The 2019 600LT could be the best car McLaren manufactures

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WE MIXED ON THE BRECON BEACONS mountain range when the flames appeared. First a net of blue in the rearview mirror. Then another, daring enough to go out and stay, lengthening longer with the increase in exhaust temperatures. At sunset, the two exhaust pipes turned into flamethrowers in their own right, spitting blue and yellow in the night air.

McLaren has been slow to fire, even though his cars have always been fast. The first supercar of the British car manufacturer of this new era used carbon chassis technology in a market still convinced that aluminum was the way to go. Technically and dynamically, it worked. But the resulting machine looked like a device, at least by the standards of the supercar. Even his name was better suited to a washing machine: MP4-12C.

In recent years, McLaren product planners have virtually activated their DRS system and spewed out a full range of increasingly compelling cars. The incredible 720S was our performance car of the year 2018 and the hypercar with radical appearance Senna narrowly missed first place this year. Do not be surprised if this new car, the 600LT, records three podiums in a row.

Unless you're a McLaren buff, the clutter of letters and numbers that make up the 600LT name may not have much meaning. Even knowing that LT means "longtail", it can cause headaches. Looking back at the 600, it's clear that we're not talking exactly about a Moby Dick 935 here.

But there is a Porsche connection, in a way. In 1996, a year after McLaren's F1 GTR won Le Mans on its first attempt, its rivals Porsche and Mercedes reacted by offering uncompromising dedicated race cars, modifying them just enough to create a spin-off of cars from route for approval. The results were the 911 GT1 Strassenversion and Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR. Both are legal according to the rules of the FIA but, as the English would say with indignation, the upper lip stiff and shaking just does not fit cricket.

So for the 1997 season, McLaren built the most extreme F1 possible. This evolution is focused on the aerodynamics, the supports and the important gains of weight. In one way or another, McLaren has managed to split 220 pounds of already light F1. But the major peculiarity was its new bodywork, featuring a deeper front fascia and a giant composite plume pushing backwards that stretched out over a total length of 25 inches. McLaren manufactured three road cars, named F1 GT, to legitimize the project. Competition versions are known as Longtails. The plan worked: the stretched F1 won five of the 11 rounds of the 1997 FIA GT Championship and finished first and second in the GT1 class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, just behind the Porsche LMP TWR and 29 laps of its rival on closer.

In 2015, McLaren resurrected the Longtail name of the sublime 675LT, the first of a new series of high-performance supercars. Nowadays, the LT treatment is similar to that of Porsche's RS identity: lighter, faster, more focused and, of course, a more expensive banknote load than the car on which it is based.

The starting point of the 600LT was the McLaren entry-level 570S (not to mention the disconcerted 540C, which does not come to the US). The 570 is not only the most accessible McLaren, but is also better suited for everyday use than the wild 720S and the Senna. The 600LT, both in price ($ 242,500) and out (592 hp), would seem to be between 570S and 720S. In fact, we are getting something very different from both. Something more focused than even the 720S. A McLaren baby, imbued with hypercar sensations, which could turn out to be a mini Senna.

We came to the country of origin of the 600LT to put us under the skin of carbon. Specifically, we picked up the car in England, at the McLaren factory in Woking, and drove a two-hour drive to Wales. The 19th century poet, William Blake, spoke of the lush and beautiful territory of England, but the relatively deserted roads of Wales are infinitely more pleasant for a supercar at more than 200 km / h.

Out of the box, the 600LT is ready to spin more heads than a 570. Only McLaren loyalists will notice the remodeled bumper and extended splitter, but the extra protrusion is evident, as are the fins on the rockers. Then you see the back. It's like walking in the back of a pleasant mid-century house and finding an extension of Frank Lloyd Wright. It is hard to say who is attacking your senses first: there is a large diffuser whose fins are suspended in the air like composite ice cubes. But the fixed rear wing located above is a good example for itself: its central section is adorned with a flame retardant material to protect it from the exhaust pipes, which have gone from the bump shocks.

