The Kinetic Marvel

Back in the day, the business of building supercars was exclusive to the Italians, Germans, British and Japanese; cars like the Ferrari F40, Jaguar XJ 220 and Bugatti EB 110GT populated the segment with the mighty McLaren F1 leading the way. Now, a new breed of supercars has risen from all corners of the globe; Russia have Marussia, the Swedes have Koenigsegg and even Lebanon have the W motors. The traditional manufacturers have had to pick themselves up and put their creativity and engineering to use again, to keep themselves in the run.

The manufacturer in question today is McLaren, a company founded by a young New Zealand-born entrepreneur, who was also an engineer and racer. His premature death in 1988 caused a setback to his dream of building some of the world’s fastest road cars — though this was revived with the Gordon Murray-designed 1992 Mclaren F1.

Their focus has since turned back to Formula 1 racing. In between, they did collaborate with Mercedes to build the SLR. But as a true-blue sports car manufacturer, they came alive in 2011 with the launch of the MP4-12C, later named 12C. We never had the opportunity to get behind the wheel of one, but rumour has it that even the 458 Italia was feeling out of breath in its company. Today, we drive a rendition of the 12C, which, according to McLaren, is not one to replace it but to fill a void between itself and the spectacular new P1 hypercar. Our test drive began early afternoon and, right from the get-go, we knew this was going to be a decent day out.

Design & Aesthetics

Although the company says otherwise, we think this 650S is the possible replacement for the MP4-12C, well, at least 25 per cent of it — meaning that a quarter of the car is all-new. The dimensions are typically super car — short, wide and low-slung. It’s roughly the size of the 911 with a length of 4,512 mm, the haunches measuring at 2,093 mm and a height of 1,199mm.

The man responsible for the lovely lines of the 650S is Frank Stephenson, who is also the man behind the new MINI, BMW X5, Maserati MC12 and the Ferrari F430. His late entry into McLaren meant that he couldn’t do much with the MP4-12C, except for the slatted rear end, which is retained in the 650S.

Being the exotic variety of roadrunners, the 650S, like every other car manufactured by McLaren, is based on a Monocell carbon-fibre chassis that is 75 kg lighter than a metal chassis, used by nearly all rivals. It is more durable and more accurate dimensionally and you’d have to trust their production skills. After all, it was McLaren who, in 1981, introduced the carbon monocoque to Formula 1 with the MP4/1.

It has borrowed the lights from the P1 hypercar, with a crescent of LED day time running lamps cradling all LED headlamps, bracketing the customised hexagonal grille that flanks the lower bumper and reflecting the McLaren “speed marque” logo.

Thankfully, the 650S’ frontal doesn’t look like a Ferrari, neither does it look like a Lamborghini or a Porsche. It’s got its own character, which may not be recognisable, but is certainly intriguing. Leaning in and looking at the badge won’t help either. You’d have to read the letters on the back.

Like other supercars, it has a low beltline, which follows the curvature of the wheels front and back, and for both aesthetic and mechanical purposes, the car has large side intakes with an R8-like blade for props that you can have in either palladium grey or carbon-fibre.

The two-piece retractable hard top can be automatically raised or lowered in less than 17 seconds. It’s not as quick as the new Porsche Boxster, but it’s still pretty quick. Also, it can be activated while on the move, up to speeds of 30km/h. It’s not just Lamborghini-driving tycoons who get to be Mr Fancy Pants. The 650S has dihedral doors and, by that, I mean doors that swing upwards. It is the grandest of gestures for the rich and racy. Come over to the rear and you have a full view of the engine bay, with machined alloy engine oil and coolant caps to enhance visuals.

Unlike other supercars, the 650S has a high degree of traction from relatively skinny wheels. The forged alloy rims come in a size of 19” upfront, wearing 235-section rubber, while the rear axle gets 20” wheels with tightly wound 305 mm wide rubber. Their secret may be the ultra-sticky Pirelli P Zero Corsa.

In a nutshell, the 650S has all the exotic and flabbergasting looks you’d expect from a supercar and that is not even the best part.

The interiors are relatively sober but have a clean layout with an attention to detail and ergonomics. There is a lovely arrangement of high-rise door arm rests with the climate controls on them to go along with the high-rise centre console. We love the turbine-like vanes on the air vents and the single circular vent in the centre as opposed to the two or three vents in most cars.

All the buttons are within reach and well laid out. IRIS, McLaren’s Android-based multimedia screen has a portrait orientation, not landscape. This vertical placement does save some space but it is something you need to get habituated to. The cabin is upholstered in carbon black alcantara, as seen on the doors, dash and headlining. 
Embellishing comes in the form of contrast stitching.

The steering wheel is beautifully small-diameter with none of those buttons and knobs to distract you from the purpose of driving. The visibility offered from the driver’s seat is astounding, and makes sure you hit the apex of the curves every time, or at least see it.

The heated glass rear window operates independent of the roof. With the roof down, the rear window acts as a wind deflector, reducing cabin buffeting. Roof up, the rear screen can be lowered to allow more engine noise to enter and resonate within the cabin. Many may find it loud and harsh but to the auto-enthusiast, it is music to the ears.

As for seating, you don’t get three seats with the driver sitting in the middle as you did in the McLaren F1, but you do get two fixed-back carbon racing seats that save 15 kg, which are borrowed from the McLaren P1.

