McLaren 600LT: first drives, price and release date

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McLaren has officially unveiled a hardcore, track-inspired version of its 570S supercar.

The new model is called the 600LT, referring to the vehicle’s near 600bhp power output and “Longtail” design - with the bodywork extending further at the rear than on the standard 570S.

The 600LT becomes the second model in McLaren’s range to be given the Longtail name, derived from the company’s Le Mans cars from the late 1990s. The first production car to get the name was the 675LT from 2015, which was based on the marque’s 650S supercar.

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Fans can see the new car in the metal at this weekend’s Goodwood Festival of Speed, at Goodwood House in Chichester, West Sussex. McLaren plans to run the 600LT up the famed hill climb at the annual event.

Here are all the details on McLaren’s latest supercar:

Price and release

The 600LT will be priced from £185,500, although that figure grows by £28,480 if you go for the optional MSO Clubsport Pro pack, Auto Express reports.

It may be an expensive addition, but the pack adds six-point harness seat belts and a roll bar - ideal for buyers who want to take their car on the track, the magazine says.

McLaren has yet to confirm how many examples of the 600LT will be made. The 675LT was limited to 500 models, and a similar production run seems likely for the new car.

Expect a release date around September.

First drives

The final verdicts on McLaren’s latest supercar have yet to be delivered but a select few critics have shared their first impressions after driving the 600LT in the famous hillclimb at the Goodwood Festival of Speed last weekend.

According to Top Gear, the 600LT “feels more urgent” than the 570S, on which it’s based, thanks to a more responsive throttle pedal and a near-absence of lag (a side effect in some turbocharged cars).

There’s an even wilder side to the car in the form of a hidden “burnout mode”, the website says. Activating it requires drivers to disable the traction control, stiffen the suspension and line the steering straight, before pressing the throttle down hard. This spins the rear tyres, while locking the front wheels so the car doesn’t move, creating clouds of smoke in the process.

Showboating aside, Autocar says the 600LT’s brakes “have brilliant feel” and offer plenty of stability when activated, another noticeable improvement over the 570S.

“Body control is impeccable” through twisting corners, the magazine says, while the high-revving engine is “overwhelming to the ears”.

Auto Express also got behind the wheel of the new supercar at the festival, at Goodwood House in Chichester, and concludes that an extended drive on public roads “could prove this is the finest car McLaren currently makes”.

More reviews are expected when the car officially launches in September.

Design

The 600LT is based on the company’s entry-level supercar but has a variety of track-focused additions, including a fixed carbon-fibre rear wing, wider wheel arches and carbon side skirts running along the bottom of the vehicle.

One of the more distinctive additions is the car’s twin exhaust outlet, exiting thought the engine cover that sits directly above the twin-turbo motor.

There’s also a giant diffuser at the back and, as the name suggests, the tail end is slightly longer to accommodate it.

At the front, meanwhile, the 600LT gets a few more carbon fibre winglets than the 570S, which should help improve aerodynamic grip at higher speeds.

Engine and performance

It’s not just a visual overhaul that separates the 600LT from the 570S. McLaren has reworked the engine to produce significantly more power.

The engine is the same 3.8-litre twin-turbo V8 as the 570S, says Evo, but a new exhaust system and improved cooling increases the power by 30bhp to a total of 592bhp and 457lb-ft of torque.

The new model is also around 100kg lighter than the regular 570S, thanks to ultra-lightweight seats derived from the £750,000 Senna hypercar and the new top-exiting exhaust outlets, says Autocar.

All those crucial tweaks help the carbon fibre-covered supercar achieve 0-62mph in just 2.9 seconds, with a top speed of 204mph.