Driving the Luxurious New McLaren 570GT in Tenerife

Driving a supercar is undoubtedly a luxury, on par with sailing in a yacht or flying in a private jet. Owning one, all the more so. But exotic as they are, supercars aren't always all that luxurious, typically focused single-mindedly on delivering performance. That's where the new McLaren 570GT comes in. Based on the same technology as the recently introduced 570S, the 570GT emerges with a different mission. While clearly focused on performance, the GT is designed to be more luxurious. That's new territory for McLaren. So we flew out to Tenerife in the Canary Islands to find out how it all came together.

One of the most successful racing teams in Formula One, McLaren launched its Automotive division in 2010. It developed a carbon-fiber monocoque chassis, a 3.8-liter twin-turbo V8, and a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission, constructing around those building blocks three lines of supercars. The Sports Series (of which the 570GT is part) is the most accessible, taking McLaren technologies to a new market to compete with the likes of the Audi R8 and Porsche 911 Turbo. So while you pay relatively less to get into a Sports Series model, you're getting the same essential ingredients as the pricier Super Series or Ultimate Series models. 

The Sports Series kicked off with the 570S coupe and will soon include a convertible as well, but incorporates a sloping roofline under which McLaren fitted the Touring Deck – a luggage compartment fitted atop the engine, behind the seats, and swathed (like the rest of the cabin) in the finest leather. Together with the trunk up front, the addition of the Touring Deck gives the 570GT a combined luggage capacity of 13 liters. That's bigger than the trunk on the four-door Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class. Along with the added cargo capacity, McLaren also gave the 570GT a raft of creature comforts. It features a panoramic glass roof, more leather, soft-closing butterfly doors, better insulation from road noise, and power everything, as well as a slightly softer suspension, easier steering rack, and quieter tires. Incrementally softer the 570GT may be than its stablemates, it still delivers blistering performance. With 562 horsepower on tap, it will run from 0-60 in 3.3 seconds and top out at 204 mph. And it feels at least that fast.

Our drive took us from the Ritz-Carlton in Abama on the southern end of the island, along twisting roads, through sun-drenched towns, and down wide open highways, piercing the cloud line to scale the volcano at Mount Teide. At over 12,000 feet above sea level, it's the highest point you'll find in Spain or any Atlantic island, and is home to one of the world's foremost astronomical observatories. The thin air is enough to rob an engine of precious power, but the McLaren never missed a beat, summoning command performance at every drop of the pedal.

Having driven four different McLaren models by now, this writer wasn't surprised by the 570GT's capacity to perform. More surprising was how I felt afterwards. A full day of squeezing the best out of such a supercar can be exhausting, leaving its driver looking forward to the next drive...on another day. But the Grand Tourer left me feeling relaxed and ready to keep on driving right there and then. As dramatic and impressive as they may look sitting in the driveway or garage, supercars are meant above all to be driven. The accomplishment, then, of the more usable, more drivable, more livable 570GT is setting the stage for the supercar to be driven more. And for that feat alone, we have to take our drivers' caps off to McLaren.

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