Ray Ho – 05/15/2018

I am not a religious person.  But I found myself uttering “Oh My God!” throughout my test drive of the 2018 McLaren 570S Spider.

The McLaren 570S Spider is equipped with a 562hp 3.8L V8 twin turbo engine with dry sum lubrication. It comes standard with carbon ceramic rotors and starts at $208,800.  Just like most test cars, there are no shortage of options in this one.  The luxury package, 10 spoke lightweight wheels, carbon fiber interior upgrade, sport exhaust and other options elevated the “as tested” prices to $246,250, or just a little over $60K more than the median price of a home in the U.S.  But as the old saying goes, you can live in you car but you cannot drive your house.

Where do we begin with this car?  How about those exotic doors?  Sure they are like stilettos on a woman, they are not very practical but most will agree that they look sexy.  Lifting up or pulling down those doors do require more effort than conventional ones, at least they will shut automatically once you pull them down.

As you snug into the attractively upholstered seats, you will find the interior is sparse when comparing to other “supercars”.   Push up on a level to lift the nose as needed to clear the steep driveway, push a couple of buttons, grab the Alcantara steering wheel and you are good to go.  Don’t worry, the nose will lower when you reach 30MPH.  Once on the road, this mid-engine car is so aerodynamically efficient and the suspension is so impeccable tuned that it handle like nothing I had driven before.  It is so planted onto the ground that it is almost impossible to peel those tires off the pavement, even at very aggressive turns.  Oh My God!  Power is ridiculous and exhaust note is so sweet.  Oh My God!  I can go on and on but carving through the canyon in a car like this McLaren is something I wish all car enthusiasts can experience.

Walking away after the test drive is like saying good bye on the first date with a hot woman.  Though I am not religious, I will be praying for a second date.