McLaren 750S Spider Review

Introduction

McLaren has produced a significant number of cars over the last 14 years or so since becoming an independent supercar manufacturer.

Sure, it didn’t start then – there was the incredible trailblazer of the 1990s, the McLaren F1 hypercar, after all.

And, speaking of Formula One, a few years later, McLaren’s F1 team opted to use Mercedes engines, powering the team to the Constructors’ title in 1998.

Mercedes-Benz owned 40% of the team before the German manufacturer entered the sport as a constructor itself, and its close partnership spawned the lovely Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren in 2003.

But McLaren didn’t make a proper go of it to rival the likes of Ferrari until it launched the 12C in 2011.

Another sixteen cars have followed since then – each divided into its own ‘model line’.

The Sports Series, for example, includes the 12C, the 570S, the 600LT, and the 620R, while the Super Series contains models such as the 650S, 675LT, 720S, and 765LT.

The penultimate one in the list, the 720S, was superseded by a new car a couple of years ago – the 750S.

The 750S is significant, as it's due to be the final McLaren that'll be a non-hybrid, marking a shift in the Woking-based manufacturer's attention to electrification.

While the 750S is a separate model in its own right, it’s technically a facelifted version of the 720S, offering significant upgrades with around a third of its components replaced with updated or all-new designs. It’s also 30kg lighter and offers an increase in power. There’s also a Spider version, which is what we’re testing here.

But, at a time when many of its direct rivals are looking towards plug-in hybrid power, should the 750S be the supercar of choice for those wanting one last hurrah?

We have taken one for a spin to find out.

At A Glance

The 750S bears a strong resemblance to the 720S, but upon closer inspection, several notable differences become apparent.

At the front, there’s more bodywork, with the lower grille now covered, creating two air intakes at either side, with a longer front splitter.

There are more sculpted elements, too, including vertical fins, which aid aggression and cooling.

The large headlights straddle the fold between the bonnet and the front, looking especially menacing, while the bonnet retains its V-shape and features air vents on each side.

Around the sides, the intakes feature revised internal ducting to improve airflow. At the same time, the doors are lighter thanks to carbon upgrades, and the side skirts are slightly more pronounced to improve aerodynamic efficiency.

The differences at the rear are more obvious, though, with a single central dual-exhaust pipe replacing the separate tailpipes of the 720S.

Its rear wing is also wider and 20% lighter, aiding braking and cornering stability, while the diffuser is redesigned to improve downforce.

The rear grille features more mesh, which makes it look more menacing and improves thermal efficiency. Meanwhile, the taillights appear more aggressive, thanks in part to a reprofiled rear bumper and aero channels.

Key Features

There aren’t any trim levels, as such, on the McLaren 750S Spider. It’s more a case of McLaren offers a standard spec and then you customise it to your heart’s (or wallet’s) content.

The 750S Spider gets 19-inch front and 20-inch rear ultra-lightweight forged alloy wheels, carbon-ceramic disc brakes with six-piston aluminium callipers at the front, and an active carbon fibre rear wing.

Inside, there’s a seven-inch portrait infotainment screen with Apple CarPlay, Bluetooth, DAB radio, voice control and satellite navigation, along with an eight-inch digital driver's display, plus dual-zone climate control.

You also get eight-way power-adjustable front seats in a lightweight carbon fibre shell, Alcantara or optional Nappa leather, a flat-bottomed Alcantara steering wheel, magnesium paddle shifters, rain-sensing wipers, ambient lighting, and keyless entry.

The 750S Spider also features a McLaren P1-inspired stainless steel central-exit sports exhaust, automatic LED headlights with high-beam assist, and soft-close dihedral doors with frameless glass.

Add that to power-folding heated door mirrors, parking sensors, a rear-view camera, and a vehicle lift system which raises the nose to avoid speed bumps, and there’s plenty here that should appeal.

The all-important figures, though, are underneath the bodywork. It still features a mid-mounted 4.0-litre twin-turbocharged V8 engine, but as the name of the car suggests, it has been uprated by 30PS, producing 750PS, and is equipped with a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission.

Performance & Drive

Given all that we've discussed so far, one thing that might disappoint is that the top speed of the 750S is slower than that of its predecessor. It has dropped from 212 to 206mph – but that's mainly because of the additional downforce and optimising higher gear ratios for a better all-round driving experience.

