Long-term test of the 2024 McLaren Artura

Why we drove it: To see if the most vital McLaren in a dozen years is as simple to live with as it is fun to drive.

Has the stunning supercar revealed its true colors during our six months together?

I don’t know, but it would be understandable if some hands crossed in Woking on the day a McLaren Artura Ember Orange set off to spend the next six months as a driver.

After all, the car’s arrival had been delayed. Then, after some well-documented hiccups in its press release, it was delayed again.

This time, the car just had to be perfect, for a few hours on the road and a few laps on the track, but also for thousands of kilometers accumulated month after month.

So let’s look this straight in the eye right now. Well, in that time 3 things have happened that have required McLaren’s attention, which, at first glance, doesn’t seem very important.

But one of them was that it came with the popular passive cruise lever, not with the button that deserved to have allowed the installed active formula to vary the distance with respect to the vehicle in front of it. The cruise worked perfectly and this was obviously an undeniable oversight, which I think can be forgiven.

The other “failure” was more mine than the car’s, not having noticed a bump big enough to swallow a small horse. The wheel and tire hit so hard that I wouldn’t have been surprised if I had flipped the car over.

See all reviews

The fact that the only damage is the Pirelli tyre sensor that tells the car its temperature and tension is a striking example of how well it is built. He didn’t even delete the tracking.

The real failure, then, is an under-the-car gasket that abandoned the fight against the relentlessly rainy winter and let water into the car, soaking the carpet on the passenger’s floor. No, it’s okay.

McLaren may have said it as an isolated case, but they had actually noticed it in some other car as well. Is this disappointing? A bit. If it were my car, would I have to send it back to McLaren and request a refund?

Of course not. Because otherwise the car is spotless. And brilliant.

But I’m not going to live off the punch that comes from packing a 671 HP power train into a ton and a half of supercars with carbon tubes, nor the amazing grip, balance and balance of the tires, nor the lucidity of the power. that’s hydraulic. -Power steering, because that’s all you notice during test drives.

To that end, I’m much more interested, at least professionally, in how this very low-volume supercar was going to live, day in and day out, in a conducive and, as it turned out, more commonly dirty climate. Because if it worked that way for me, it works for just about anyone, almost anywhere.

And it worked. Some issues to highlight in the “boring but important” column. The fact that it will operate quietly has made the procedure of overtaking neighbours to catch Heathrow’s red-eyes far less excruciating than it has been so far.

It will defog a frost-covered windshield and warm the cabin in seconds on subfreezing mornings because you don’t want to wait for an internal combustion engine to warm up to provide heat to the vehicle. cabin.

You can see everything around me, in all directions, as well as the Porsche 911 2 2 that has now replaced it in front of my house. You can now access the individual switches for chassis and powertrain modes without taking your hands off the wheel.

And Apple CarPlay is standard, which I know shouldn’t be a big deal, however, like any previous or current McLaren owner accustomed to the company’s own infotainment attempts, it surely is. It has a much larger boot than the 911 and a useful area for seats, but it does not have a glove compartment and the on-board garage space is insufficient.

Another hidden merit of the car’s hydraulic guide is that it literally cannot turn for you, thus saving you from that specific misery. It will still bleat if you drift out of its lane, but – and this is the vital point – only if you’re such a bad driving force that you probably need a formula to let you know you’re accidentally wandering onto the road. In that case, I wonder if this car or any other car is really for you. Unlike any other new car, I don’t forget to drive recently, this one is disabled by default.

Unfortunately, it’s been a long time before I can get the 20hp power that’s popular in the 2025 Style Car of the Year (and which will be installed for free on all previous Artura), but I don’t see it adding much. Except when the traction kept the engine in the wet, I never wanted it to have more strength.

It is possibly not a car for everyone after a supercar that costs about 200,000 euros. Its appearance derives too much from previous McLarens and isn’t dramatic enough to make you the centre of attention wherever you go.

The cabin may not make you look like Tom Cruise in Top Gun and there are no herbivorous ungulates on its badge, like those of its Italian rivals. Not even a small flightless bird from the antipodes, perhaps lacking tricks.

No, the only other people this McLaren is likely to appeal to are those who love and enjoy the undeniable activity of driving, to the point where they need to do it in a car that is rewarding, but then breaks down. undeniable to live.

