means a cheap car. Our model, with a variety of options fitted including £4,800 Tanzanite Blue exterior paint and the aforementioned electrochromic roof – a £7,500 option – came in at £267,900, so not far off the average price of a home in the UK. However, there is plenty of equipment on-board, including an eight-inch central screen which gets Apple CarPlay as standard. It’s got the features you need included, for sure, but does lack the level of functionality that you’d expect from a ‘regular’ car, let alone an expensive supercar like this.

That said, the build quality is excellent throughout and, more than anything, the 750S Spider feels special both inside and out.

Verdict

McLaren was always starting from a good place with its 750S. The 720S which came before it was superb and it was only natural that – given their mechanical closeness – it would be the same outcome with the 750S. This Spider version only adds to the drama and with such a small weight penalty, there’s not so much of a driving experience sacrifice to be made in opting for the convertible.

It might be expensive but as an example of what can be achieved when a platform is pushed to the maximum, the 750S Spider is right up there.