Besides the regular colours available with the 12C, four new hues namely Storm Grey, Aurora Blue, Mantis Green and Tarasco Orange are available. Our advice is to go as stark with your colour options, especially if you want to beat a red Ferrari — the epitome of the racing car.

British cars are known to face some quality issues. Our only niggle was with the fuel filler which kept popping up over the period of the drive. Besides that, the materials and fixtures resonated quality all around.

Powertrain & Performance

We are in an age when micro-engines like McLaren’s own mid-engine M838T powertrain are making massive horsepower and torque that would almost seem unnatural to anyone from the 70s, 80s or even 90s. This one has a tiny but potent twin-turbo 3.8 L in a V8 configuration. Horsepower maxes out at 641 bhp at 7,250 rpm and as for torque, you have 678 Nm of it at 6,000 rpm. Besides potency, this engine also loves to scream its way to a racecar like 8,500 rpm redline. Also, if you wish to explore the aural capability of the 650S, put it in ‘Sport’ and the lovely throaty exhaust boom will be accompanied by exhaust flares on upshifts.

Hooked to the motor is a 7-speed dual-clutch transmission — mind, you this is the quickest most responsive gearbox we have tested — that simply upshifts or downshifts on demand. The kind of thrust this engine throws at you is beyond comprehension and, unlike the economy of today, supply is always above demand. The sprint from 0 to 100 km/h takes only 3.0 seconds, with 161 km/h reached in a brisk 5.8 seconds — equalling the mighty Aventador and beating the Porsche 911 Turbo and Ferrari 458 (on paper at least). The magical quarter mile can be clocked in 10.6 seconds at 222 km/h. Ladies and gentlemen, we have a 10-second car, as Dom, from the Need For Speed series, would say!

The acceleration is both frightening and exhilirating at the same time and is best experienced from the driver’s seat — such is its ferocity.

Whether you want it or not, the car comes standard with carbon ceramic brake rotors that are, off the diameter, 394 mm upfront and 380 mm at the rear. McLaren have worked very hard on the brake pedal feel and I must admit it was pretty perfect. Very often we caught ourselves going a little too fast for neighbourhood traffic and on hitting the brakes, it would stop any trauma-inducing drama. Getting yourself from 100 to 0 km/h takes no more than 101 feet. Part of that stopping power comes from the airbrake that pops up when the urgency is sensed.

Another gripe: this thing has a turning circle radius of 12.3 m; that’s how much a mini truck would take. So drive into basement parking with caution. However, good news is it only takes 2.66 turns lock-to-lock, so that ups the agility by a bit.

The 42:58 weight distribution is far from the ideal 50:50 but it seems to work well for the 650S. The 650S sticks to the tarmac, but in an organic way, communicating with the driver, regardless of the speed. Sheer mechanical traction combined with electronic trickery, such as an F1-derived brake steer system that works a bit like a torque vectoring system, makes this car one of the fastest ways to get around a corner.

You have a definitive differentiation between normal Sport, Normal and Race modes. The Sport obviously takes the car to a visceral level, with more throat from the exhausts, more hunkered-down suspension setup and, of course, extreme savagery in terms of acceleration.

What size shall the fuel tank be, is the question that puzzles every supercar engineer. A larger tank will affect its performance by means of adding weight, whilst a smaller one will give it a diminished range. In the case of the 650S, however, the tank has been 
decently sized at 72 L. As for the mileage claims, you burn fuel at 11.7 L/100km, putting it in the company of the 5.0 L Mustang GTs — that’s good enough for us. Even the 275 g/km of C02 it emits is not as devastating as you’d expect a supercar to treat the environment. Such is the technology these days and the concern for the environment and that’s how it should be.

Features & Functionality

The basic Meridian speakers come with 4-speaker output that can be upgraded to a 7-speaker 7-channels unit for improved clarity and resonance. It’s quite tempered for all tastes but let’s hear it for the exhaust notes.

The air-conditioner has good throw and blankets you well enough from the sun’s rays. Both climate control and audio settings change with the roof down. With the roof lowered, airflow is redirected to the lower cabin vents and fan speed increases; the volume goes up.

The McLaren 650S is decently hi-tech too, equipped with IRIS satellite navigation and Bluetooth telephony, wireless tethering, audio streaming and voice activated control as standard functions.

Safety concerns are answered in the form of six airbags, EBD, ABS TCS and the sheer retail price instills in you a conscience to avoid collision… else, you’d be shelling out more money than you think! The car is also equipped with a rear camera, but the vertical placement not only gives a very obscure view of the back, in low light conditions — especially at night — the screen gets washed out.

Apparently, McLaren allows owners to avail free power and feature upgrades for the future. Now that’s what I call customer service — and it’s definitely not the kind you see in this part of the world.

Verdict

The symptoms of driving a supercar are shortness of breath, nausea and maybe even vertigo — and that is exactly what the 2014 McLaren 650S delivers. It is a brilliant piece of kit that ensures relentless thrust, unparalleled road holding dynamics and a liveable ride quality that could potentially make it your everyday driver. Only problem is, it’s up against the proven 458 Italia and those faithful to the prancing horse will remain so. But for everybody else, it’s a Pandora’s box of goodness and surprises.