Driven5 said:Andy Hollis said:I can relate.
The only reason I own a McLaren is for track days at big tracks ( I live near COTA), plus One Lap. It's the perfect car for both.
That said, it is also incredible for country road drives...nothing else is even close.
Can you expand more on what subjectively makes the McLaren so great on country road drives?
It's hard to put into words, but it's simply "perfect". If I close my eyes and place my hands where the wheel should be, it is there. Everything I reach for eyes closed is where I'd expect it to be. So the ergonomics are ideal, IMO.
The driving itself is sublime. Dial it down to "Comfort" and set the DCT to auto mode, and you can drive it effortlessly around turns and over bumps, not even knowing the bumps are there. My old Porsche 997.2 GT3 was not like that. Turn the 720's wheel and it does exactly what you expect.
Or when you go to the track, you dial it up to Track/manual mode, with immediate suspension response, and crisp paddle shifting. That's the beauty of the dynamic suspension in the Super Series cars (12C, 650, 675LT, 720, 765LT, 750). The Sport Series do not have that and don't deliver the same experience...I've tracked them back-to-back. 570, 600LT, 620R, etc.
On the topic of reliability, I could write a book on it. The 12C, of which I owned an early one, was McLaren learning to make road cars. They have tons of issues, especially when tracked, which were fixed through running changes. The 650 is just a face-lifted 12C but with all the latest parts. So it's better.
570 was a MUCH better engineered car. But it lacked the dynamic suspension. Which is why I sold mine.
The 720 is where McLaren finally matched legit supercar quality engineering with their dynamic suspension...and even more power. I mean, this car is fast...like stupid fast. And you don't even know it unless you look at the speedo. When I give rides at COTA, I point to the speedo when it says 183mph down the back straight, cuz the car just does it so effortlessly.
BTW, you can get a good used 720 now for $200k. Still not cheap, but also not $300k anymore. And 570's are not far above the $100K mark.
On the topic of depreciation, its true. McLaren has a habit of over-building quantity which kills the long-term value, at least in the supercar space. The "LT" versions are limited quantity so they hold up well. That said, they overbuilt the 600LT, so those are a really good value.