McLaren GT Fast Fleet test – four months in the 203mph 'grand tourer'

Had you forgotten about the McLaren GT? Don’t be embarrassed, we too had pushed it to the back of our minds during the scramble to drive 765LTs and the (long) wait for the Artura. But still exist it does (in GTS-form), filling that gap for those who find a 750S too extreme and the now-defunct 570S not practical enough.

Launched back in 2019, the GT is a stand-alone model in the McLaren line-up. Based on a stretched Sports Series MonoCell tub it’s 5mm longer in the wheelbase than both the 750S and 570S and 140mm longer than the former overall. It’s also, claims McLaren, the most aerodynamic of its series production road cars thanks to its hammerhead nose and long tail rear.

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Along with the Sports Series carbon tub it also utilises the aluminium double-wishbone suspension and adaptive dampers from the 570S, but the power steering and 4-litre twin-turbo V8 are from the 720S, although the latter is detuned to 612bhp and has an eight per cent higher compression ratio and more responsive, low-inertia turbos. Peak torque of 465lb ft is not to be sniffed at in a car that weighs 1530kg with fluids and can deliver 95 per cent of that torque from 3000rpm. Like all McLarens, the GT is an absurdly quick supercar, regardless of the name it’s been christened with.

Ah yes, the name. It’s not really a GT car, though, is it? Bentley Conti GT, Ferrari Roma, Aston DB11, Lexus LC500, even Jaguar’s F-type, they are GT cars. Cossetting, stylish, brutally quick when required, soothingly refined when needed. Performance aside, the McLaren GT isn’t any of these, certainly not based on our previous time with the car, which has included a lengthy, grand touring-style drive from the foothills of the Alps to the UK. Quick – blisteringly so – engaging, fun, richly rewarding… it was all these things, but as we since discovered, a GT car it wasn’t. And not only because it couldn’t carry much of our luggage.

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‘Our’ car here benefits from three option packs: the Luxe Pack (power seats and steering column, soft-grain Aniline leather throughout, aluminium and gloss black brightwork and surrounds), the Practicality Pack (nose lift, rear-view camera, front and rear parking sensors, folding and heated door mirrors) and the Premium Pack (LED adaptive headlights, Bowers & Wilkins 12-speaker stereo, power-operated rear tailgate and a cabin air purification system). All three packs are no-cost options, which begs the question: why not fit it all as standard? Another freebie is the sports exhaust.

Paid-for extras added to the £163,000 basic price here include the panoramic glass roof (£1750), privacy glass (£500), gloss black wheels (£950) and MSO black paint (£4500), the last two of which we’d ignore if it was our money being spent. The black paint kills the design of the car, exaggerating its size and giving it the least GT-like appearance possible; lighter hues pick out the design details far better. And the day that black wheels are banished back to the prototype vehicle workshop can’t come soon enough.

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Colour aside, the first few weeks of having a 612bhp McLaren at your disposal won’t be forgotten for a long time. It takes a few trips to perfect your entry and exit technique to and from the cabin, and every once in a while you go to adjust the seat hoping it will drop an inch or two lower as per other cars in McLaren’s line-up, but it doesn’t. Not that it has a huge impact on the ergonomics, which are pure driver’s car, with your legs outstretched, steering wheel in your chest and your feet instinctively placed above pedals that are set-up perfectly for those who enjoy a bit of left-foot braking. Combined with a near panoramic view out, few, if any, manufacturers get cockpit design and ergonomics so right as McLaren.

While our journeys in this car so far have been UK-based, there’s been a 200-mile trip that GT06 MCL absorbed with ease, the driver arriving calmed rather than frazzled. Perhaps there is a GT car in here somewhere after all. It’s going to be some experience finding out.

This story was first featured in evo issue 295.