The Artura is that car and I just hope that after a slow and hesitant start, it will now start to be recognised as the iconic supercar that it obviously is.

Second opinion

I’m very happy that Andrew’s experience with the Artura went so well. This car totally deserves the publicity, and I can only see clever things in its favor. The revamped edition has a little more noise and drama, but still has all the benefits of electrification without incurring the same costs as always.

Matt Saunders

Return to the top

Love:

The choice of engine at the height and load of a hybrid is fully justified. More rhythm, more sound, less fuel, quiet operation.

Driving prowess Nothing remotely compares to a McLaren of those days. Brilliantly resolved chassis.

Ease of use Fabulous visibility, perfect ergonomics and the now popular CarPlay make this a position you may not need to leave.

I hate this:

Exit Strategy If you’re middle-aged and overweight, it’s not as simple or as worthy as it deserves to be.

Space Invaders It’s not as bad as a Ferrari, but I got tired of highway thugs invading the area around it.

Final Mileage: 5911

Return to the top

No regenerative braking would be grounds for appeal – May 22

McLaren will not regenerate the Artura’s brakes for fear of affecting the feel of the pedal. This illustrates the company’s preference for offering as natural a driving experience as possible, but it limits the diversity of electric cars somewhat. I’m not sure to what extent the very good pedal feel would have been compromised; however, for McLaren, any amount would have been too much.

Mileage: 5994

The interior of the Artura heats up at the speed of a supercar. . . – May 15

One of the least appreciated and most useful byproducts of the Artura’s plug-in hybrid formula is its ability to heat an icy cabin without having to wait for the engine to come up to temperature. I can get into a cocoon of ice and two minutes later regret not taking off my sweater first. It’s also absolute genius when it comes to defogging the windscreen. These may seem like small details, but in the real world they matter.

Mileage: 5,888

Ours is back at full speed, but will it be able to chase a 750S?- May 8

Last time I said that something happened to the Artura when its Pirelli winter tires were replaced by the P Zero rubber that the cars come standard. Well, to be honest, it wasn’t that because I had been here before.

It was in 2019 and I was a 720S that a similar change took place. And with that came what seemed like an additional two hundred horsepower. This car, which until then had felt vigorously fast, temporarily presented a functionality bordering on the disjointed. And we have just experienced an action broadcast with Artura.

Its acceleration was never weak, but I found that it was unable to distract me from the hybrid system’s speed point. It turns out, however, that it all depends on traction, or lack thereof.

Despite this, I was surprised enough that the Artura was now feeling gloriously maniacal enough at the most sensible moment to catch McLaren’s eye. You already knew that the car knows it has winter tires – it will tell you in one of the submenus, and this is the data it needs to limit its top speed to prevent others from exceeding the winter speed index.

But I also think it’s probably receiving information from its spies on the front lines, in the form of sensors installed in the Pirelli “Cyber” tires, which transmit all kinds of information about temperatures and voltages to the car.

But the technical team came back and said “no. ” The traction and stability control systems are not mapped depending on which tire the car is fitted with, as both have more than enough bandwidth to deal with all the most likely scenarios.

But why was I not aware of the intervention of stability systems?Firstly, the warning light is tiny and hidden behind the steering wheel, but also because its intervention is almost too effective: sophisticated enough to make it look like the engine is running. wasting power.

I saw the same light on a Senna and turned off those controls just to see what a difference it made. A single experience of what happened next was enough to immediately reassure them.

It’s that violent on the Artura, but the engine, now completely unplugged, is still sturdy enough to make you gasp. I also had the possibility to spend time in a 750S and ride in any of them back-to-back.

This makes for an attractive comparison. The lighter and even stronger 750 is in a category of functionality that is beyond the reach of the Artura, but is also beyond (far beyond, in fact) what can be safely deployed on the road. public, so the genuine benefits it gains are marginal at best.

But you can feel the fact that the 750S weighs more than 100kg less in the clarity of the guide and in its preference for replacing the steering. The driving pleasure it provides is even more natural and memorable.

