News: Official ‒ McLaren 650S is faster than F1 road car

UNDERLYING ITS determination to give its latest supercar the best possible start, McLaren has revealed that the new 650S coupé is not only quicker than the MP4-12C but crucially, outsprints the company’s legendary F1 road car.

Powered by a 3.8-litre V8 twin turbo engine producing 641bhp, the 650S accelerates from 0-62mph in 3sec, 0.2sec quicker than the F1. Meanwhile, 0-124mph takes 8.4sec (F1: 9.4sec) and the standing quarter mile, 10.5sec (F1: 11.1sec).

The figures mean the 650S is also faster than the 12C by 0.1sec from 0-62mph, and by 0.5sec from 0-124mph.

Away from the track, the 650S returns 24.2mpg and emissions of 275g/km, making it, says McLaren, one of the most efficient models in its class.

The Woking-based car maker hopes the figures will demonstrate that the 650S is more than a simple re-skin of the MP4-12C, and go some way to restoring its reputation in the face of that car’s underwhelming looks and early teething problems. In addition to tuning the engine of the 650S for greater power, it has upgraded the dual-clutch automatic gearbox for quicker shifts, stiffened damper rates and tweaked the aerodynamics.

All that said, the MP4-12C will continue in production, at least while enough buyers consider its £20,000 price advantage over the 650S (£176,000 compared with the 650S coupé at £195,250) value for money.