McLaren 620R: a superlative track-day toy

This is the “raciest McLaren road car yet”, says Top Gear. Its new 620R offers lovers of track-day toys a taste of devastating racing-car power, and you can drive it home. It’s not the most practical of cars for everyday use. Indeed, it has no “nose-lift” as standard, so it “might not even make it off some driveways”. It will set you back £250,000 and at speed it might potentially “write cheques your driving talent won’t cash”. But it is “the most exciting and involving” McLaren you can buy. It’s a lot of money for what is for the most part a “dedicated track toy”, but it will “draw you in”. Driving it is sure to become “quite addictive”.

It’s an indulgence, but a “perfectly executed one”, says Auto Express. “There’s a precision to the chassis that only motorsport experiences can deliver, the 3.8-litre V8 engine is tuned to its peak, and the experience of driving it on road or track is unlike” that of any other car, including its McLaren stablemates. It goes from rest to 62mph in 2.9 seconds and on to a top speed of 200mph. Isn’t that a bit much for the road? “Not really.” True, there is a “hard edge to the chassis that picks out lumps and bumps” in the road, but “the pay off is a car that fizzes with energy and is awash with ability that doesn’t make you risk everything to enjoy it”.

For around £60,000 less you could have McLaren’s 600LT, which will be better to drive on the road and on a track test beat a Ferrari Pista and Porsche 911 GT3 RS, says Andrew Frankel in Autocar. The 620R is, of course, both “quicker and even better to drive on track”, but around £60,000 better? Probably not, but “that’s not what people are paying for”. With only 225 being made worldwide, this will be the rarest McLaren road car in existence. That makes it “not just a very special car, but a quite exceptionally rare one, too”.

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Jasper is a former writer for the MoneyWeek and he wrote on an array of topics including travel, investing in crypto and bitcoin, as well as cars. Previous to that he freelanced at The Art Newspaper, PORT Magazine and The Spectator. Jasper is currently a freelance writer at FAD magazine and he has an English literature degree from the University of Exeter, and a Master's degree from UCL.