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Geneva Motor Show 2014: McLaren 650S

McLaren's new supercar has borrowed some tricks from the 12C and the P1. Should Ferrari be worried?

Alex Goy Editor / Roadshow
Alex Goy is an editor for Roadshow. He loves all things on four wheels and has a penchant for British sports cars - the more impractical the better. He also likes tea.
Alex Goy
Watch this: McLaren 650S: Looking Ferrari in the eyes

McLaren is a company that listens. It's proved this before -- when the 12C didn't have enough drama to it, McLaren added more noise and power. When the door mechanisms were a bit janky, McLaren made them easier to use. When people complained that it might not be as fun as a Ferrari...McLaren released this, the 650S.

There's now even more power on offer -- 641 bhp in all, and it'll hit 62 mph in 3 seconds dead. Its top speed is 207 mph and it's faster over a quarter mile than a McLaren F1, too.

More importantly, though, McLaren claims it's made the 650S more 'fun' than the 12C. You no longer need to be part of the driving elite to feel what the car has to offer; it's more accessible to more drivers at every level, rather than those who drive everywhere at ten-tenths.

McLaren's releasing a coupe and a drop top, with prices starting from around £195,000. That puts it in the middle of McLaren's range -- the 12C will sit below it, while the P1 hypercar (video), obviously, sits well above it.

What McLaren's trying to do with 650S is merge the engineering brilliance that made the 12C stand out, with a little bit of the P1's fine look and a touch of emotion to make a car to smash Ferrari right back to the stone age. We'll find out whether that worked soon...