VIDEO: McLaren 675LT Spider – Senna has a go in it

On December 3, McLaren officially announced the 675LT Spider. Two weeks later, all 500 units of the second car in the McLaren stable to bear the LT designation (the LT standing for ‘Longtail’ and ‘Spider’) have been sold, three months ahead of its official public appearance at the Geneva motor show in March 2016.

This means you can’t have one for Christmas, unless you have Santa Claus on direct dial. So, those of us who can’t have one – ever – will have to make do with a video the Woking firm have released, with Bruno Senna at the wheel and putting the 675LT Spider through its paces.

The Spider was created in response to McLaren’s customer demand, and made with an eye to lightness, without compromising handling and stiffness, two traditional bugbears when it comes to a convertible. The light, stiff and strong MonoCell chassis used in the 675LT Spider hasn’t required any additional reinforcement, according to McLaren.

This means the convertible 675 is only 40 kg heavier than its coupe sibling, with the additional weight directly attributed to the two-piece retractable hard-top roof. The roof can be folded even when the car is moving, operable up to a maximum speed of 30 km/h.

McLaren 675LT Spider-01

The new LT Spider is powered by the same 3.8 litre twin-turbo V-eight as the coupe version, but extensive mechanical revisions – including more efficient turbochargers, revised cylinder heads and exhaust manifolds, a new camshaft, lightweight connecting rods, and a faster-flowing fuel pump – means the mill has 666 hp and 700 Nm torque on tap.

Performance figures are similarly impressive, the 675LT taking 2.9 seconds to 100 km/h, same as the coupe, while 200 km/h is reached in 8.1 seconds, just a touch slower than the hard-top. McLaren claims a top speed of 326 km/h for the 675LT Spider.

While the point is moot, since none are now available for sale directly from McLaren, the 675LT Spider had a factory price of RM1.82 million, RM180,000 more expensive than the coupe. Deliveries are expected to begin in mid-2016.

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Mohan K Ramanujam

Coming with diverse and extensive experience in heavy engineering, Mohan enjoys making anything with wheels go fast, especially motorcycles. His weapon of choice is the Desmoquattro engine, and he has a penchant for anything with a dash of Italian design. Strangely enough, he insists he's a slow rider.

 
 

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