After a lot of hype about McLaren’s own version of a Grand Tourer, a new offering from the brand more concerned with covering distances in comfort rather than setting a super-competent lap time, the new McLaren GT was unveiled to spectators at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. The newest offering from Woking made its ‘dynamic debut’ going up the famous climb giving showgoers the first opportunity to see the McLaren GT in motion. The McLaren GT completed four further hill runs throughout the afternoon with Le Mans class-winner Jonny Kane and GT racer Ollie Millroy taking over driving duties.
The McLaren GT is joined by the 720S Spider, 600LT Spider, P1TM, Senna and the new Senna GTR for the Supercar hill climb runs at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. Visitors to McLaren House can also see the GT on display along with the Speedtail Hyper-GT, the 720S Spider, 600LT Spider, LEGO McLaren Senna, the 1998 Goodwood Hill record-holding MP4/13 and Niki Lauda’s 1984 F1 World Championship-winning MP4/2.
While staying true to the company’s design language, the new Grand Tourer still has a unique silhouette and is longer than any of the vehicles in the automaker’s portfolio. The brand’s modern interpretation of the classic Grand Tourer, which is mid-engined as opposed to Grand tourers from the competition, such as Aston Martin (DB11) or Bentley (Continental GT), all of which are front-engined was revealed online on May 15. Superlight, yet supremely comfortable, it is powered by a 611bhp 4-litre twin-turbo V8 engine that can accelerate it from 0-100km/h in 3.2 seconds and on to 326km/h. But that’s not all, as true to its ‘tourer’ moniker, it can also carry up to 570 litres of luggage – enough for a weekend trip for two.
The McLaren GT also performs on the inside with luxurious trim options including Nappa leather, soft grain leather or Alcantara, and Mclaren has designed the seats with an emphasis on long-distance comfort. The luggage bay can also be trimmed with SuperFabric, developed by Higher Dimension Materials, USA, to be resistant to stains, cuts, nicks and abrasions, as well as being breathable, easy to clean and quick to dry.
The interior also features hidden-until-lit ambient lighting and the option of an electrochromic glazed panel to enhance the ambience in the cabin, which is also trimmed with machined and knurled aluminium switches and controls.
The infotainment system developed for the new GT is the company’s most sophisticated to date, featuring industry-standard HERE® navigation and real-time traffic information and it can also be linked to an optional 12-speaker Bowers and Wilkins premium audio system. The McLaren GT is priced from £163,000 (or Rs 1.41 crore in the UK, excluding Indian taxes and duties).