Yes, some compromises had to be made, and this is one of them.

The 0-62mph time, though, has come down from 2.9 seconds to 2.8, and it'll do a quarter mile in a smidge over 10 seconds.

At low speeds, the 750S Spider feels surprisingly absorbing, partly due to hydraulically adaptive cross-linked dampers, part of the Predictive Chassis Control suspension system, which has been fine-tuned.

The car can be a bit more fidgety at higher speeds when the road surface isn’t much cop, but you never feel like you’re on the verge of losing control.

There are three driving settings: Comfort, Sport and Track, which adjust the engine, gearbox and suspension, with the middle setting offering the loudest exhaust pops.

Comfort is the mode to leave it in most of the time, though, without doubt, unless you’re on pristine road surfaces or gunning to set a quick lap time around a circuit.

The transmission is glorious – smooth, instantaneous and very complimentary – and it’s also very accommodating of drivers who aren’t as talent-laden as Lando Norris. For instance, suppose you approach a bend in the wrong gear. In that case, there's plenty of time to sort it out, including downshifts. If you accidentally upshift two gears instead of one, you'll be surprised at how natural the continued acceleration feels.

As we’d hoped, the 750S Spider’s handling continues to be delightful. The steering feels even sharper than the 720S Spider, thanks to a quicker power steering rack, which makes the car feel even more agile than before.

It feels perfectly weighted, feeling more aggressive yet more precise, without being excessively sensitive or introducing any skittishness. The result is that, if you’re right on the limits of grip, there’s enough accuracy in the steering – and the nimbleness of the car – to get you out of it.

You can really feel the downforce aiding your journey around a bend – and it's a joy to thread around country roads knowing the nose is going to point exactly where you want it.

The chassis feels tighter and firmer compared with its predecessor – especially in Sports mode, where the body roll is even more tightly controlled.

Of course, with 750PS going through the rear wheels, you can induce some oversteer, but thankfully, all the above means it's relatively easy to control any tail slide once you get some practice in.

Stopping power is also ferocious, thanks to the standard carbon ceramic brakes – your face feels like it’s coming off – the direct opposite of being thrust back into your seat when you accelerate hard.

Inevitably, the Spider (which has a retractable hard-top) isn’t going to be quite as good as the coupe – it’s nearly 50kg heavier, for starters, thanks to a reinforced rear bulkhead.

And driving connoisseurs will notice the coupe is slightly more focused and rigid, particularly under heavy, fast cornering – in fact, the differences are only noticeable on the limit – and there’s no inferiority to the Spider’s ride comfort.

However, while the coupe is superior, most won’t notice – and when you add the additional volume you’ll enjoy from the V8 engine in an open-top version, it’s the Spider that feels more alive.

Running Costs & Emissions

The 750S Spider returns 23.3mpg, producing 276g/km of CO2.

That compares with 23.9mpg and 268g/km of CO2 in the coupe.

Road tax will be through the roof, with the first year’s rate costing £5,490, followed by the standard £195-a-year rate thereafter.

McLaren doesn’t tend to feature in reliability surveys, but the general impression seems to be that they’re much better than they used to be.

Servicing is every 9,000 miles or every 12 months, whichever comes first.

Interior & Technology

The cabin of the 750S looks as inviting as you could imagine.

The Alcantara materials are lovely to touch, and the seats are great to sit in – our test car's seats provided plenty of support, including for the sides.

The flat-bottomed, buttonless steering wheel also looks chunky and inviting to hold, with its drooping side spokes, and a curving dashboard that angles the portrait infotainment touchscreen towards you for a cockpit-like feel.

The infotainment system, now surrounded by a metal frame, has been upgraded, although admittedly, it's still not the easiest to use. You have to look quite far down to access it, and the menu layout isn't the most intuitive. However, it's still an improvement over the system in the 720S, and navigating through the various screens is reasonably straightforward.

The shortcut buttons of old have gone, though, which is disappointing – although in fairness, we do prefer the new system on the whole.

One notable absentee is Android Auto, which isn't available at all; however, Apple CarPlay is now included as standard, albeit in a wired-only format.

The digital instrumentation behind the steering wheel no longer flips up like it did in the 720S, but it’s kept simple and changes its appearance when you engage Track mode.

The standard four-speaker audio system doesn’t sound particularly good, which is probably McLaren’s way of tempting you into trebling the number of them to twelve with their Bowers and Wilkins premium sound system.

