While the world waiting for the first Ferrari The car runs completely on electricity—due out next year—archrival McLaren insists that the technology doesn’t yet exist to create an electric car worthy of its name.
Strength is clearly not an issue, but weight is the enemy in Woking, by McLaren Headquartered in the UK and the battery is not lighter enough McLaren says going all-electric leads to unacceptable effects on the car’s dynamics.
Lightweighting isn’t just a philosophy to these people, it’s dogma, and like all such things, it doesn’t suggest much in the way of progressive thinking. Until you approach a corner at the speed committed on the new Artura Spider, we might say.
Few cars are as nimble, balanced and rewarding as this one, a lithe, fast-looking machine that makes you think like a racer: Plan your entry, apex and exit, go slow with the throttle pulled or trying to dial understeer. It’s right under your skin.
McLaren wouldn’t even rate the all-electric steering as pure enough, and the Artura’s precise feel is certainly aided by its old-fashioned hydraulic setup. Obviously, it is almost identical to the drive-in configuration 600LTno less than one of the best handling cars ever made.
Power source P1
Photo: McLaren Cars
However, it would be a grave mistake to mistake McLaren for a technology denier. Stay away from it. At the core of the Artura’s incredible sportiness is its carbon composite chassis (MCLA for short), which provides both structural integrity and impressive lateral bending stiffness.
It’s manufactured at the company’s dedicated UK facility in Sheffield, and McLaren’s use of carbon fiber throughout its range sets it apart. Ferrari, Lamborghini And Porscheall reserve this expensive material for their most expensive supercars.
Artura is also one mixtureenhancing the company’s expertise in the field it first explored in 2013 P1. The internal combustion engine is a 3.0-liter twin-turbo V6, equipped here with an axial electronic motor, integrated into the transmission bellhousing.
Improvements in engine mapping have increased overall output to 690 brake horsepower, an increase of 20 horsepower over the Artura v1.0. Instead of a 90-degree V shape, the cylinders are at a 120-degree angle, which reduces pressure loss in the exhaust gases. The twin turbos are in a “hot vee” configuration, which means they can spin faster with beneficial effects on throttle response.
