McLaren 570GT Is the Road-Tripper’s Super Sports Car

Perfect for you, your spouse, and your 13.1 cubic feet of luggage.

byWill Sabel Courtney|
McLaren 570GT Is the Road-Tripper’s Super Sports Car
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Remember earlier this week when we were counting McLaren’s blue cars, and we said they’d be revealing a roadster version of the 570S at the Geneva Motor Show? So, um, our bad. Turns out McLaren instead threw us a curveball named the 570GT.

Which is actually a lot more interesting than some regular ol’ McLaren drop-top. The 570GT is one of those rare cars that makes proper use of the gran turismo moniker, best suited to the relaxed-yet-spirited drives that define a true grand tourer. The suspension’s spring rates have been dialed back a bit—15 percent in the back, 10 percent up front—for a more comfortable ride, and the power steering ratio has been reduced (by a whopping 2 percent!) to reduce twitchiness at high speeds. Pirelli created new PZero tires outfitted with the “Pirelli Noise Cancelling System,” which supposedly reduce in-cabin noise by up to three decibels. But if there’s still too much road noise for you, McLaren thoughtfully outfitted the 570GT with the 570S’s optional eight-speaker stereo as standard equipment, or you can sub in a 12-speaker Bowers & Wilkins system for a few dollars more.

But the most obvious change between the 570S and the 570GT is the greenhouse, both in terms of design and practicality. The rear deck has been massaged to accommodate a long, flowing rear window, which gives the car a much more organic look than the 570S. (It’s also a lot more attractive than the 570S in our eyes; your mileage may vary.) That rear window also serves as the access point for the 570GT’s practicality trump card: the “Touring Deck” behind the seats. The hatch opens sideways (always from the passenger’s side, whether the car is left- or right-hand-drive) revealing a leather-covered shelf capable of holding 7.8 cubic feet of Whole Foods bags. Combine that with the front trunk and the 570GT offers a total of 13.1 cubic feet of storage space—a hair more than a Toyota Corolla.

Of course, it’s still a McLaren, which means it’s based on the company’s carbon fiber MonoCell framework, same as the 570S. And the 540C. And the 650S. And the 675LT, P1, and P1 GTR.  It likewise shares the 3.8-liter twin-turbo V8 with the rest of the McLaren lineup, although here it’s tuned to the same 562 horsepower and 443 lb. ft. as found in the 570S. Thanks to that output, the fast-acting seven-speed dual clutch gearbox, and the car’s low mass (McLaren quotes a dry weight of 2,976 pounds), the 570GT can supposedly sprint from 0–60 in 3.4 seconds and crack off the quarter-mile in 11.1 seconds at 132 mph.

The 570GT arrives in showrooms later this year. McLaren has only released pricing for the U.K. but at £154,000, it’s roughly 8 percent more expensive than the 570S. If that gap carries over to the U.S. market the ultimate road-trip Macca should start at exactly $200,000. Maybe $199,995 if they’re feeling kind.

Oh, and McLaren says the 570GT is “the second of three bodystyles [sic]” in the Sport Series lineup, which means we flat-out George Foreman-guarantee that third variant will be a roadster.

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