McLaren takes off 720S’ top

JUST in time for summer in the Southern Hemisphere, McLaren Automotive has seemingly taken the top off its 720S supercar, creating a Spider version that will inevitably combine serious pace with unfiltered sunshine.

 

By releasing a teaser image and video with the tagline ‘see some more’, the British brand has more or less let the cat out of the bag by showing glimpses of the Spider’s removable roof panel and frameless side windows.

 

When the 720S coupe’s dihedral doors are opened, attached sections of the hard top and A-pillars are raised alongside them, but this is not the case with its Spider sibling.

 

While no details have been confirmed at this stage, it is expected that the Spider will have the same running gear as the coupe.

 

As such, performance enthusiasts are in luck, as a 4.0-litre twin-turbocharged V8 petrol engine is likely to located behind the cabin.

 

In the coupe, this unit pumps out 530kW of power and 700Nm of torque, and the Spider should be no different.

 

A seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission is also on the cards, with drive exclusively sent to the rear wheels.

 

Even though the 720S is expected to gain some weight in its transition from coupe to Spider, it should not be too much heavier due to the model’s high-strength, lightweight carbon-fibre Monocage II construction.

 

This combination should see the Spider mix it with the coupe in the performance stakes, with the latter sprinting from standstill to 100km/h in 2.9 seconds while on the way to 200km/h in 7.8s and a top speed of 341km/h.

 

For reference, the 720S coupe is priced from $515,080 before on-road costs, having been launched Down Under in June last year.

 

Given the $40,000 to $50,000 premium that McLaren Asia Pacific’s Spider models command over their coupe counterparts, the open-top 720S could nudge $570,000 in Australia.

 

Set for reveal at 7.10am on Sunday, December 9 (AEST), the 720S Spider will be the second model released under McLaren Automotive’s Track25 business plan, following the Speedtail hypercar outed late last month.

 

Sales of McLaren models – 540C, 570S, 570GT, 650S, 720S and Senna – have taken a hit in Australia this year, with 76 examples sold to the end of October – an 11.6 per cent decrease over the 86 deliveries made during the same period in 2016.

 

Nonetheless, the McLaren line-up has improved its standing in the $200,000-plus sportscar segment, now placing sixth behind Porsche’s 911 (470 units), Ferrari’s range (197) and Mercedes-AMG’s GT (154), plus Aston Martin’s (121) and Lamborghini’s (102) coupe and convertible models.

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