There’s a new supercar in town, and the McLaren Artura just might shatter some preconceptions you had about the vehicles emerging from the England-based maker of F1 racers.
For one, the Artura offers a price break of 90% on its high-end “Speedtail” sports car. I know what you’re thinking: finally, an affordable McLaren.
Well, consider your starting point. The Speedtail, which can reportedly reach a clip of 250 miles per hour, starts around $2 million, which is why the $225,000 price tag on the Artura feels like a bargain.
But that’s not the only modification the McLaren team is working on. The Artura ditches the V8 of its contemporaries and comes to market as a plug-in hybrid, one that the company is calling “McLaren to the core … for the next generation.”
Starting from a blank slate, the car reportedly takes aerodynamics to the next level by utilizing four new kinds of carbon fiber resulting in an overall vehicle weight of just over 3,000-pounds — a touring car weight for the everyday.
A twin-turbocharged V6 is paired with an electric motor that combines to produce 671 total horsepower. When fully charged, the vehicle can travel 19 miles on the electric motor before defaulting to the gasoline engine. The combined power can send you from zero to 60 in three seconds from a dead stop.
One other interesting add-on is the car’s Pirelli tires, which are equipped with computer chips to help relay information on air pressure and temperature. The location allows for more accurate and immediate feedback than you’d get from your average tire-monitoring sensor.
And although the Artura as a plug-in is an exciting development, McLaren has been quite candid that they’re just scratching the surface: the company says most of its supercars will be hybrids by 2025. Meanwhile, this one should head into production in the fall.