But would it change, even if there wasn’t a £60,000 difference between the two?Probably not: As a middle-aged guy with a comfortable butt, I appreciate the Artura’s less competitive driving, his calmer, more comfortable voice, and the fact that I don’t wake up the whole village every time I pass by to have a morning blast. So I’d stick with the Artura, if it were the same.

Unfortunately, this is not the case. His time with me is coming to an end and I only have a few weeks left until his release. Trust me: I’ll make the most of it.

The Force Awakens

It’s now as fast as one could wish a road car to be.

I hate this

Phantom menace

The passenger’s belt alarm even sounds with a shopping bag in the seat.

Mileage: 5488

Finally some sunshine after the rain, but before any of it reaches our supercar, April 24

Things have happened to Artura since the last time we met: one planned and good, the other none.

So let’s take care of that first. If you think we’ve had a pretty wet start to the year, you don’t live in South Wales. To describe the first quarter of this year as rainy is to describe the Atacama Desert as dry.

We were flooded, soaked and drowned relentlessly for months. And through it all, this exotic, low-volume, carbon fiber-shelled supercar was there.

One morning, when I was on board and about to leave for somewhere, I stretched out a finger to tap the screen to remove the thin film of water that was there, but it had no effect. I tried to back off, meeting the criteria of insanity of doing the same thing over and over again and hoping for other results. There were none.

Briefly, I thought something was in the windshield wiper mechanism, so the blade was no longer in contact with the screen. Only then did I see something I hadn’t seen before: there was water inside the screen.

With no time to investigate further, I told Artura’s heating and ventilation formula to dry said screen, which it did in seconds, and I couldn’t think of anything else. Until two days later, when the humidity returned.

Scratching to find out what was going on, I put my hand on the passenger floor mat and found that it was wet, which was the source of the problem, but not the reason. The car was already due to return to McLaren for reasons I’ll explain in a minute, so I asked them to investigate.

Maybe they said whatever, blamed me for leaving a window open or came up with a series of excuses, but they didn’t do it, which is commendable. Instead, they told me that water had entered through a faulty seal in what they described as the eVac unit.

This is a passive vent under the car, designed to equalize the tension in the cabin when the air conditioning is used. And under constant high-speed bombing on sodden roads, it had failed. They didn’t even realize that this was an isolated case. “I’ve never noticed anything like this before, dear boss: you know it happened in another car.

But now it has been redone, the mats have dried (there is also a little moisture on the driver’s side and the car has returned. The reason why at the stop it was already planned to change the Pirelli “Sotto Zero” winter tires that They were my saviors in the last 4 months for the popular P Zero, which is the default tire on the Artura.

Next time I’ll improvise more on a curious (and entirely positive) aspect of this update, but unsurprisingly, the guide that’s already pretty good seems even purer and the grip levels now surpass anything you might need to implement on a public road, banishing the Shitos’ slight underleadership position in the story.

Unless you’re thinking of fitting an even softer tyre like the Pirelli Corsa, because all it will do is provide dry grip that you don’t want (and can’t use) at the expense of wet grip. you surely do.

In the meantime, I have to settle for the fact that my time with Artura, endlessly interesting, extremely fast, fabulously calm, and, so far, absolutely flawless, is coming to an end.

But with a new pair of boots and, well, a decent average weather forecast, you can be sure I’ll make the most of what little time we have left together.

Gummed

The grip and guidance reaction of the Pirelli P Zero tyres are a game-changer.

I hate this

Despite its new monocoque, the Artura doesn’t go off-road any more than any other McLaren.

Mileage: 5,201

The Artura is good, but the Porsche 911R is still elegant – April 10

I met a friend who had owned a few McLarens, adding a 570GT, a 675LT and his existing 720S, so naturally he was up for a try on the Artura. That meant I had to get into his Porsche 911 R. The things I do for my friends. . . Your verdict?” The Artura is very, very impressive, easy to drive and very fast; it doesn’t have the power of the 720S. “I don’t disagree. And the R? Fabulous.

Mileage: 4921

A supercar capable of traveling 1,285 miles on a single tank of fuel? Maybe after the update. . . – March 20

You’ve probably gotten your hands on the Artura and find that the car is already being upgraded. It’s now absolutely common for companies to slightly replace their cars with each new design year, but this is rarely a minor cosmetic replacement. : is a primary mechanical upgrade.