All the reproaches concerning the slightly erased style of the 570 are indeed annihilated. But if you want to turn your $ 242,500 into something of the car we have here, get ready to go further. During his trip to Wales, photographer Richard Pardon spoke about the options of our car. They are so vast that we were almost at the border when he finished: paint Elite ($ 4320); Bowers & Wilkins stereo system ($ 4290); carbon fiber trims, roof and racing seats (four packages totaling $ 50,540); and hydraulic to lift the nose ($ 1560). To save you the calculations, the options of this car carry the retail price to over $ 320,000. A 720S base costs $ 288,845. Suddenly, the baby McLaren looks completely adult.

The next bill was less important: about 7 US dollars to cross the Bristol Channel and travel to Wales, which is part of the UK, but also fiercely independent of neighboring England as Texas to Washington, DC The right to cross the bridge Prince of Wales Bridge Conflicts with Welsh companies, who claim that it stifles trade, will eventually be removed by the time you read this. (As for rubbing salt in the Welsh wound, there was no charge back to England.)

The tollbooth barrier rose intelligently, like an F1 lollipop. We played and gave the right pedal the mandatory treatment of the abandoned piano on the roof. The 600LT, in return, gave us our first glimpse of its two main advantages over a simple 570S: more punch and less belly. McLaren engineers reduced their weight, from the wire harness (7.3 kg) to the top outlet exhausts (27.8 lbs). Masochists may opt out of air conditioning, music or toll free cards. Other dietary supplements, such as raised Senna seats (54.2 kg), cost extra. When the car (and by extension, your wallet) is in its lighter configuration, it weighs around 230 pounds less than a 570S.

Like all McLaren, from the 540C to the new Limited Production Speedtail, the 600LT uses a twin-turbo V8, codenamed M838TE. The numbers in the McLaren model names refer to the metric power, which means that the 600LT has 600 hp, or 592 hp less pleasant in SAE language. Nothing unpleasant about the 30 horsepower increase over the 570S engine, however, or the extra 14 lb-ft of torque, bringing the total to 457 lb-ft. There is no alchemy here, there is only one new ECU map and a smoother exhaust that now measures a ridiculous distance of 11.9 inches. The new calibration and these exhausts make the V-8 noisier, more daring and more frenetic. Not exactly severe, but definitely more serious in personality and performance.

If only our time with the LT had not been immediately preceded by three transcendent audio experiences: the drives of a Porsche 911 GT3 RS and Lamborghini Huracán Performance, on roads similar to these, and a visit to Cosworth to hear the incredible power of 1,000 Aston Martin horses The Valkyrie engine has exceeded 11,000 rpm after a torque test. All three use naturally aspirated engines. And all three have highlighted McLaren's lack of noise. We could even trade the flames for a better grunt. Is it too much to ask for a little thunder with our flash?

Like all McLaren, there is also a turbo shift: very little action until the tachometer reaches almost half of its arc. Move on the throttle when you carry a high gear and you are not going anywhere. A turbocharged Ferrari 488 has the impression of driving a V-8 large block of 7.0 liters in comparison. But use all speeds up to the limiter at 8500 rpm and 600LT flies.

As the roads were wet during our journey, McLaren's traction control system suddenly eliminated excess power. It's only in third gear that there is enough traction to feel the almost 600-horsepower feel that hurts the stomach and does its best to save planet Earth. McLaren estimates that, under better conditions, the 600LT can reach 100 km / h stopping 2.8 seconds longer than the 720S, and reaches 124 km / h in 8.2 seconds, just four tenths more than its large brother, despite a reduced power of 118 hp.

It takes a lot longer to get out of the LT than to reach 100 km / h. Despite all this weight, our car had an incongruous power steering column that pulls the steering wheel in the dash when you leave, to give you more space. But the protruding shoulders on the spectacular-looking carbon seats mean that you have to be as flexible as a yogi to move from the bucket to the upper pillar. Classic 570 seats are an option, but you do not have to go that far. The 600 standard buckets have been used on the P1 hypercar and are probably the best option. They do not look as exotic as the Senna chairs and they are not as light, but they will stay centered in the turns. The driving position is ideal for doing stupid things. You sit very low, the wheel moving towards your chin – like in a real race car.

