New grand tourer highlights luxurious and practical interior, plus easier road manners for daily use.
Its design looks quite refined for a Macca…
Welcome to the new McLaren GT, a grand tourer that is hoped to widen the customer base of the British sports car brand.
And yes, McLaren has deliberately designed the GT in a way to stand out from its other offerings, bar the F1-reviving Speedtail which has provided some source of inspiration to the car’s appearance.
The GT focuses on a luxurious interior for two with a tidy cockpit design and the latest in infotainment tech. As well, there’s usable space behind the seats that can take golf bags, as such.
Likewise, McLaren says the GT has been honed with friendlier road manners especially for use in city-driving. Apart from specially tuned brakes and steering, the ride height can be increased by 20mm.
Because the GT is considerably different in concept to other Maccas currently on sale, it doesn’t belong to any of the three series of McLaren (Sport, Super and Ultimate).
But it surely must still be fast…
You bet. The GT comes with the brand’s latest 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 producing a healthy 620hp and 630Nm. McLaren says 95% of torque is achieved between 3,000-7,250rpm pointing to its usability for real-world driving.
Performance figures include 0-100kph in 3.2sec, 0-200kph in 9.0sec and a top end of 326kph. Transmission is of the familiar seven-speed dual-clutch automatic.
McLaren is keen to point out that the GT is a light car when compared to its intended opposition. With the latest techniques in carbonfibre body construction, the GT tips the scales at a mere 1,530kg.
It shouldn’t be that expensive for a Macca, right?
The GT has a starting price of some 20 million baht if sold in Thailand which isn’t that bad for a McLaren.
With such kind of pricing, the GT is apparently positioned to lure buyers from the Aston Martin DB11 and Bentley Continental GT, both offering a combination of sporty and refined road manners.
In fact, people at McLaren think that the GT should be an attractive choice for car enthusiasts in Asia needing an easy driving experience to cope with conditions that aren’t particularly the same with those in Europe.
