McLaren 620R 2020 UK review

Опубликованно 19.08.2020 16:20

What is it?

A few years back, McLaren entered the lucrative GT4 race arena and its 570S-based race car has done fine business ever since, winning on four continents and selling in triple-digit quantities.

I raced one at Spa and loved all bar two aspects: first, GT4 regs pegged its engine back to a tepid 430bhp just to give the others a chance; and once done, I had to leave it at the track. What's it like?

On the road, the 620R is good enough. There are plenty of pure road cars that ride far worse and noise levels are acceptable. The new bonnet scoops hurt luggage space, but you’ll still be able to go away in it. And it is rather rapid: its 0-62mph time matches the deranged 720S’s, and by 124mph it has lost only 0.3sec to its 100-horsepower-stronger big sibling.

On slicks on the track, you can barely believe the 620R is road legal despite the fact that the rubber is significantly harder than the race tyres, which are fit only for the bin after about an hour. Even this very durable slick will not only take around three seconds off your lap time on a typical circuit compared with a Trofeo R, transforming your traction, braking and grip, but it’ll last significantly longer, too.

But the 620R is not a racing car, and for reasons of ride height, suspension geometry and spring rate, it never could be. One of McLaren’s people guesstimated to me that the GT4 and 620R would lap in similar times, despite the former being a minimum of 150bhp down on power. But so long as you can crack the conundrum of how you get your slicks to the circuit, the 620R would still be an absolutely epic track-day weapon. It’s super-quick, delightfully involving and fall-off-log easy to drive with the safety systems engaged, although far better balanced and rewarding without. I enjoyed every second. Should I buy one?

But that’s not what people are paying for.

Instead, it’s that combined with the fact that this will be McLaren Automotive’s scarcest road car in its decade-long history. There are over twice as many Sennas in existence as there will be 620Rs, and even the legendary P1 is relatively common by comparison.

And that makes the 620R not just a very special car, but a quite exceptionally rare one, too.

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