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jcreator
From the June 2015 issueJust as German carmakers have mastered the art of slicing sausages into different lengths, such that an Audi A6 seems like just a foot-long hot dog to the A4 ballpark frank, McLaren’s staple ingredients are now being spread over a full menu. It ranges from the Big Mac—the million-dollar P1—to this new value-oriented 570S from the, uh, 180,000-dollar menu. With the 570S, McLaren replaces the special sauce in the 650S’s suspension with ketchup, takes a bit of beef out of the powertrain, and serves it in a familiar wrapper as an alternative to the Porsche 911 Turbo S. When it goes on sale at the end of the year, the 570S will join the Acura NSX, the Audi R8, and the BMW i8 in the burgeoning class of sub-Ferrari almost-supercars.
TubTrue to the McLaren recipe, the 570S begins with a carbon-fiber passenger cell sandwiched between aluminum substructures. Now called MonoCell II, the tub features sills slimmer than the wide, tall rails of the 650S and the P1. That should make it easier to enter and exit the car, playing to the 570S’s intended purpose as a daily driver for those who take their Sunday drives in Gulfstream jets.
Calm down, McLaren nerds. This isn't exactly the same tub as the P1 uses. This one's modified for easier entry and exit. To strengthen the reshaped sills, engineers added 11 pounds of carbon fiber to the naked tub, which now weighs 176 pounds. McLaren reports a dry weight of 2895 pounds for the 570S. Curb weight should reach a tidy 3100 pounds by the time the car is properly fueled, cooled, and lubricated. If that number proves accurate, the 570S will weigh in roughly 500 pounds lighter than the four-wheel-drive 911 Turbo S.
PowertrainLike the pricier 650S, the new 570S derives its name from the output of its 3.8-liter V-8 in Pferdestärke, or PS, which is metric horsepower. That’s 562 horses in the units we use. Torque is rated at 443 pound-feet. While the displacement of the twin-turbo engine matches that of the 650S and P1, the hardware changes are substantial enough—though McLaren wasn’t prepared to divulge details—to warrant a new engine code (M838T E). Italy’s Graziano supplies the seven-speed dual-clutch automatic.
McLaren's design language is inspired by the SR-71 Blackbird, a whale shark, and McDonald's golden arches. Since McLaren remains an unwavering advocate for rear-wheel drive, the 570S won’t match the 911 Turbo S’s 2.5-second zero-to-60 time warp. The Brits say their car will rocket to 62 mph in a still-swift 3.2 seconds, but also claim that a best-in-class power-to-weight ratio will give them the edge in any race to triple-digit speeds. Keep your foot in it long enough and the 570S will eventually top 200 mph.
Concurrent with the 570S’s New York auto-show debut, McLaren unveiled in Shanghai the 540C, a less powerful, less aggressive, and less expensive version that could make its way to the United States. Without committing to selling it here, a McLaren rep did say the company would certify the 540C to keep options open. But McLaren must know that the Turbo S outsells the standard 911 Turbo two to one in America. We’re not sure why it’d bother.
Bottom right: The wide-angle camera in the front fascia helps you better see where you're going without looking where you're going. ChassisThe 570S locates its wheels with a pair of control arms at each corner just like its brethren, but McLaren’s signature ProActive Chassis Control is conspicuously absent. That sophisticated and costly tech uses a hydraulic network to give the 650S and the P1 flying-carpet-ride quality and Ginsu-sharp handling. Instead, the 570S has conventional anti-roll bars and adaptive dampers that can be set to normal, sport, or track mode. Forged aluminum wheels measuring 19 inches in front and 20 inches out back roll on Pirelli rubber—either P Zeros or P Zero Corsas—and surround standard carbon-ceramic brake rotors.
DesignThere’s no mistaking the 570S for anything but a McLaren, although you could easily mistake it for a 650S. Depending on how you feel about that, credit or blame a design language that prioritizes function over form. Chief designer Rob Melville says the surfaces “express the way the air moves around the car.” The lower edge of the channel running through the door, for example, mimics the airstream that comes off the rear edge of the front tire. The shoulders of the doors feature floating “tendons,” behind which the door releases lurk. Those of-the-moment flying buttresses funnel air around the greenhouse and over the vented decklid to extract hot air from the engine bay, increasing downforce by a claimed 22 pounds. As yet, the factory won’t supply a total downforce figure.
Because a radio doesn't make a car any faster, the 570S includes just four speakers as standard equipment. Eight- and twelve- speaker systems are optional. While the P1 has an all-carbon skin and the 650S wears a mix of composite and aluminum, the 570S is wrapped entirely in aluminum in standard trim. The car on these pages represents a higher spec, with the roof, decklid, rockers, and front and rear fascias rendered in optional carbon fiber.
Whether in aluminum or carbon fiber, the 570S packs the same lightweight, mid-engined, rear-wheel-drive flavor that has allowed the Formula 1 experts at McLaren to insinuate themselves into Ferrari’s business in a short time. Watch out, Porsche, you may be next.
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