McLaren's hybrid supercar has been re-engineered to perfection. The result is an eye-wateringly quick spaceship that is endlessly entertaining and easy to drive.
There are many ways to start a review of a McLaren, but the thing that really stuck with me the most is that, after driving it around for four full days, I only got called a wanker once. Which, when you consider it was a brat green (officially: ‘Mantis Green’) Artura Spider that looks like a spaceship, is not bad going.
I’ve never driven a McLaren before. I imagine a lot of people haven’t driven a McLaren before. What I know now is that a lot of people want to. It’s very annoying to find your car covered in bird poop when you go to drive it in the morning. It’s even more annoying to find your McLaren covered in random people taking photographs. Thankfully, because I am nice, I indulge them. ‘Yes, you can sit in it and pretend it’s yours. No, you can’t drive it’.
I’d always wanted to drive a McLaren. The first video game I ever played as a child was called Need For Speed II, where you raced sports cars against other sports cars and the fastest car won. The fastest car in the game was the McLaren F1 and that was because it was the fastest car in the world. Conceived by Gordon Murray and encouraged by Ron Dennis, the F1 reached a top speed of 240mph in 1992; a record which stood for 18 years until it was beaten by the Bugatti Veyron. F1s of various types are still on display at the McLaren Technology Centre near Woking and their engine bays are still lined with gold. It was, to a young eight-year-old in New York City (and probably to many others), the best and the coolest car in the world.
Big vents at the front and on the side do the hard work of keeping the engine cool. And also the car looking cool. All the heavy things (people + engine) are perfectly centred. Credit: Patrick Gosling
It was from the MTC that I picked up the Artura Spider and began my British supercar odyssey. Originally released in 2020, the Artura was widely considered to be good, but not quite right. This ‘updated’ 2024 version is very very good, and very very right. In fact, calling it updated doesn’t seem fair, as pretty much everything on the car is brand new. If, at first, you don’t succeed, try again.
First things first, the engine. The Artura is powered by a turbocharged V6, which spits out a more-than-adequate 605 horsepower and sits squarely in the centre of the car. The electric motor adds a further 95hp, and offers up to 21 miles of range. Combined, about 700hp. This is what engineers would describe as ‘plenty’.
The car itself is made principally of carbon fibre, so when everything is combined, the total weight is a fraction over 1,500kg. The fine people at McLaren have scrimped every gram they can, making the Artura Spider the lightest convertible supercar in its class, which is pleasing to see in an age where batteries are making everything heavier. Mix all these ingredients together, and you get a very fast supercar from the Home Counties.
The roof can fold or unfold in about 13 seconds, and while moving at speeds of up to 30mph. It is one of the few convertibles that looks as good with the roof up as it does when it’s down. Credit: Patrick Gosling
So what happens when you turn it on? Not much really. Certainly no noise, which is not the usual deal when you spend upwards of £200,000 on a car with 700hp. But that’s because by default, the car starts up with just the battery, allowing you to slither out of the driveway or from underneath roaming influencers extremely stealthily. It’s a thoughtful touch and one that I really enjoyed — there’s no way people aren’t going to notice you’re in a McLaren, but you don’t have to make a big old noise about it.
But when you do want to make a big old noise about it, you most certainly can. Flicking one of the toggles above the dashboard into sport mode will light up the V6, and that’s when the fun begins. Because everything in this car is about having as much fun as possible.
The engine, when you run up and down the gears and the revs, shrieks and spits, and the power comes down almost instantaneously, with the electric motor filling in any gaps where the turbo might be taking its time to catch up. It’s wonderfully precise and smooth, seemingly able to pick up the slack at a moment’s notice and put you where you want to be.
The precision doesn’t stop there, because where the Artura Spider really shines is its handling. The car feels astonishingly light and well balanced, and seems to turn from its centre, allowing you to ‘point and shoot’ at corners. The steering feels almost psychic, as if the car knows where you want to go before you’ve even turned the wheel. Zooming through the A-roads of Surrey, the Artura felt like it was on rails, mercilessly picking off apex after apex as I hustled through the Home Counties.
The interiors. Note the lack of buttons on the wheel, and the generally uncluttered outlook. The little screen on the right will handle all the modern comforts you might need. Credit: Stan Papior
Not only is it fun to drive, it is easy to drive. In fact, the vehicle as a whole is very easy to live with, which is not what you would usually expect with a supercar. They should be prima donnas, refusing to turn on if it’s a bit too cold. They should frighten you, like tossing a saddle on the back of an untrained racing stallion. But instead, it’s the opposite. You know that power and performance is there when you need it, but the rest of the time, it’s just a normal car that’s perfectly simple to drive.
Living, as I do, in London, I was worried how it would cope with city life, speed bumps and all. I need not have. Even with the roof up, it’s easy enough to see out of, and the front boot is spacious enough for a trip to the big Tesco for groceries. The nose lifts up so you don’t have to worry about scraping the floor on the disastrous tarmac of our capital city, and the electric engine means you’re not contributing fumes to the already rancid air. And, as mentioned, the steering is so light and precise that you can nip around, do your weekly errands, go see your friends, and feel like you’ve been driving an electric Corsa the entire time.
The interiors are comfy too. The carbon fibre seats hold you in place, but are padded in all the right places, making a journey of two-hours from Woking to London perfectly pleasant, considering an hour of it was in traffic. McLaren also wins top marks from me with their mission to ‘declutter’ the driving experience. The wheel is intentionally left buttonless so that you can focus on the road, with various aspects of engine and suspension performance handled by what I called the ‘fun switches’ which sit above the dashboard. It all takes a bit of getting used to, considering we are all fed on a diet of having absolutely everything at our fingers, but once you figure it all out, it works surprisingly well.
Close up of one of the ‘fun buttons’. This one, to the right of the steering wheel, is in charge of the engine modes. Credit: Stan Papior
Everything else you could want in the interior of a car is present, from air conditioning, to sat nav, to bluetooth phone connections and so on. It’s all functional and minimal. There if you need it, but, in reality, you’ll be having too much fun driving around. A note, too, for the retractable roof, which features a fancy glass panel that you can change the tint of at a touch of a button. Not the most necessary thing in the world, but fun nonetheless.
Not necessary, but extremely fun is a good way to describe the Artura Spider. Perhaps what I was most surprised about was the extremely positive reception I received everywhere I went. It’s not unreasonable to expect to be called a variety of nasty names while driving a green spaceship-cum-shark around central London. But so many people, from bus drivers, to cyclists to a lad collecting a pizza in the middle of the road, had nothing but nice things to say. Kids flocked to it while it was parked, taking turns to sit in the front seat and pretend to drive it. If I had been smarter, I could have made a decent bit of money offering people photo opportunities. But when you’re lucky enough to drive a McLaren, you should share that experience as much as possible, I think.
It can be dangerous to meet your heroes. Without the F1, I may never have bothered learning to like cars. Would the Artura Spider live up to my expectations of automotive excellence? I am lucky enough to say yes, it absolutely did. It made me feel like a kid again, excited to turn the engine on and go anywhere. And that magic wasn’t just for me, it was for everyone else who saw it, said nice things, sat in it, and wanted a picture. Part combustion engine, part battery, part magic. A difficult combination not to love.
On the road: McLaren Artura Spider
- Price: £221,500
- Power: 700PS or 691BHP
- 0-60mph: 3 sec
- Top speed: 205mph
- Verdict: ‘A bit ridiculous, but extremely good fun to drive, wherever and whenever. Surprisingly functional and seemingly adored’
James Fisher is the deputy digital editor of countrylife.co.uk. He lives in London
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