2015 McLaren 675 LT review

McLaren's limited-edition 675 LT driven on road and track – and in both places, it's brilliant The 675 LT, an unexpected diversion from the McLaren norm.There’s this corner on Silverstone’s International circuit. Well, there are a few, obviously. But there’s this one on the new section at Abbey that in most cars is a fast (and in a McLaren 675 LT an extremely fast) left-hand sweep.It’s fourth gear and probably taken at around 80mph, although I’m not looking that closely at the speedo because, halfway through it, I apply a bit too much throttle and the 675 LT indulges what it thinks I’d like it to do, and steps smartly sideways.A McLaren 650S wouldn’t have done that. It would have been rather more governed by the grip at its front end, but the limited-run 675 LT, which McLaren says is a bigger step-change over the 650S than the 650S was over the 12C, has had its unruly side unleashed. Even though there’ll only be 500 LTs, some 33% of it is new compared with the 650S, which the LT supplements in the range. Think of it, although I won’t be forgiven for the analogy, as a 650S Speciale. Half of the engine components have been replaced to find an extra 25bhp, taking the 3.8-litre engine’s total to 666bhp. That’s 675PS, hence that part of the name. The LT bit stands for Longtail, named after the three McLaren F1 GTR Longtails that were homologated to keep the F1 competitive in sports car racing in 1997. The F1 Longtail was longer, lighter, faster; so is this car. At £259,500, it’s more expensive, too.LT is now more about philosophy than length, though, because the 675 is only 3cm longer than a 650, but with its new front splitter, 50% larger rear wing and new underbody and side addenda, it makes 40% more downforce than the 650. The body changes are all in carbonfibre, which contributes to a weight saving as well as the downforce increase. The 675, at 1320kg (1230kg dry), is 100kg lighter than a car that was not noted for its portliness in the first instance.Looking for areas from where to trim 8% of the mass means that even the wiring loom is 3kg lighter, the windscreen glass is 0.5mm thinner and the engine cover is Plexiglass – although its holes, like the vents at the rear and the fact that the radiators have been turned sideways, are about getting heat from the car rather than lightening it.There are more stats – lots more, like the fact that the conrods are 11% lighter and that the engine cuts the ignition on upshifts, so the engine’s speed change rate is 55% faster – but what makes the 675 the car it is are the changes McLaren has wrought to the chassis. The steering rack is faster even than a P1’s, spring rates are 27% stiffer at the front and some 60% stiffer at the rear, and the front tyre grip has been increased by 6%. All of which is centred around making the 675LT more agile, responsive and rewarding; and more of a car that is prepared to indulge your childish side in a way that, P1 aside, modern McLarens hitherto have not. They’ve had launch control, for example, but not a launch mode which will give you massive, long, smoky burnouts. The 675 has one of these.

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