2018 McLaren 570S Spider Opens for Pleasure

While McLaren is well known for enclosed cars like the F1, P1 and 720S, almost all of its early history consisted of open cockpit cars, namely purpose-built racing cars for Can-Am, Formula 1 and Indy car. Of course, the company still builds folding roof and roofless vehicles (though given the form of the F1 team for the last three years, we’d understand if McLaren chose not to discuss the latter), and now there’s another one joining the family: Meet the 2018 McLaren 570S Spider.

Based, as you’ve probably figured out by now, on the 570S coupe, the 570S Spider uses the same carbon fiber MonoCell II chassis as the hard-lid model, but with some additional reinforcements. Those pieces, along with the power-retractable roof mechanism (which takes 15 seconds to do its thing and can make the transformation while the car is traveling 25 mph or slower), add about 100 lbs. relative to the coupe, however the company claims that the bracing makes the Spider’s structural stiffness identical to that of the coupe. Additionally, the rear spoiler is about a half inch taller to compensate for the altered airflow around the greenhouse.

Power, unsurprisingly, comes from the same 562 horsepower 3.8L twin-turbo V8 as the coupe (and the 570GT, for that matter) and is sent to the rear wheels through the same 7-speed dual-clutch transmission. McLaren says the 570S Spider will zip to 62 mph in 3.2 seconds before reaching its roof-up top speed of 204 mph; with the roof down, the v-max is electronically capped at 196 mph. Deliveries are set to begin in August, with U.K. prices starting at the equivalent of about $210,000.

Source: McLaren