McLaren 570S: Don’t Call It Baby McLaren!
MCLAREN 570S
DON’T CALL ME BABY MCLAREN !
Words by Alessandro Marrone
Photos by Giorgia Rossi
The world of supercars is a closed circle, a club in which you enter more or less on tiptoe and where you have to eat bread and humility for some time before feeling at ease beside giants who have written the history of motoring. Myths like Ferrari or Porsche are what they represent for having proven to be able to build sensational sports cars and winning race cars. They have created an aura of success and prestige around a brand that is well over a cars manufacturer, but a signature that allows you to buy the most exciting passport to the world of dreams. However you need a proper bank account, despite on the second hand market you can find some good opportunity at not necessarily impossible figure; for having the latest model and configure it according to your needs and your taste, you have to put in mind to sign a really big check. And then there is the exclusivity, that aspect which makes a supercar even more special and this can be represented by the performance of a 488 GTB, or by the ability to devour a road or a track with a GT3 RS, not to mention the dihedral opening doors, like a McLaren. Yes, McLaren, because for the past few years, established the fact that the F1 model has been a sort of Holy Grail for just a few lucky individuals, the company residing in Woking is not only engaged in the F1 championship, but offers a full range of supercars. Starting from the top, we find the P1, the hybrid hypercar which joins the ubiquitous rivals LaFerrari and 918 Spyder. The 675 LT which could be described as the hardcore version of the 650S, the two models that make up the so-called Super Series, while at the “bottom” of the price list we find the new Sport Series, namely the 540C, the 570GT and the 570S. And then McLaren, called cold and detached when a handful of years ago first introduced the MP4-12C, seems to be our Cupid bringing supercars in a “more human” league than before, where the step of the 200k is apparently not exceeded (at least before you start checking your own configuration). We took part at the track event organized by the guys at “The Lakes GT” taking the opportunity to jump at the wheel of the more performance-focused of the three Sport Series and this is the story of those few but intense laps.
PRELUDE
It is a morning of early November (the first day of the month, to be exact) and the Tazio Nuvolari circuit in Cervesina has recently embraced some shy sun rays. The cars taking part at the event with The Lakes GT are still silently dormant in the pits and in the paddock area – all is quiet, except for that adrenaline thrill that is ready to be unleashed and that has already chosen the model on which I’ll do a series of laps on the track. The 570S is my chosen and for obvious reasons: more powerful than the 540C and more rigid than the 570GT. But do not call it baby McLaren, ‘cause it has nothing to envy to the “classic” supercars that crowd the track today. The 570S is still built around a carbon fiber tub, it has aluminum panels, carbon-ceramic brakes and a 3.8 twin-turbo V8 very similar to the bigger sister 650S. What changes, at least on paper, is the fact that it should be more docile, easier to drive, especially in everyday life, and friendlier once approaching the limit. Aesthetically they are very similar to each other as different and easily distinguishable, especially when looking at the back, where the taillights recalls the eyes of a woman and in fact it seems they’re watching you also calling for your name as the song of a siren. Details are endless and you can’t help but step through each centimeter of its surface, looking for your favorite spot.
THE TEST
Finally it’s time for lunch break and while the entire troop enter the pits and switch off the engines, it is time for my test. Dry and rubberized asphalt, a 570 horses supercar that want to be used like a random sports car and the track all for myself. I open the door that keeps the dihedral system (just like its bigger sisters – take note Lamborghini!) and I notice that it is easier to sit in the cockpit thanks to a smaller sill. The dashboard is much reminiscent of other models of the brand, except for the central tunnel with a virtually suspended infotainment display and the classic buttons that allow you to select the preferred driving mode and adjust to your liking the dynamism of the Brit coupe. Starting the engine and the V8 awakens slowly as I leave the pit lane, one look right to control to be truly alone on track and I cruise a couple of laps in order to refurbish the lines and the braking points inside my mind. The desire to unleash its 570 horsepower is too much and so I decide to bring things to the next level – I have little time available and I have to gain speed as if there were no tomorrow.
The ceramic brakes seem tireless and after a whole morning of test, they still have the strength to stop the car from 260 kph as I enter the first corner after the start-finish straight. Traction control switched off, and at every turn I slide the back slightly, just to understand the dynamism of the “baby McLaren”. I hold the lower gears, I floor the throttle and it shoots me toward the next corner – an S, another corner, jump over a curb and it has absolutely no intention to lose the perfect balance. It keeps going like a frantic and thunders comes from the two tailpipes as the intensity increases with the increasing of speed. 3500, 4000, 4500, 5000 – your head thinks it’s time to shift gear, but there still a bit of road ahead; 5500, 6000, 6500, holding down as the corner is getting closer, the road becomes smaller and the world seems impossibly light. Too light. 7000, 7500, click on the paddle and the shotguns back there spit air out, as we start all over again – but I have to be hard on the brakes now, entering the bend and being a bit too fast for having the correct line I need to push on the gas in order to point the nose toward the inside, behind the tires lose grip also helped by a bit of gravel on the edge of the track, counter steering with one hand and it is straight in a while, ready to tear a liberating smile on my face, making me feel almost a good driver.
THE VERDICT
And so I ended the laps at my disposal, time to come back to the pits, I turn off the engine and go down, putting my helmet on the ground, next to the GoPros. The very kind guys at McLaren Lugano (which have offered today’s cars) ask me first impressions and I can’t but smile and show a thumb up. Happy as a child on Christmas morning, I begin to regroup my ideas and I realize that although McLaren has made the 570S an “accessible” supercar, the € 190,000 are otherwise inaccessible to me. It’s the best baby supercar around there is no doubt, it’s better than far more expensive supercars too, but the best aspect of the 570S is definitely the ease with which it lets you get close to the limit and then letting you want to push it a little further. The exclusivity of its materials and components that do not share with any low-end models of its own brand, because here the low end just does not exist. Not perfect but close, I only criticize a slight lag of the turbos, and a bit of understeer on corners entry. None of this ruined the party, however, and indeed, think that maybe in a few time and with an estimated production of about 4,000 units for the first years, it could land on a truly accessible territory for mere mortals like us, sounds good right?!
Auto Class Magazine would like to thank The Lakes GT for organizing the wonderful event we have been invited to, McLaren Lugano for having let us test drive the car in exclusive and the Tazio Nuvolari circuit of Cervesina (PV).
Check the video CLICKING HERE
MCLAREN 570S (2016-)
Layout – rear-mid engine, rear wheel drive
Engine – V8 cylinder 3799cc – turbo
Transmission – 7-speed automatic gearbox
Power – 570 hp @ 7400 rpm
601 Nm @ 5000-6500 rpm
Weight – 1313 kg
Acceleration – 3,2 sec.
Top Speed – 328 kph
Price – from € 190.000