The McLaren 620R is its most hardcore road-going Sports Series car yet
With the bones of a GT4 race car and no rulebook to hold it back, the 620R is one of the coolest McLarens to hit the road in a long time.
So when we found out that McLaren is offering up yet another limited-edition version of one of its Sports Series cars called the 620R that's powered by basically the same engine that it's been using since forever, we kind of weren't that psyched about it. Then we saw that it was effectively a road-going version of the brand's 570S GT4 racing car, and our ears perked up more than a little. That interest grew into excitement when we looked at some of the car's stats.
So, sure, the 620R -- which McLaren announced on Monday -- is still using the M838TE 3.8-liter turbocharged V8 that's been around in since 2016, but it's the highest output version of that engine that we've seen yet, producing a rather healthy 611 horsepower and 457 pound-feet of torque and it's paired with McLaren's seven-speed "seamless-shift gearbox," but that's no bad thing either. McLaren claims a 0-60 mph time of just 2.8 seconds and a maximum speed of 200mph.
Perhaps our favorite of the 620R's bonafides is its curb weight. Specifically, its wet weight which includes all its oils and coolant and 90% of its total fuel capacity. The mad scientists from Woking quote this as being just 3,055.6 pounds. That's especially impressive when you consider that Ferrari's F8 Tributo -- a logical competitor for the 620R -- tips the scales at 3,086 lbs dry.
Being a road-homologated version of a racing car, the Macca 620R skips McLaren's fancy hydraulic suspension technology, instead opting to go with good old fashioned manually adjustable dampers and anti-roll bars. Adaptive dampers are optional, though. The 620R's steering is of the electrically-assisted hydraulic variety, for the feels.
Braking is handled -- of course -- by a set of carbon-ceramic brakes with six-piston calipers in the front and four-piston calipers out back. McLaren doesn't specify, but we'd bet they're the same or very similar to the units offered on its other road cars. If it ain't broke, don't fix it, right?
Being derived from a racing car, there's a lot of aerodynamic tweaks going on in the 620R that you wouldn't find in a standard McLaren Sports-series car. Notably, it's got a big, adjustable carbon fiber wing on the back as well as carbon fiber dive planes on the front that significantly increase downforce at speed. McLaren claims that the dive planes alone contribute 66 lbs of downforce out of the frontal aero package's total 143 lbs.
If you're in North America and feeling fancy, you can spec your 620R with an upgrade package from McLaren Special Operations (MSO) that includes a visible carbon fiber roof and a functional roof scoop as well as the McLaren Track Telemetry system, and the best part is that it's a no-cost option.
If you're a person of means with a taste for speed and the 620R is sounding like your particular brand of awesome, act fast. McLaren is only building 350 of them -- all by hand in the company's Surrey, UK factory -- and they're being offered for an MSRP of $299,000.