Because this coincides with the arrival of the Spider version, it might be easy to overlook the fact that the revised Artura comes with 20 more hp, 25% faster shift times, electronic dampers that react 90% faster , a new exhaust formula to get the most out of the V6’s herbal tones, a wheel slip mode to maximize the drama of gravel escapades and even a few extra miles are added to its electric range.

What do the current owners of Artura deserve to think? Overall, I think they deserve to be happy because the interesting part, those extra 20 hp, will also be passed on to their car the next time they visit a dealership. So go in with a 671bhp Artura and head out with a 691bhp Artura, or 700bhp as McLaren likes to call it. The price? No pounds or pennies.

Speaking of progress, one of the biggest advancements McLaren Automotive has made in the thirteen years it has been promoting cars is its infotainment formula and we don’t underestimate how vital this can be to the purchasing decision.

From the early MP4-12Cs that came with navigation controls but no actual navigation, to the horrible IRIS formula developed by McLaren, to the bigger but not brilliant Android-based formula that replaced it, to this thing we have in the Artura, completely Functional Apple CarPlay: the transformation has been extraordinary.

And even if you rightly point out that CarPlay is now found in some of the cheapest cars on sale, getting into something as exotic as this and having it work exactly how you need it to is an absolute bargain.

And anyone who’s ever spent time battling the horribly bulky systems that have been installed in the cockpits of true low-volume supercars will know what I’m talking about.

Meanwhile, for those waiting for things to go wrong, their ordeal continues. I admit that the diversity demonstration is almost meaningless after filling the tank, in short it warned me that I could get 1285 miles on this tank. , which I think would mean an average of around 80 mpg; however, on the 720S I rode a while ago I did exactly the same thing.

I know everyone does that, sir, it’s the worst excuse, but for the sake of accuracy, it’s worth pointing out. Of course, when I came here to photograph this nonsense to illustrate my point, it covered a very believable distance. 285 miles. Any other flaws or oddities?

One morning, when the car was frozen, it took a quick tug to open a door because the window momentarily refused to go down. But beyond that, I’m struggling.

There is something else that I hesitate to point out a little because I have no empirical evidence to support it. While it’s fabulously fast and definitely one of the cars that feels like it’s going slower than it actually is, it is. Not literally ripping off my face when I give it the total pimples, or at least not until a safe speed is reached. Accumulated.

And I have a theory about it, which is this: the car knows it has winter tires, not only because the tires include microchips that post messages on the car’s electronic dialer, but also because the car itself is set to winter tire mode. .

And I think that reduces functionality until the car relies on having all-wheel drive, which in the wet, on a car like this, can be quite an illegal speed.

I see the little tug glow softly. I also don’t forget that the exact same thing happened with the 720S, even though it didn’t have “cyber tires” and went completely crazy when I put summer tires on it.

That’s what I expect to happen with the Artura, especially if it gains an extra 20 hp in the process, which I’m told will be the case. I can’t wait.

I like that

An apple a day. . .

With the popular CarPlay, the biggest barrier to using a McLaren has been removed.

I hate this

Take control

False claims about diversity and unnecessarily early traction intervention on winter tires are minor complaints.

Mileage: 4554

Bicester’s show car is verbally and physically criticized – February 7

The other day I was at the Bicester Heritage Sunday Scramble, a brilliant, no-class occasion for petrol enthusiasts and even electroheads (if such creatures can exist) of all kinds.

I’m there with Artura, who is part of a small exhibition. As a result, I spent most of the day telling other people.

And while it’s true that most comments praise the car (they like the looks, even if it’s too similar to previous McLarens, the £4,400 Ember Orange paint and the concept of its downsized V6 plug-in hybrid powertrain) . ), one or two more specific conversations also had to be had.

The former said: “Yes, it’s very smart, but not as smart as a Ferrari 296 GTB, right?”To which the reaction was: “It’s not a fair comparison, because they’re both powered by 120-degree twin-turbo hybrid engines, the Ferrari costs £65,000 more than the Artura and even more than £10,000 more than the new McLaren. 750S, which, although less powerful, has a higher power-to-weight ratio than the Ferrari. “

The moment of verbal exchange (and I had it several times that day) began with a question and a smile: “Has this ever gone wrong?”To which the reaction was: “Except for the incorrect cruise configuration, which has already been corrected, it has not happened. “He even seemed to have a hard time still. This is just the beginning and does not deserve to be a matter of pride, however, it shows what McLaren faces according to some people’s belief.

