When I was handed the keys to this striking silver arrow in Dubai, the only question I wanted to answer was, has McLaren delivered a truly a new approach to a road-trippin’ gran tourer or whether it’s ‘just’ another McLaren supercar draped in marketing spin. Could it be a new unique take than the established Aston Martin and Bentley Grand Tourers, or just a more bum-corseting supercar?
Verdict: A Supercar in new clothes
The McLaren GT faces off against the Bentley Continental GT, the Aston Martin DB11 and the Ferrari Roma, all of which are more spacious, luxurious and importantly front engine rear wheel drive packaging designs, that allows for more versatility demanded by a GT concept. Compared to its own specialised McLaren stablemates, the McLaren GT is an easier-to-live-with supercar designed for crossing continents in comfort, a more jack-of-all-trades.
But with its mid-engined layout, the cabin is too cramped, not so much for people but for objects. And the load space, although big and spread out, demands you pack it thoughtfully. In the end then this is a compromised GT. But so are its immediate rivals and that’s why rich people are choosing Super SUV’s today for cross country hauls with their increased space and practicality.
But the McLaren GT does tick a lot of boxes. It’s seriously fast, comfortable, relatively quiet at speed and practical enough. The handling prowess will put some supercars to shame and even out on track it excels with thrills thanks to its rear wheel rear engine combination. We just wish McLaren had done more to distinguish the GT from the rest of the range. It’s a great car, but it could have been a bit more special.
McLaren fits the GT with a twin-turbocharged 4.0-liter V-8 that generates 612 horsepower and 630 Nm of torque. It's paired with a seven-speed automatic transmission that sends power to the rear wheels. As you'd expect from a vehicle wearing the McLaren nameplate, ferocious acceleration is one of the GT's many performance strengths.
The company claims a 0-100km/h in 3.2 secs with launch control and features that work to optimize acceleration from a standing start. We didn’t manage to test it officially but every launch was relentless, pinning me back into the memory-foamed seats. The soundtrack is more muted than I’d have liked, but that’s probably in keeping with the GT vibe.
But where the McLaren GT shines is in in the way it turns and rides like a mid-engined supercar should. It’s agile, turns flat through corners, doesn't incline to understeer, gets its power down zealously, and the car feels like its hugging the road on all fours balancing beautifully. McLaren also seems to have paid plenty of attention to things like tyre noise, which is impressively low, and the car's ride quality featuring a clever adaptive damping system that is comfortable enough to make it a pleasant choice for every-day driving in Dubai maybe not in amchi-Mumbai.
The engine when left in auto will endlessly upshift seamlessly, allowing you to notice other towering cars over the glass roof available with an electro chromatic feature that allows it to switch from opaque to varying levels of transparency at the touch of a button. Take control of the gearbox in manual mode, and things are dialled up. This is when the GT comes alive. On sweeping A-road sections on the desert outskirts, it’s engaging and addictive to drive. And each click of the metal shifter levers firing home another ratio, your experience keeps getting more dramatic! It’s just a shame that the brakes are lacking in feel, with the top end of travel feeling particularly numb.
Unfortunately, extra unusable seats and some luxury features such as massaging and ventilated front seats - commonly offered by other picks in this class—aren't available on this McLaren. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto aren’t supported, which is simply unforgivable in a car of this price.
For starters, the GT is a low-slung two-seater carbon tub with a twin-turbocharged mid-mounted V8 that manages to offer increased ground clearance of 110 mm & upto 130 mm with lift function. It also boasts of 570 litres of luggage space (150 in the front, 420 above the rear engine) that’s more than some SUV’s boast of, but it’s primarily flat luggage space over the engine bay for stuff like golf clubs, a pair of skis, a guitar or pizzas. And this is what helps the GT achieve is its low, sleek, flying missile styling that a mid-engined car desires.
McLaren has also stuck to its dramatic wing doors, which I personally love and getting into the slightly raised seat maybe an awkward drop for some. Inside, there’s no mistaking it’s a McLaren - you’re sat in a snug cabin barely above the ground. Initially it may seem the only luxury upgrade from 720S to GT is additional leather. But there is memory foam in the seats to make them more comfortable, multi-direction power adjustment and a powered steering column too. The switchgear is a mix of plastic and metal, and everything feels expensive and is unique to McLaren. The overall design ethos is functional although the steering wheel design left a lot to be desired.
At 4,683mm long, the GT is the longest road-going McLaren to date. For context, that’s 150mm longer than the McLaren 570GT. It’s worth noting a few other dimensions. For example, the GT’s height extends to 1,977mm with the butterfly doors open making it taller than a Range Rover! That is something you’ll want to bear in mind when you’re in a multi-storey car park. With the doors open, the GT is also 3,286mm wide, so parking between two cars and exiting is tricky business and a flexible body will surely make things easier.
Engine- 4.0L V8
Power-612 bhp
Torque- 630 Nm
Transmission- 7spd auto
Price- ₹ 3.72 Crore ex-showroom
