The McLaren 650S Sounds Like A Bellowing Eight-Pistoned Monster

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Good news, for all of you who were well and truly worried about the McLaren 650S sounding like a proper car and not like a wheezy econobox. (I'm sure plenty of you exist.) It doesn't sound like a wheezy econobox at all. It sounds much, much better than that. Especially if you're sitting inside.

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The McLaren, the car it's based on, the 12C, and its competitor, the Ferrari 458, sound a lot alike on paper. V8 in the middle, two seats, four wheels, big power, and the option for a hard top roof that comes down all on it own. To the person who knows literally nothing about cars, they might as well be identical.

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But the real difference is in the sound of the engine. While the Ferrari's V8 sounds like a wailing, screaming banshee, the 641-horse engine in the McLaren 650S sounds anything but. It sounds like a proper V8, almost like a muscle car that actually likes to rev. It growls and it snarls and it gets into trouble.

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It sounds glorious. As an engine should.