It takes about eleven seconds to drop the roof down – it’s a hard-top convertible – and it’s lovely to have an infinite amount of headroom.

Practicality & Boot Space

The controls for the powered seat adjustment aren’t in a particularly great position, being mounted on the front of the seats, meaning you need to play a game of Twister to get into a decent seating position. Once you’re there, though, the seats are comfortable and you feel low to the ground, as you’d expect.

Aching arms and wrists out of the way, and you’ll actually be impressed by the practicality on offer, given the type of car you're sitting in.

The seating position lines up nicely with the pedals, the steering wheel is in a natural position, and even taller drivers won’t be struggling for legroom.

Headroom won't be an issue unless you're exceptionally tall. Still, then, with the weather being nice and us being in the Spider, we soon pushed the button to drop the roof and enjoyed the entirety of the universe as our ceiling.

The hard-top convertible roof can fold away at speeds of up to 31mph.

The 'boot', which of course is under the bonnet, is surprisingly deep and has an official capacity of 150 litres, which is pretty good. There are also an additional 58 litres of space offered above the engine.

Visibility is pretty good, too, when you consider the driving position.

There is a handful of storage spaces inside the cabin, but they’re not great – the cupholders are too small, and the cubby behind the centre console is tiny and difficult to reach.

A netted pocket between the seats enables you to store thin items.

There are no door pockets either – but then you wouldn’t want them, given the car is fitted with dihedral doors, which therefore rotate when you open them.

Safety

Unsurprisingly, McLaren hasn’t given a 750S Spider to Euro NCAP to crash test in a lab with dummies.

Nevertheless, safety gadgets include automatic emergency braking, electronic stability control, traction control, brake steer system, hill-hold assist, tyre pressure monitoring system, and a hydraulic nose lift system.

You also get cruise control, automatic headlights, rain-sensing wipers, reverse assist guidelines, a rear-view camera and front and rear parking sensors.

Options

You could probably almost double the cost of your McLaren 750S Spider by selecting from the options list – it's easier to list what you can't have.

We will try with what you can have, though: a choice of 37 body colours, ranging from traditional Papaya Orange to fluorescent green to purple.

There are three different alloy wheel designs, each with five different finishes, plus brake upgrades. Additionally, there are ten colour choices for the brake callipers and three different tyre types, as well as lightweight titanium bolts.

There are several exterior upgrades, including bumper ducts and various carbon fibre packs, as well as three interior designs: Alcantara, Performance, and Techlux. Additionally, there are three different seat types and two seat size options.

Floor mats, steering wheel materials, a Bowers and Wilkins premium audio system (which triples the number of speakers, as mentioned earlier), plus various gadgets (including a louder alarm and 360-degree park assist) are available.

There are also countless other accessories.

Rival Cars

To some extent, a rival to the 750S can be just about any other supercar.

Ones with similar characteristics, though, include the Ferrari 296 GTB and GTS, Ferrari F8 Tributo and Spider, the Lamborghini Huracan Tecnica and STO, the Porsche 911 Turbo S and GT3 RS, and even the incoming Aston Martin Valhalla.

The McLaren Artura may also appeal, as might the Maserati MC20 (including the Cielo version).

Verdict & Next Steps

There is no getting away from it – the McLaren 750S Spider is utterly incredible.

Yes, a smidgen of top-end performance has been lost in favour of better drivability and more downforce – but at the same time, the 750S has moved over into a more niche area, arguably giving some hypercars a run for their money.

The improvements are clear to see if you’re familiar with the 720S – upgraded steering, more precision and more agility – and with brakes that match its rate of acceleration.

On the other hand, it’s firmer and more rigid than the predecessor, meaning it can be less forgiving on all but perfect road surfaces, although that gives it a useful amount of extra bite when cornering at speed.

And, to some extent, that’s the point – this isn’t a car that’s factoring in comfort or convenience – its sole focus is to be excellent and put a massive smile on your face.

And, on that note, it is more of a soulful supercar than the 720S – one that’s unapologetic in its quest to be the best it can be.

The 750S is truly savage – and it makes the driving experience so much fun.

It is a fitting tribute to end an era as the last ever hybrid-free McLaren. So, go on – go and lease one now; life’s too short not to!

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**Score based on Select’s unique meta score analysis, taking into account the UK’s top leading independent car website reviews of theMcLaren 750S