Forget the McLaren Sports Series and the 570S derivatives, which for years made up the bulk of McLaren’s sales volume. This Artura, new down to the smallest nut, retires the entire Sports Series in its current composition.
The complete Sports Series can pack, the Artura has risen. It throws the entire basis of its predecessors overboard. It is built around McLaren’s all-new carbon fiber base, called McLaren Carbon Lightweight Architecture (MCLA) in full. This basis, weighing only 82 kilos, is fully focused on hybrid models. Indeed, the Artura is a hybrid.
But not just any one. After the mighty P1 it is the second plug-in hybrid (and after the Speedtail the third hybrid) of the brand. Behind the front seats is a completely new power source, a 3.0-liter twin-turbo V6 with 585 hp and 585 Nm. That six-cylinder works together with a 95 hp and 225 Nm powerful electric motor. System power is an impressive 680 hp and 720 Nm, which is distributed to the rear wheels via a new eight-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission and McLaren’s first electronically controlled differential. The Artura, weighing only 1,498 kilograms, thus blows past the most powerful incarnation of the previous Sport Series, the 620 hp 620R.
McLaren Artura
The numbers do not lie. The McLaren Artura shoots in exactly 3 counts to a speed of 100 km / h. More impressive: he has already reached 200 km / h on his digital speedometer after 8.3 seconds and whoever has patience for a total of 21.5 seconds will hit the asphalt at a speed of 300 km / h. The top speed is electronically limited to 330 km / h, while the rev limiter only folds in at 8,500 rpm. The P1 was the first McLaren that could also make electric meters, although the range was quite limited at about 10 kilometers. Thanks to the 7.4 kWh battery pack, the Artura can travel around 30 kilometers completely electrically. In 2.5 hours of charging, the package can be pumped up to 80 percent of its capacity with electricity again, so that does not go very quickly. The Artura’s throttle response is, according to McLaren, more direct than any other model in the brand thanks to its hybrid genes.
McLaren Artura
The complete hybrid system puts only 130 kilos in the bowl. Please note, this includes the 88 kilo battery pack. With its weight of 160 kilos, the new V6 is 50 kilos lighter than the V8 it replaces. The turbo’s of the six-cylinder are concealed between the two cylinder banks, which benefits the center of gravity. Interesting: the machine itself does not have a mechanical ‘reverse’. You can put the Artura in ‘R’ to make the electric motor turn in reverse. The wheelbase of the Artura is 3 centimeters shorter than that of its predecessors.
That McLaren keeps up with the times in more areas, the Artura actually proves with every aspect. McLaren gives the newcomer a completely new rear suspension, revised electro-hydraulic steering and Proactive Damping Control. The Artura even has adaptive cruise control, complete with stop & go function, has automatic high beam and traffic sign recognition.
McLaren Artura
The interior of the 4.54 meter long Artura is nothing like that of its predecessors. The interior does not look as futuristic as in the Speedtail, but with its now detached 8-inch infotainment system in which many functions have been concealed, the whole looks completely up to date. The Artura’s electronic architecture even allows Over-The-Air (OTA) updates to become available over time. A striking shift: the button to change between the different driving modes is now a rotary knob placed in the canopy of the digital instruments.
We can be brief about the design: the Artura is again typically a McLaren. The car clearly shows similarities with the 720S, but also with luxury brother McLaren GT. The doors open again – as usual – forwards in a special way. A practical tip: the luggage space is only 150 liters. If you want to take more with you, you will have to switch to the GT.
There is not yet a Dutch starting price. In the UK, the Artura will cost around £ 182,500. The newcomer thus settles between the £ 163,000 GT and the £ 219,500 720S.
Sports Series
McLaren’s Sports Series functions under the Ultimate Series and Super Series as the ‘entry-level class’, although of course you have to take that term with a solid grain of salt. The Sports Series line-up initially consisted only of the 570S launched in 2015, which soon after its introduction received the 540C specifically for China. Later the 570S Spider was added, but it would not stop there either. For example, McLaren presented the superlative with the 600 LT in 2018 Long Tailvariant of the 570S, which in turn also got a cut-open Spider version next to it. The ultimate incarnation of the Sports Series was the 620R, the road-legal variant of the 570S GT4 race car that debuted in late 2019. What all Sports Series had in common? They were all built around the same carbon fiber monocoque and all had a variant of the mighty twin-turbo 3.8 V8 behind the front seats, which made it to 620 hp in the 620R. In any case, you can count on the Artura to have various brothers and sisters.