This doesn’t mean that nothing is broken. A few weeks ago, while driving home in the dark on one of those bad days we’ve experienced in recent years, I dropped a wheel in what I thought was a puddle that turned out to be a pothole full of water. A deep pothole, with sharp edges and vertiginous walls.

There followed one bong after another and I knew immediately where the two came from. The bump, the puncture of the tire and the buckling of the wheels, the bump of the car told me. Except I was wrong. To my surprise, as I watched the noise and jolt, the wheel and tire surely looked perfect.

The explosion warns that the car had lost its ability to control tire pressure. It turns out that those Sottozero winter boots are also what Pirelli calls “cyber tires” and inside each of them there is a sensor that allows the car to know its temperature and pressure.

Very intelligent. Unless you’re unlucky enough to hit the tire violently at the point on its circumference where the sensor is located. That’s exactly what happened to me. The tire itself was not damaged, but the sensor was destroyed and the only way to clear the warning on the dashboard was to update it.

However, I wouldn’t upgrade those Sottos for the world. Pirelli track day rubber is the best, and I’ve even felt in the afterlife that some of McLaren’s more excessive products have been held back by them (the Senna in particular). , but if there is a bad weather tire worse than this, I haven’t driven it.

I like that

Rain or shine

It offers all-weather functionality with its Pirelli winter tires, with almost no deterioration in feel or ride quality.

I hate that

Energy shortages

In EV mode, the engine can start before the battery runs out, further limiting the already short diversity in electric-only mode. In EV mode, the engine can start before the battery runs out, further limiting the already short diversity in electric mode. short diversity in electric-only mode.

Mileage: 3673

Who says supercars are practical? – January 31

Because my family and friends drink beer, I do most of my Christmas shopping each year at the fabulous Wye Valley Brewery. I’m a little nervous about having to shove 8 mini kegs of their most productive and featured beer, Butty Bach, up the nose of the Artura (it’s 72 pints, after all), but in this case, it probably would have downed a dozen. . Array Who said these cars were not practical?

Mileage: 3299

back to the top

Welcome Artura to the fleet – January 17, 2024

It has been, it must be said, a while. We drove the McLaren Artura for the first time in summer 2022, a launch that itself had been delayed from autumn 2021.

And even then the car was not ready. As road test editor Matt Saunders said at the time: “I expect the Artura to be a smart car once its manufacturer, despite everything, fully responds to the demanding situations related to its arsenal of new technologies. ” fiber; a new electrical architecture; a completely new V6 engine and eight-speed transmission; a new generation of infotainment system and all its plug-in hybrid components, I’m afraid, possibly not yet ready.

Sometimes I’m surprised by the ambition of this project, just as I did a few years ago when another relatively small automaker called Aston Martin to create an entirely new platform for its all-new SUV and build it in a new factory with the logo.

Simply launching the Artura’s engine onto the market, which met emissions criteria and was fully homologated around the world, would have been a task to make the Hercules get away with.

When Aston tried the same thing, it all ended up in the trash. And this electric architecture, faster, lighter and adapted to McLarens for generations to come, as wonderful as it was, would still have been a headache. No, there were initial problems.

But this specific Artura is the real deal, or at least it has to be. Unlike launch cars, this is not a pre-production prototype, but a traditional prototype for which no excuses are needed or made: well damaged, on time, in running condition.

And for the next few months, rain or shine and probably bad weather, he’ll be my driver.

I’d be lying if I said I’m not excited about this prospect. I know we all deserve to be on the lookout for this kind of thing, but if you can get it, when someone gives you the keys to a sub-3,000-pound, 671-horsepower supercar and you don’t need them back for a while, you would. possibly be in the paint box – or play.

He may have had a lot more to say about his specs, but McLaren is so busy fulfilling existing orders that a new car wouldn’t have arrived until the summer, and while I might like it even more at that point, I don’t think it has to wait any longer and, besides, a cold, rainy winter poses a much bigger challenge. If it can become a kind of all-season, all-season supercar, it will be a fundamental advantage in its favor.