The new front and rear spoilers generate 220 pounds of support at 155 mph, but by mingling with traffic north of the Welsh capital Cardiff, the 600LT did not feel particularly planted any more than 570S. The real surprise was that the 600 felt almost as civilized as his brother driving daily. The roar of tires and engines is perfectly bearable, and the driving has this familiar capacity, almost like that of the Lotus, to breathe with the road, smothering the changes of topography and degree of surface.

But suspicions are there, the suspicion still present that this car has a different agenda than the 570S, which uses softer springs and thinner anti-roll bars, is 0.3 inches higher and does not come with the super sticky Pirelli Trofeo R rubber that the LT wear as standard. (Our photo car came with Sottozero tires because of the cold weather.) You feel it in the tension of the damping and the way the front tires require you to take your hand more firmly on the steering wheel to prevent that. They do not lose their focus even at highway speeds. This feeling increased tenfold as we headed north on empty two-lane roads that made us a sign to go to the mountains.

A major difference between the McLaren Sports Series cars, notably the 600LT and 570S, and their Super Series superiors (720S and 720S Spider) lies in the design of the suspension. Both ladders use adjustable dampers, but while the Super Series has a complicated hydraulic suspension, the entry-level machines are content with a more conventional configuration. The 600LT borrows at least the triangles, the uprights and the aluminum elbows of the 720. The LT feels busier on the hilly sidewalk than a 720, but by stretching the legs of the 600 at Black Mountain, we do not could not escape. the feeling that the LT would have a head start on these roads, both in terms of pace as well as interaction between drivers

McLaren's promotional videos show 600 LTs gliding in a plume of tire smoke, but at the speed of the road, including the ugly ones, the only trouble is that of confusion over the fact that the chassis never settles down, even after repeated changes of direction. With less weight than a 720S, the 600LT feels even more agile, offering the kind of intimate driving experience you can not get with the biggest power supercars. The turbo laggy is the only aspect of this car that lacks immediacy.

Depress the brake and reveal another force. The LT combines the light and high performance braking system of the 720 with the Senna power brake. The pedal feel is fleshy in race car, with less of McLaren's usual dead zone at the top of the trip. It's a real leg workout to slow down the car and even start it. As with the Senna, the LT needs a herculean push on the pedal before the start button asks you to.

The 600LT has revealed what British car fans already know: the Welsh Tourism Council should add sailing, windsurfing and all the other outdoor activities promised by visitors in search of excitement. .

The way this car drives makes you think of the Senna – and maybe a Caterham. McLaren stubbornly stuck to the assistance of the water management as virtually everyone had gone to the electric boat. It is not true that electrical racks can not provide quality feedback – understanding of technology and automotive engineers has been long. Nobody is coming out of a Porsche 918 and complains about the return of management. But put them in one after leaving them loose in a 600LT on an empty Welsh moors road, shared only with occasional sheep, and they could make an exception. In the street, the direction of the 600LT may actually be better than that of the Senna, with less backtracking and action more focused on itself. And the rack seems natural without effort. It connects you to what the front axle does and the road's atmosphere, as if you had undergone surgery to fuse your wrists with the front control arms. Whether you're cruising the highway or tackling curves, there's never a moment of ambiguity about what the car does. Never a moment when you feel less connected, less captivated by the behavior of this chassis.

As we roamed the national park as the flames became increasingly luminous as the sunlight diminished behind the thick winter clouds, it became clearer and clearer that McLaren really understood it. Most successful car manufacturers, who are more and more obsessed with lap times, have forgotten the fundamental difference between cars built for the track and those built for the street. On the track, only going fast is important. Performance is important in the street, but also the sensations, sensations and hedonistic pleasure for the driver and, at an altruistic level, for pedestrians. The last McLaren, apart from a soft exhaust note, is admired. And the 600LT flamethrower, flexible, lively and, if you can stick to the carbon fiber trim, can hardly be achieved, could be the best McLaren currently sold.

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