The Lamborghini 720S comes into our hands with English registration, although the steering wheel is on the continental side, that is, on the left, and although we can have it for several days, caution forces us to take it for one day of mountain travel. The 720S impresses to see it, and even more so in the yellow McLaren color our unit wears. The doors have a forward and upward opening that may seem like ‘posture’ but is very comfortable to access
a sports car which, as the canons prescribe, is not very wide.
The carbon fiber body and chassis, designed by the team that implemented this material in Formula 1, are visible and make the cabin slightly narrower than usual.
The engine sits
in rear center position, the best for a sports car, and the propulsion is later, although we will go into detail about the mechanics later. In terms of design, McLaren has managed to find its place without copying others, with shapes that are easy to identify with the brand. I especially like the way they solved the air intake on the side, thus hiding the opening of the doors. The headlights don’t look the most attractive, but they’re very personal, and the rear is just brutal, unique, a role model of integrating beauty and functionality: lights, grilles, exhausts… everything fits.
The show ends inside, and is it that compared to the outside it’s an ‘average’ car, or is it that we’re starting to get used to the extravagances? The fact is that the steering wheel is round! Almost unbelievably, and it has no built-in controls or buttons, unlike, say, Ferrari, that
removed the turn signal levers to integrate all the controls on the steering wheel next to the ‘manettino’. Two different ways to offer the same thing: riding with passion to the limit.
Of course the McLaren clock box has an ace up its sleeve and in sport mode it rotates vertically to provide only the minimal information to the driver. In the center of the console, vertical and well presented, are the gear buttons, the driving modes and the one that allows you to choose the degree of slip in the new ‘drift type’ mode, as well as the screen. Our hands sweat,
the outside of the car smells like ‘ferodo’ as the veterans would say and as we step out of our car through the spectacular and practical door that opens vertically, the brakes creak and ‘sound like popcorn’ as a good friend puts it.
The cold of the mountains of Madrid makes itself felt on our backs, tempered by tension more than effort, and while this machine is not physically demanding, it needs all available mental attention to connect the turns as we have done it so far, after two hours behind the wheel that started in
a discreet parking space on the outskirts of Madrid, where they gave us the car keys.
Of all the brands on the market, not a McLaren had yet passed through our hands, a press unit we mean. Both as a passenger and behind the wheel we had ‘tasted’ a few examples, especially the first MP4-12C, the name with which the brand launched its model range in 2011, but as private cars we never commit excesses.
This lack of test units is partly due to the fact that the brand is very young. The racing team is one of the greats of Formula 1 and is now also in Indycar or Formula E. As for road cars,
McLaren launched the McLaren F1 in the 1990s, a three-seater with central drive that they came to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans. But the current project is very different.
The brand embarked on the colossal odyssey to overtake Ferrari or Lamborghini by making sports cars and has put all its know-how into it: carbon fiber chassis, a very powerful V8 engine that almost races and, almost from the start, the launch of a hybrid supercar like the P1. This has allowed McLaren to be placed in the Olympus of “must have” if you have brands since its arrival on the market in 2011
high purchasing power and you collect carsbut after those early years you have to stay in the ‘lightweight’, and the brand has refined its launches and expanded its commercial network, in the case of Spain with a dealer in Barcelona that is simply the best in the world from Mark.
McLaren now has a range of more ‘comfortable’ models – GT or Gran Turismo -, a sportier car – Super Series or Sport Series – and a range of exclusive and very limited editions called ‘Ultimate’ – such as the well-known
McLaren Senna-, and the best part is that each of its cars is named after its power and category, so that the 720S is a model of 720 CV of the Sport series. How far has that McLaren MP4-12C come on the market with!
We let the four-liter V8 roar, two turbos and 720 CV, illuminated by some red LEDs, and we head for the Sierra de Madrid. The numbers for this car are outrageous: it accelerates from 0 to 100 in 2.9 seconds, exceeds 340 per hour and weighs just 1,500 kilograms with the driver on board. Still, we go ‘slow’, enjoying what would be a ‘grand tourer’, ie a car to cover long distances with good suspension comfort.