All I asked for was a car with comfortable seats, as I plan to drive it long distances, and a raised nose to allow it to pass on my daily commute. What emerged was a car with an optional outlay of over £30,000, which may seem like a lot but I think it’s pretty typical, maybe even a little modest.

I was a little worried when I heard it orange (I’m a dark gray/blue type, don’t look at me), however, it’s the darkest of the 4 oranges and I think it looks great.

The Performance Pack adds Nappa leather, some titanium finishes, an Alcantara surface and more, while the Technology Pack adds a 12-speaker audio enhancement, adaptive cruise control, parking cameras and lane departure warning, which is off by default, where it will remain.

The only other significant prices were the game’s exhaust, which I wouldn’t have unless someone told me it was a must-have for its resale value, and the stunning ultra-light 10-spoke forged alloy wheels.

I am amused by the Practicality package, which adds the nose lift, parking sensors and soft-close doors; it amuses me because it’s a flexible option and I’d be interested to see if McLaren can offer a car without it.

Why not simply make it a standard? I’m not sure, but my cynical interior isn’t blind to the fact that if it were designed that way, the car’s curb weight would be greater, not less, than the magic 1,500kg mark.

First impressions? Bad cruise control lever apart (it lacks the button that varies the distance with the vehicle in front but otherwise works very well), the car is perfect. Fit and finish is precisely what is expected from such a car and the electronics are yet to drop a single point.

And I’m already a fan of the electrical side. The strength it provides, the delay it eliminates, etc. These are for later reports, but for now, as I get to know the car, I’m treating it as a civilian mode. .

This allows me to leave the house at terrible hours of the morning without disturbing my neighbors, I drive silently through cities and towns with any prior announcement of my arrival and on trips that fall within its 19 mile range, this makes this supercar Su It is less expensive to run than my 1. 5 liter Volkswagen Golf.

This is just the beginning for Artura and me, but if we want to make up for lost time, we couldn’t do much more than this.

Second opinion

As a supercar, the Artura has apparent appeal, but it’s its express supercar flavor that I find compelling. It might be a hybrid and incredibly complex, but it has an organic, subtly gritty style not found anywhere else. Comfort seats are also a good idea.

Richard Lane

Prices: List price new £189,200 List price now £190,460 (2025 model year £202,660) Price as tested £221,400

Options: Technology Pack £6,800, Sports Exhaust £4,700, Ultralight Forged Alloy Wheels £4,500, Performance Interior £4,400, Elite Orange Ember Paint £4,400, Electric and Heated Comfort Seats with Memory £3,300, Black Pack £2,000, Gloss Black Finish interior £1,100, Stealth exhaust finish £1,000, Practical package £0

Fuel Consumption and Range: Claimed Economy 61. 5 mpg Fuel Tank Liters Test Average 30. 3 mpg Optimal Test 32. 1 mpg Worst Test 19. 4 mpg Actual Range 440 miles

Technical highlights: 0-62 mph 3. 0 s Top speed 205 mph V6 engine, 2993 cm3, twin-turbo, petrol and engine Maximum force 671 hp at 7100 rpm Maximum torque 531 lb-ft at 2250 rpm 8-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission Boot capacity 160 litres Wheels 9. 0 Jx19 inches (f), 11. 0Jx20 inches (r) Tyres 235/35 R19 (f), 295/35 R20 (r) Curb weight 1,498 kg

Service and Operating Prices: Contract Rental Fee N/A CO2 104 g/km Service Prices None Other Prices None Fuel Prices £1,093 Operating Prices Adding Fuel £1,093 (plus a small amount of electrical power not yet specified) Cost consistent with mile 22. 1p, do not add electrical Power Breakdowns Incorrect Cruise Lever Installed; defective seal under the car, consistent with water ingress; Defective sensor in Pirelli tire

Excellent car, still 10 years old in terms of design.

The ultimate observation for me is “but McLaren is so busy fulfilling existing orders that a new car wouldn’t have arrived until the summer. “I hope this means satisfied days in Woking.

Some missions are bigger than others! It’s hard to believe that this handmade mechanical art costs less than some mass-produced VWs. What an epic achievement.

Leave a Comment Cancel Reply