The McLaren GT is what you get when a supercar company smoothes out the rough edges of some of the world's best performance machines. However, even with that smoothing, the DNA of McLaren is still very apparent. A twin-turbo V8, dual clutch transmission, carbon fiber monocoque, and mid-engine balance certainly sounds like a recipe for a supercar. In truth, the McLaren GT does provide a soft and comfortable ride and would certainly be daily-able, but it's clear that the car hasn't forgotten its roots.

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It only makes sense then we talk about what’s...well not under the hood, but right behind us….this is a 4L twin-turbo v8, and if that sounds familiar [flash AMG] let’s remember this isn’t Aston Martin we’re talking about

Correct this engine was actually designed and built in Woking specifically to create a shorter engine to free up some room in the back, which we will cover later, but tell us about the power figures

Peak hp is 612 and peak torque is 465 - torque is a bit lower than what we are accustomed to seeing with Mclaren due to using smaller turbos compared to the 720s and 600LTs, but something they focused on with this powertrain was creating more linear power and torque and its quite apparent as you near redline.

and this is where it gets interesting because not many GT cars can claim those power figures so mid engined and over 600 hp certainly sounds supercar to me,

So mated to this glorious v8 we have a dual clutch transmission. You get McLaren’s 7 speed DCT here and the engine and gearbox vary in aggressiveness with your three drive modes

Absolutely, this is still a GT so you have a comfort mode and a sport mode, BUT this is still a McLaren so you get a track mode - the cool thing about the DCT other than being very well programmed, is that you can up and downshift on the same paddle (they’re connected)

Yes and each of those 3 drive modes affect the suspension in a manner that is implied in their name. You’ve got a dual wishbone independent suspension with adaptive damping. So you’ll get more travel, more rebound when dialed back into comfort mode and a tighter less forgiving experience in track.

the different drive modes will also reconfigure your Digital Dash to showcase what information would be the most important given the drive mode, for example, comfort prioritizes speed and track prioritizes your tach and gives you shift lights
M: In comfort it’s soft, but you’re still reminded this falls more on the supercar end of the spectrum
And then in track your powertrain is as snappy as can be, but it’s not as harsh as you might think - it’s still liveable

Last thing and then I’ll let you drive, but I want to talk about steering. This being a mid engined car there’s next to no weight over the front axle which means initial turn in and corner entry can be as aggressive as you can stomach and then the midengned balance is incredibly neutral in a corner and you can get on the throttle a little earlier than you think because the balance is there, the carbon chassis is solid, and the damping lets you know exactly where the limit is. 3,232 lbs weight

We talked about power numbers but we didn't talk about what that meant: 0-60 in 3.1, now that is staggeringly quick, and worth mentioning that it is quicker than its counterparts in this GT segment as well.

Yes so the Continental GT gets to 60 in 3.3 seconds
The Db11 gets to 60 in 3.4 seconds
The DBS gets to 60 in 3.2 seconds

as I kill my gas milage, this is rated at 15 city, 21 highway for a 17 combined and a range of 400 miles with a full tank of gas. Which is actually better MPG than some of its competitors in this GT segmentation as well and it also offers more miles per tank.

We mentioned they really tried to provide a linear sense of torque and you do get 95 percent of the engine’s 465 pound-feet of torque available between 3,000 and 7,250 rpm, the sensation you get is incredible.