This car does the job.Another thing is the luggage, which would go something in the front trunk of 150 liters or the rear of 210 liters.
We don’t go more than 120 an hour for fear that those who are recording us on their cell phones and risking their lives will put us on the networks, and while the McLarens are starting to become normal in sports concentrations, they are not so much on the street, and the ‘neck twisting’ effect remains of the first order.
We look at the saw and start the sports mode. There is an extra that would allow us to drift
their slope, and while the large skier parking lots, empty in the last days of autumn, are tempting, the truth is that we want them to leave us another McLaren, and the crushing of the Pirelli PZero making ‘doughnuts’ at the first change would wipe out our chances of a second date. So we hit the corners.
The steering of the 720S perfectly mimics what happens under the tarmac. It is very sensitive and fast, and allows you to judge the grip of the car and whether or not to step on the accelerator again. The exhaust in sport mode fills the cabin, with a nice sound, albeit not with the melody that came out a few years ago
atmospheric engines. It doesn’t seem as hard to drive as other cars of this calibre, so we started speeding up the braking with the carbon ceramic brakes, to connect the corner and feel comfortable in the car. We are not experts in this kind of model, but the driving comes naturally, it is not like other sports cars where the sensations come from strong braking, great acceleration or a lot of noise. Here, each line is a “whole,” with turns and acceleration intertwined incessantly.
It’s time to crank up the adrenaline, so we speed up the gears and the engine enters a second, sportier phase of operation. It revs faster, revs up with more fury, and the whole car accompanies the engine in its new job: cutting over and over again. The tarmac is a bit wet but still the 720S makes no strangers and moves and corrects everything we do with the steering wheel with crushing speed. We set foot on the short straights, and the McLaren wakes up with its zigzagging rear end, and
you have to be careful not to lift your foot so as not to get into the electronic controls. It is easy to carry in a way, without commanding the respect of the Italians, made of steel or aluminum and therefore heavier, and with pointed engines, with more character, but we don’t know if they are as effective in speed like this Briton’s 720 CV, whose seven-speed dual-clutch automatic works with inexhaustible precision.
It’s time to appraise the car. You fall in love with this McLaren for its precision, for the comfort in the interior, for the easy handling of our mistakes in drawing or with the paddle shifters. figuratively, of course.
Is
impractical inside, it has few places to leave objects, it is not very technological and the multimedia team does not try to surprise with false artifices. The 720S shines with its striking body, but loses some power with its understated interior. The mechanics, yes, are on another level, one where after stopping at a bend in the road, we took off thinking that although we’re not going as fast as possible, there wouldn’t be a car that could top it in this way, regardless of power or brand.
That’s what surprises us. It doesn’t have the fury of an AMG GT, nor the finesse of a Porsche 911, nor the character of a Lamborghini Huracán, nor the charisma of a Ferrari F8, but it still attracts us to the full. It might be its extraordinarily effective mechanics, the kind that don’t make you realize you’ve raised your driving level just to take it up a notch or two, maybe that’s why your hands are sweating, we didn’t think we were capable of that much.
We cool the car and stop to record the accompanying video for our YouTube channel and they ask us the price. We haven’t even looked at it, it’s not something that often worries those who look at these cars, but of course you should know, and it’s about 285,000 euros, options barred, of which our unit certainly has a good pinch. It’s more expensive than its rivals, and it is
a statement of intentBecause we are not dealing with a McLaren, but with the most powerful of the Super Series before moving on to limited editions.
We return to the capital and give the keys to the spell of this car. Shall we put it in the garage for one of the sporty “classics”? It’s hard to know, since there hasn’t been any luck with ‘El Gordo’, we’ll wait for the ‘Niño lottery’ to see if the future puts us in this fantastic position.
For those who can buy it without a lottery involvedPerhaps this car is missing a ‘rogue’ point, either in the interior, in the sound of the exhaust or in the response of the engine and gearbox. The 720S is very ‘racing’ with every part following a function, but a spicier version would delight fans, who would certainly pay extra for those doses of exclusivity…
Source: La Verdad
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
