McLaren Goes Hybrid With the New Artura Supercar

It seems like McLaren launches a new car every five minutes, although you’d never be able to tell by looking at them from the front. The British carmaker was reintroduced in 2010, and its first car was the MP4-12C (later simply referred to as the 12C). All of their subsequent cars share much of their architecture and drivetrain with that first car. The Arturo does not. The McLaren Artura is the newest ‘new’ car from McLaren since the P1. The old V8 is gone, and in its place is a 585hp 3.0-litre V6 combined with a 95hp electric motor.

Together, they produce a combined output of 680hp and 720Nm of torque. The Arturo might be the de facto baby of the McLaren range, but the new drivetrain coupled with extensive weight savings means it is still supercar fast: 0-62mph arrives in 3.0 seconds, 0-124mph in 8.3 seconds, and 0-186mph in 21.5 seconds.

Despite the weight savings achieved by a new carbon tub-chassis and a whole host of other small savings. The car is actually marginally heavier than the 570S it replaces. That’s due to the 7.4kwh battery pack powering the electric motor. The car can run on battery power alone for up to 18 miles and reach a top speed of 80mph. But in racier driving modes, it’ll be used to increase performance and responsiveness, taking the car beyond 200mph.

McLaren has taken what it learned from the P1 hypercar and finally applied it to a more accessible supercar. The Arturo is the first model to be built on the all-new McLaren Carbon Lightweight Architecture (MCLA), which has been optimised for hybrid powertrains and built in-house at the McLaren Composites Technology Centre (MCTC) near Sheffield.

The McLaren Artura is now available to order, offering a choice of four specifications. UK pricing starts from £185,500.