It’s easy to understand why few people would want a supercar, they’re noisy, awkward and use horrendous amounts of fuel. You can’t use them every day either; or can you? Considering the road car division was opened in 1985, McLaren have developed a seriously impressive range of cars. The P1 battles with the world’s best and the F1 is an automotive icon. Under those two unreal machines, come some slightly more ‘ordinary’ cars. The 650s for example, falls into this bracket.
So, can this be driven daily? The answer, surprisingly, is yes. It might have 641BHP, but it can also be driven like a Ford Fiesta when you want to. The twin turbo V8 is happy to relax when pottering around town, but then burst your ear drums with a V8 roar when you see a gap to overtake on a country road. It really is a car for all scenarios; apart from taking the entire family across a continent. The lifting suspension makes easy work of speed bumps and harsh ramps, the infotainment system makes sense and works quickly, and the bonnet can hold far more than you’d expect, even putting some hatchbacks to shame.
‘The 650s may be the best money for value, everyday use supercar that money can buy. Its fuel consumption is better than most supercars, its aesthetically pleasing and performs like the elites of the world.’ Added Euan of East Midlands Car Centre
The whole car is put together perfectly, everything feels solid and everything works as it should. The cast aluminium shift levers behind the steering wheel have a solid feel and are perfectly weighted for hard driving. The steering wheel is bare too, the opposite of Ferrari who cram everything onto the poor wheel, McLaren opt for simplicity, using stalks behind the wheel instead to avoid any accidental button pushes in the middle of an aggressive corner.
The 650s is aging slightly, the technology still feels and looks sublime, but other McLarens are starting to creep up, like the 570s, it sits a level below the 650s in the super series, but is has every desire to compete with its big brother. The 675LT is a more hardcore version of the 650S, the step up however is closer to a P1 than it is to the 650s. It features an extra 25BHP and almost 40% more downforce, this contributes to unreal speed that can only really be experienced on a track, making the 650s the more practical option still and the one you’d be happy to see sat in your garage at night.