A piece of criticism that I have not heard typically levied at modern McLarens is that they are uncomfortable. Indeed, the 720S and the 570S/570GT have all been praised as being quite comfortable. Either way, the 2020 McLaren GT is here now, and boasts even more comfort, practicality and usability than the others.
The GT is another addition to the McLaren lineup from the company’s Track25 business plan, where it has said that it will deliver 18 new cars or derivatives by the conclusion of 2025.
The GT, as its name suggests, is meant to be the grand touring McLaren, according to the press release. It’s the one that you can apparently take on long trips and also not have your pelvis reduced to dust after hours and hours of harsh ride quality.
Plus—storage space! The front-hinged tailgate can store 14.8 cubic feet of luggage, though it looks like a long and narrow 14.8 cubic feet from the photos. Combined with the front trunk, which can hold 5.3 cubic feet of stuff, the GT has a total of 20.1 cubic feet of storage. By comparison, a Porsche 911 allegedly has 5.1 cubic feet of volume in its front trunk and a Toyota Corolla sedan has 13.1 cubic feet of spacein its trunk.
Like all the other McLaren cars, the GT also uses a carbon fiber monocoque chassis. Here, it’s called the MonoCell II-T, with the “T” meaning “touring.” All that means is that McLaren redesigned the upper structure in the back of the car to accommodate the increased luggage space. You also get the fancy-pants dihedral, up-swinging doors and a low sill, so ingress and egress shouldn’t be a huge problem.
The engine is interesting. Instead of the 3.8-liter twin-turbo motors found in the 570 models, the GT uses a 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 called the M840TE. It’s good for a claimed 612 brake horsepower and 465 lb-ft of torque and will supposedly help the car hit zero to 60 mph in 3.1 seconds and achieve a top speed of 203 mph. We’ve reached out to McLaren and asked how this engine is different from the 4.0-liter M840T found in the 720S.
Ride quality is where apparently the new car will shine. McLaren says the GT uses some kind of “Optimal Control Theory software algorithm,” where sensors alert the suspension about things that are about to happen in the road and then the suspension will react accordingly “in just two milliseconds.” This is probably something I’d need to test out in real life to see.
And the steering is electro-hydraulically assisted, which is cool.
Looking at the GT, I’m kind of happy that it ditches the big grin from the 650 and 570 models. It’s sleeker now, with almost Ferrari F430-ish looks. This is not a bad thing, I loved the look of that car.
The GT is available to order now. It starts at $210,000 and deliveries will happen at the end of this year.
