I am reasonably impressed! Seems like they have worked to improve everything, from ride, NVH and daily drivability, to better connectivity, emissions and handling, while keeping the weight low and the performance high. So, as is tradition with Mclaren, technically the car is looking great, but, also as is tradition, the other areas - like distinctive enough looks, excitement, build quality and reliability - are with a question mark. Let me touch on 4 major points...
Weight - 1500kg kerb claimed. That could be accurate, but based on how other Mclaren weight claims turned out, I am expecting more like 1520-30kg when tested. I am tempted to say that's still fairly good, but there is a lot of context that needs to be included. Without the electric system (which Mclaren claims is 130kg), the car would weigh 1370-1400kg. Which is about the same as the 600LT (~1380kg) and 80-50kg less than the 570S. At the same time, it's only 60-30kg less than the bigger and more powerful 720S. So there has been some improvement in the architecture and the weight of the components, but nothing earth shattering. This comparison also shouldn't distract you from the fact that this car will weigh 70-100kg more than the 720S, while being less powerful and much slower. There is just no escaping the fact that hybrid assistance is NOT good for performance. Congratulating a 1500kg+ car on being light is also kinda amusing. Regardless, Mclaren clearly continue being the segment leader when it comes to light-weighting as this car is still lighter than the F8 or Huracan Evo, not to mention any other hybrid supercar.
Engine - To stay on the topic of weight for a little longer, this new engine almost certainly doesn't weigh "160kg". Yes, maybe if it's completely bare with little to no ancillaries or with no turbos, exhaust manifold and intercoolers. That has sadly been the standard for engine weight reporting within the industry for some time. Don't include the turbos, the exhaust and the intercoolers together with all the required piping for your turbo engine and report the weight as if it was basically naturally aspirated setup. In reality I would think the real weight would be around 190-200kg. Which, hey, is still less than Maserati's 220kg 3L V6! The engine being 120 degree is cool, although, funnily enough increasing the angle of the V also increases weight. Which is why everyone doesn't use boxer engines. While they have a very low center of gravity, it's the heaviest possible design and also they present challenges from the packaging and intake/exhaust routing perspective. 120 degree angle engine should still leave enough space to package intake/exhaust without those threatening to stick from the bottom of the car, although presenting it as being "narrower" than the 90 degree V8 just because that engine has the turbos on the outside is somewhat disingenuous I would say.
Looks - This is a good looking car! One of the better looking Mclarens for sure. That, however, doesn't seem to be the problem - many people seem to agree that the car looks good. The problem is the car looking way too similar to other Mclarens. While some argue that this doesn't matter - for example because the 911 has been the same for ages - I would disagree. For one, the 911 is a sports car. The Artura is a supercar. Supercars need to have a distinctive look. If you can mistake one supercar for another, that's styling job failure in my book. And for two, you could argue that the 911 is a special case and the look is by a very large degree dictated by the position of the engine, as well as by market pressure. Anyone remembering the shitstorm that happened around the 996 - even though the car fit the formula perfectly, except for one little detail, that being the headlights? That said, with there being so many supercars produced these days, having a look that immediately places a car as being a member of a particular brand is probably more important now than ever. Still, for a completely new car, I think that more could have been done to distinguish it from older models.
Desirability/Market Viability - This one is a pretty subjective, but I am not sure Mclaren hits the home run here. The car appears to be very competent on many fronts and more suited than ever to be a daily driver. I could see that being appealing to some people for sure. There is also the novelty of owning a completely new Mclaren after years of iterative designs and the novelty of owning possibly your first hybrid supercar, or a hybrid car of any sorts even. Among the elites, there also seems to be a lot of appetite for virtue signalling and buying a car with "environmental credentials" could be a reason for purchase as well. That's on one side. On the other, this doesn't seem to be a very exciting car at all. It's heavy, has only a V6, doesn't really sound great and while it looks good, it could be mistaken for older models. It might be a good proposition as far as new models are concerned, but I wouldn't be surprised if it started to face opposition from older cars. Personally, to give you an example, for my second car (not to mention my third) I would much rather buy a manual Ferrari 360 than this, and that would also be true for a large number of other manual, or at least NA supercars from the past. Now, that might just be me speaking as an enthusiast and not be indicative of the market in general, but there is also a good chance that someone who wants a rather unexciting, but capable and daily drivable supercar, will buy a luxury SUV instead. I know, that's funny, but it appears to be somewhat true. So how successful do I think the car is gonna be? No sure. I could see it go in any direction. From complete failure, to middling, to big success. The prevailing feeling is: middling.
Oh, one other thing - and this should go without saying - Mclaren will really need to step up their QA game on this one. If they release yet another model with quality/reliability issues, then they are finished. Already I would be quite apprehensive about buying the Artura because of their past issues, but this being a completely new car, being built under a new leadership, I would be willing to forget the sins of the past and give them a chance. But just one. The car seems to have a lot of new technologies (the "ethernet canbus" comes to mind) that have the potential to be rather unreliable. It's also being made in a new factory. So I really hope they got on top of all the possible issues.
Someone get that (wo)man a Zamalek!
