2020 McLaren GT First Look

a little over a month ago we were invited to a super-secret briefing where mclaren, famed purveyor of drool-worthy supercars, gave us a chance to pore over an early example of an all-new grand touring model. mclaren let us kick the tires, open doors and ask questions such as "what's the percentage of new parts on this thing?" (answer: 63%.) one of the only things the team from woking proved reluctant to divulge at the time was the car's official name, simply referring to it as "the mclaren of grand tourers."

turns out mclaren gt is the official name. not the fireworks finale we were expecting, but we're no less excited for this car.

today the new 2020 mclaren gt has officially been revealed, and we can finally tell you what we saw. the mclaren gt is the first car of its type, at least within mclaren's modern lineup, combining the world-class performance for which the company is known with new levels of touring comfort. while designing this car, mclaren benchmarked the ferrari portofino, aston martin db11, and porsche 911 turbo s, so it had its work cut out for it.

what's in a name?

gt is shorthand for "grand tourer" (or gran turismo in italiano), a car built for speed but tailored to long-distance comfort. mclaren has already tried its hand at a gt with the grand touring version of its 570 (imaginatively named 570gt — are you seeing a pattern?). that car basically added a glass hatch for a bit more luggage space and softened the track-ready dynamics of the 570s.

the new mclaren gt was designed from the ground up as a grand tourer, so fewer compromises had to be made. at first glance, the gt's shape looks familiar, but the design details are more understated than anything else in mclaren's current lineup. lightweight aluminum body panels stretch over the usual ultra-strong carbon-fiber monocoque structure underneath — called the monocell-ii t, in this latest form — allowing the gt to achieve a relatively feathery weight of 3,384 pounds.

its mid-mounted engine sits 4.7 inches lower than the 570gt's, which nearly doubles the gt's rear trunk space to 14.8 cubic feet. add in the front trunk and you get a total of 20.1 cubic feet. the rear hatch also utilizes more user-friendly front hinges in lieu of the unique side hinges of the 570gt, with the option for power operation. reaching into the hatch space is easier, and while not quite as cavernous as a corvette's trunk, it's said to be able to accommodate a full set of golf clubs or two sets of skis and assorted small luggage.

the hatch blends into an integrated speedtail-style spoiler, which adds elegance even as it serves to keep the rear tires attached to the pavement at speeds up to 203 mph. a plethora of functional vents and gaping intakes funnel air into the engine and work to draw heat out, while dual exhaust pipes rest above a rear diffuser that provides a smooth exit for all the underbody air.

any gt worth its sheet metal needs to deliver decent ride comfort. the mclaren gt employs a new adaptive system called proactive damping control, which uses an advanced software algorithm developed for the mclaren 720s to predict the road surface ahead of the car and make adjustments within milliseconds to compensate. though this suspension system doesn't incorporate a forward-facing camera like some of the german automakers' systems, mclaren cars typically ride superbly, so we have no reason to believe this system won't be good. the gt will have front-end clearance on par with a 911, and, for those particularly pesky driveways, a front lift system raises front clearance to match that of a mercedes c-class sedan.

the gt shouldn't be a slouch when it comes to carving curves either. it still offers the usual comfort, sport and track drive modes, which alter suspension and powertrain settings to suit. mclaren is sticking with its electrohydraulic steering setup that in our experience delivers excellent road feel and precision, but it will be tuning it for easier low-speed effort in the gt.

what's under the hood, er, hatch?

residing beneath that hypothetical set of freshly waxed carradan skis is a new twin-turbocharged 4.0-liter v8 based on the engine from the venerable 720s. mclaren focused on improving efficiency and drivability, so it raised the compression ratio while reducing peak power from a fire-breathing 710 hp to a more leisurely 612 hp.

you'll be less likely to care about that horsepower concession once you're acquainted with the gt's broad torque band and the immediacy of thrust it provides, with 442 lb-ft — of the maximum 465 — filling in at just 3,000 rpm. a smoother-shifting seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission sends power to the rear wheels, and thanks to the miracle of launch control, the mclaren gt will rocket to 60 mph in a factory-claimed 3.1 seconds.

without afterburners on full blast, the gt is estimated to return 17 mpg combined (15 city/21 highway), with a cruising range just shy of 400 miles.

what's it like inside?

getting into the gt is a bit like getting into any other sports series mclaren. the signature dihedral doors swing up and forward, leaving a large aperture to step in through. the h-point, or hip point, of the seat is said to be higher off the ground than it is in the sport series for easier ingress and egress, but it's hard to notice without a back-to-back comparison. this mclaren is still a low car. the dihedral door struts that push the doors open have been reworked and require very little effort to close, especially if you opt for the electronic soft-close function that pulls and latches the door shut the last inch or so.

if you've sat in a modern mclaren before, the gt's cabin will feel familiar, which is certainly no bad thing. the cabin is cozy without feeling cramped, full of beautiful swooping surfaces that are trimmed in leather, suede or carbon fiber. the gt will also be one of the first cars to offer cashmere as an interior material option, so it may be best to skip the ketchup and mustard at the drive-thru window.

overhead, you can opt for an electrochromic roof with five shades of tint, while trick cabin ambient lighting stays completely hidden until lit, projecting through metal trim rather than simply below it. fancy!

mclaren says the gt's new infotainment system is its most advanced yet. the quad-core chip that powers the smartphone-style interface supposedly makes the system five times faster than before. a bowers & wilkins audio system — replete with 12 speakers, a carbon subwoofer and kevlar-coned midrange drivers — is available to suffuse the cabin with sound.

pricing and release date

the 2020 mclaren gt is now available for order, with a starting price of $210,000, which puts it toward the upper end of its competitive set. gts will be arriving at dealerships beginning fall of 2019.