► McLaren 720S Spider revealed
► Full world debut on 8 December
► Fastest roof in class, special tints too
Thought the 720S Spider wasn’t striking enough? McLaren has you covered with this MSO – that’s McLaren Special Operations – 720S special, which features a unique paint job designed to showcase the car’s aerodynamic prowess.
The accents feature along key aerodynamic surfaces of the Spider such as the front splitter, hood air intakes and side panels. And because they’re composed of a tri-blend of colours; Cerulean Blue, Burton Blue and Abyss Black, they give the impression of graduated pressure and resistance. It’s the sort of effect you’d usually associate with a CFD or windtunnel model.
In this case, they’re applied to a base colour of Meteorite Grey. McLaren is calling this style and application ‘Coriolis’ so now you know what to tick on the spec sheet.
As you’d expect of an MSO special, the whole process was very labour intensive, with McLaren saying it took 260 hours to achieve. Inside, the car features the same mix and matching of blue and black.
‘Aerodynamic innovation is such an integral part of the 720S Spider that using this new paint design to highlight areas that work hard to manage how air flows over the car – literally how the car ‘breathes’ – was the natural approach to take.’ said Darryl Scriven, MSO’s chief designer. ‘This is a car that truly merges artistry with the science of aerodynamics.’
Expect to pay a significant amount over the £237,000 standard Spider, then…
McLaren 720S Spider: everything else you need to know
It’s the new alfresco addition to the Super Series range of Maccas – this is the £237,000 McLaren 720S Spider, and it’s got some special tricks up its composite sleeves.
The open-top 720S Spider will continue with the same retractable hard-top philosophy as little brother the 570S Spider and earlier 650S Spider (we ran one as a long-termer for half a glorious year in 2016), but this one’s grown some special tricks.
It’s unusually light and the Spider weighs just 49kg more than the 720S coupe (as befits McLaren’s relentless dieting philosophy) and this one packs in some special electrochromatic tints, like on the Mercedes SL – so you can turn the light down on a bright day in coupe mode.
The 720S Spider weighs 1332kg dry – ’88 kilos less than the dry weight of its nearest competitor.’ That’s you, Ferrari 488 Spider.
The carbonfibre roof system is claimed to have the fastest operation in class, going up or down in 11 seconds flat, at speeds of up to 31mph so you can drop the top on the move around town for showing off or dodging a shower. And check out the glazed section in the flying buttresses – contributing to a 12% improvement in over-the-shoulder visibility.
McLaren 720S Spider performance specs
It’s naturally every bit as quick as the existing 720S coupe: 0-62mph takes a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it 2.9sec, while 0-124mph (200kph) is just 7.9sec. That’s what 710 bhp (720ps, hence the name) of twin-turbocharged 4.0-litre V8 mounted amidships does for you. Maximum torque stands at 568lb ft.
Absolute top speed is 212mph (roof up), but it’ll still manage an astonishing 202mph topless.
With the roof raised, McLaren quotes luggage space of 58 litres under the tonneau cover.
World debut with customers
The 720S Spider was unveiled on Saturday 8 December 2018, coinciding with the McLaren’s Annual Winter Ball.
Around 200 of the brand’s closest customers will descend on the headquarters in Woking for an evening’s festive entertainment. Capped off by being the first people in the world to see the new 720S Spider. That’s a pretty neat Christmas present to its nearest and dearest clients.
Browse all our McLaren reviews here