This is expected to be another star at Geneva.
“The 650S is officially an additional model in McLaren’s growing portfolio and the 12C, which launched the brand’s bid to compete with Ferrari, Lamborghini, and Porsche at the top of the supercar league, continues to be available. The 650S is more powerful and more expensive, but given the average 12C buyer’s expenditures on extras and personalization, the price hike isn’t likely to be a disincentive. Now those shoppers surely will go for the new model.
Supercar buyers are a fickle lot, easily tempted by the latest and greatest. While the 12C, originally called the MP4-12C, matched the Ferrari 458 in everything other than heritage and the sheer look-at-me factor—and beat it in a comparo—newcomers like the 458 Speciale and Lamborghini Huracán threaten to put it in the shade. The 650S puts its main message—650 PS, which is actually 641 horsepower—right in the name to advertise that it outguns the opposition. For now, at least.
Talking to McLaren’s forthright and enthusiastic engineering team, it becomes clear that the 650S is much more than a 12C with more grunt. It is, as one put it, “the car we would like to have built in the first place.” A brand-new car company, even with the obsessive standards of McLaren, is bound to make some mistakes. Early 12Cs had niggles with navigation and audio systems, among others. It soon became clear that its plain, uncluttered interior disappointed gadget-freaks and a moneyed customer base who expected something more visually exciting.
When the 12C Spider was launched in 2012, it incorporated a series of modifications encouraged by customer comments and service experience. McLaren then took the unusual step of retrofitting these changes, as well as the software upgrade providing another 25 horsepower, to earlier coupes.
In the meantime, McLaren introduced the P1 hybrid hypercar, all 375 examples of which have been sold. At the time of its introduction, design director Frank Stephenson said that the P1’s dramatically functional shape, rather than the bland styling of the 12C, showed McLaren’s future design direction.
The 12C’s style was fixed when Stephenson, an American and a graduate of the Art Center School of Design, joined McLaren, and he has been waiting for new products to apply his vision for a more technical look befitting road cars from a company that also fields a leading Formula 1 team. He won’t thank us for suggesting that the 650S is a 12C with a face lift, but that’s what it is. The new front end features the distinctive arcs of LED headlamps in the shape of the McLaren logo and enlarged air intakes—a purposeful familial nod to the P1—while the engine air ducts on the car’s flanks are altered and called out with a contrasting carbon-fiber panel. Big aerodynamic improvements are claimed, too, as the Woking-based operation says the reshaped body provides a 40 percent increase in downforce at 150 mph.
Underneath, the basic specification, size, and weight, is as the 12C but even the carbon-fiber MonoCell backbone has been tweaked (saving seven pounds from the original 176-pound chassis tub). Head of product development Mark Vinnels says that the 650S’s changes and improvements required fitting 25 percent new components versus the 12C.
Of course, being a McLaren, the emphasis is on driving. While 641 horsepower from the 3.8-liter twin-turbo V-8 is important to keep ahead of the supercar opposition, Vinnels is prouder of the torque increase (from 443 lb-ft to a fat 500, available from 4000 rpm) which brings “a quite significant” performance improvement in real-world driving. The bump in twist is achieved by revisions to the cylinder heads, pistons, cooling system, and the variable valve timing. McLaren says that 0-to-60-mph acceleration now occurs in less than three seconds and 0 to 124 mph in 8.4. Maximum speed of 207 mph is unchanged from the 12C.
The seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox has been refined to improve drivability, shift smoothness, and outright performance. In Sport mode, the engine is directed to cut two cylinders for 30 milliseconds on part-throttle upshifts, to deliver aural delights; while in Track mode, “inertia push” is available at engine speeds above 5000 rpm, releasing the energy stored by overlapping the clutches on an upshift.
The running updates to the 12C’s dynamics have been universally praised, but the changes that accompany the 650S are said to allow for much higher cornering speeds and better turn-in response. Stiffer springs and dampers with new mounts have improved body control without affecting the ride comfort that sets the 12C apart from its rivals. Engineers claim that the car’s exclusive brake-steer feature is more effective, now operating at higher speeds and in mid-corner when necessary.
Formula 1’s drag-reduction system (DRS) influenced the revised operation of the deployable wing-slash-air-brake. It starts at an angle of 25 percent but levels out at higher speeds in straight-line driving or under full acceleration when Aero mode is selected.
The 12C offered optional Pirelli P Zero Corsa tires and carbon-ceramic brakes, but the 650S wears new V-spec asymmetric Corsas on forged aluminum wheels (19-inchers up front, 20-inchers in the rear) and has the carbon brakes as standard.
Criticisms of the 12C’s interior have been at least partially answered in the 650S by trimming the cabin in faux suede with contrast stitching and adding polished carbon-fiber to the steering wheel as well as the narrow center console. Full leather is available for a fee, as are convenience features such as an electrically adjustable steering column and a backup camera.
Although we have only seen the coupe so far, there will be a 650S Spider with a power-folding hardtop and, like the 12C Spider, it should deliver the same performance and dynamic qualities as the coupe.
Production of the 650S begins this month in the clinically clean conditions of the factory alongside the spectacular McLaren Technology Center in Woking, England. Its price will be announced at next month’s Geneva auto show where the car will make its in-the-metal debut. Initial indications are that 650S will be 10 percent costlier than the 12C, suggesting that sticker prices will start at about $265,000.
McLaren can say that the 650S is a standalone lineup if it likes, but at a price that close to the 12C’s, with so many shared components, it’s hard to believe the 650S is anything but the crown jewel of the 12C lineup wearing a clever disguise.
