McLaren GT long term test – four months in the 203mph 'grand tourer'

Have you ever found a pen that makes your writing feel neat and flowing and easy all at once? That’s the feeling of the McLaren GT’s steering. After many cars with electric power steering, the feel and connection of the McLaren’s hydraulic power assisted steering is obvious before you’ve left the car park.

It would be a couple of hours before I would revel in its feel again, as having switched into our GT for my turn behind its wheel, I headed due west on the A14 and M6 before dropping down the M5, final destination the Morgan Motor Company. So, a good test of its GT credentials right away.

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Rewind slightly, and while the wide, dihedral-opening door gets you closer to the seat when getting in, and also means you won’t dirty your trouser leg on the sill when exiting, popping the door is a bit clumsy and you have a quite a drop into the cockpit. Then you have to figure out the mess of buttons down the side of the seat to get it to whirr towards the wheel from its ‘comfort access’ position.

On the positive side, the seats are long-distance good, the steering wheel is small and well shaped, forward visibility is great and the ride is genuinely cosseting. The engine sounds a bit clattery on start-up but settles to a quiet hum at a cruise and, apparently, returns excellent economy: two hours later, the trip showed 32.5mpg. Managing editor Eveleigh reckons he’s seen 34.5mpg.

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It’ll mooch happily, then, and on the bumpy back road near home it trod very softly, which was impressive. Sure, it felt a little free over some big bumps but it’s pretty well judged, and in its Sport setting the chassis feels much better tied down but still retains some plushness. It’s a shame some bits rattle when you hit bumps hard.

The 4-litre V8 unquestionably has all of its claimed 612bhp when you get the opportunity to rev it out to 8250rpm, and that steering is an utter joy when you encounter curves and corners, seemingly calmer and more unflappable than the chassis, which is more vague in its feedback. I had no inclination to wind back stability control; the warning light frequently blinks in the wet. But, hey, it’s the GT; there are plenty of sportier McLarens for derring-do.

I’m not sure about our car’s rather sinister, Hotblack Desiato spec of black with black wheels, blacked-out glazing, black window surrounds and black buttons that light up black when you press them. What a pain it is to clean. But over the ten days I had the GT, remarkably I saw nothing but very positive reactions. Meanwhile, brim-to-brim calculations showed it averaged a more realistic 20.1mpg.

No matter; I found it more everyday useable than I was expecting and enjoyed it much more than I anticipated, too. I’d jump at the chance to run it for longer.

This story was first featured in evo issue 297.