Safety features aren’t the most natural starting point for a review of a supercar. Is the McLaren GTS a supercar? A sportscar? A GT? Who knows where the line is these days? We’ll return to that later. Anyway, safety features have rapidly been implemented across all new cars as part of a regulatory safety drive. Apparently, having the car yank itself towards cyclists because you didn’t indicate to pass them is safer. Having your car suddenly slam on the brakes whilst you’re reversing because of the presence of a kerb is better for everyone. Have you ever dared to do 50mph in a 50mph zone? Well, you deserve to be bonged at, followed by being distracted from the road whilst you dive into sub-menus to turn it off because of course you forgot to turn it off before departing.
It’s also safer, apparently, for second-rate systems to read road signs and adjust your speed accordingly. My own car thinks a nearby high street is a 90mph zone. The McLaren GTS doesn’t have any of this.
The McLaren GTS is a simple case of getting in, turning on and driving off. McLaren has achieved this because the GTS is a continuation product of the McLaren GT. The McLaren GT was built before the slew of mandatory safety gubbins were introduced, so the GTS is afforded the same freedom. For now. If you want your super/sports/GT car to be free from the shackles of regulatory interference, get your order in soon.
As we’ll see, there’s plenty of reason to do just that. The price, practicality and performance all hold much appeal. I felt the McLaren GT was a somewhat misunderstood and underrated car. Would the same hold true for the softly launched McLaren GTS?
Living with the McLaren GTS
Price, practicality and performance, you say? Let’s start with the price, because context is important. Pitched at the sportiest edge of the GT spectrum, you could put the McLaren GTS up against the Ferrari Roma and Aston Martin DB12. At £199,390 as tested, it significantly undercuts both. I didn’t say cheap, but in this stratosphere it’s keenly priced.
Could you compare it to the Aston Martin Vatange or Porsche 992.2 911? It’s cheaper than the Vantage but more than the 911 GTS. The new 992.2 911 Turbo will cost more. Maserati’s GranTurismo is similarly priced, but Bentley’s Continental now starts at £250,000. I’m comparing like-for-like here, so the price comparison is of press demonstrators, which are usually lavished with options from extensive (and expensive) lists.
The drawback is the lack of back seats, but the McLaren GTS features plenty of internal cubbyholes, a generous front boot and a well thought out rear storage compartment. The rear seats in GTs are barely worth mentioning beyond auxiliary storage space anyway. My then seven-year-old son complained of being cramped in the back of a 911 GTS, for example.
You get a very good audio system, a nose lift feature which brings ground clearance inline with a C-Class Mercedes and a well-appointed cabin. This is the one area you really appreciate over the original McLaren GT. It’s a more refined space to occupy.
The only gripe is the infotainment system. Whilst it’s mercifully distraction free, you can’t mirror your phone to it, so you end up using your phone for satnav. You can Bluetooth your audio and that works fine, so it’s only a minor blip in my book. But it is very 2015.
On the whole, it’s a pleasant place to be. I ticked off 649.8 miles very happily, achieving an impressive 28.5mpg.
What’s the McLaren GTS like to drive?
28.5mpg is impressive for what is, essentially, a car with the underpinnings of a supercar. 4ltr twin-turbo V8, 626bhp, 630Nm of torque, 1500Kg: this is still a McLaren and make no mistake. This is very much a good thing, because it offers a very deep well to call upon when you need it, from any speed.
I spent a lot of time on the motorway. To Leeds and back via excursions in Kenilworth, Coventry and Tutbury, the McLaren GTS was an impressive companion. It settles into a cruise impressively and whilst it’s not entirely silent, roadside manner is appreciably softer than in the McLaren 750S. It’s here that you really notice what McLaren has set out to achieve with the GTS. The ride is more forgiving, the interior more luxurious to the touch and it doesn’t strain at the leash. It’s perfectly happy doing 1900rpm at 70mph.
In fact, driving along with Friday evening rush hour traffic, it’s quite possible to entirely forget what you’re driving. It’s only the looks and photos from other cars that remind you. Oh yeah, I’m driving a bright orange McLaren.
It handles difficult conditions well, too. On the way back from Leeds, in the eye of a storm, it just buckled down and got on with things. There was never any sense of twitchiness or uncertainty. It confidently strode home.
The brakes, whilst the pedal is set for left foot braking, are a delight to modulate. As ever, however, the final word goes to the steering. You could make a compelling case for so many cars around this bracket, but no one does steering like McLaren. The elctro-hydraulic setup brims with purpose and feedback, involving you at any speed. It really is this car’s USP, engaging you more than any other.
Conclusion
An interesting question was put to me during my time with the McLaren GTS. Would I have this or the McLaren Artura? If I could afford a five car garage (sadly, I cannot), I’d opt for the Artura and give a spot to a more traditional GT car. If I only had space for two cars, then I would opt for the McLaren GTS. It has remarkable bandwidth and I can see the niche for a supercar-cum-grand tourer.
As asked in the intro, I’m unsure where the lines are between super, sports and GT cars anyway. Given that I’m the one driving these cars and writing these articles, you could reasonably suggest that I should. 0-60mph in 3.1secs feels supercar. The leather linings and fact I could get the weekly shop in feel GT. The lines are increasingly blurred.
I could attack a B-road, click through the seven cogs with accuracy and engagement, make the V8 sing with my right foot and exploit the traction with complete certainty of the feedback through the palms of my hands. Then I could stick the cruise control on at 70 and listen to a podcast, eking out impressive fuel economy. At 1500Kg the GTS is significantly lighter than others; the latest Bentley Continental GT is a full tonne more, for example.
Then there’s the lack of interference. You’re left to just drive the McLaren GTS, fully responsible for its speed and road positioning. There’s a purity to the experience that is disappearing elsewhere, which should be celebrated. Driver, engine, open road; that’s it. Throw in enough room to ferry enough stuff around for a week away and it all starts to make sense. If you appreciate purity, performance and practicality, then the GTS stands out as an underrated proposition among its peers.
