Image: McLaren Newsroom.
Unveiled at exactly the same time as Porsche's seemingly incredible new 911 GT3, the boffins at McLaren appeared to have also come up with their answer to 2021's ultimate new supercar.
Replacing the V8-powered 570S, the Artura now takes the spot in McLaren's sports series range which aims to be the bulk sellers of the brand designed to entice in new customers. Think of it therefore, as the the iPhone SE among the line-up of the plus-sized, ultraviolet Apple phones that seem to be coming out every other week.
Unlike the 570, the Artura has an all-new engine designed by McLaren themselves: a 3.0 litre twin turbocharged V6 mated to an electric motor, thereby classing it as a hybrid. The engine alone makes 577bhp but combined with the electric motor, it makes a total of a simply enormous 671bhp. For context, a V10-powered Lamborghini Huracan Evo 'only' makes 640bhp.
Image: McLaren Media
It actually comes as no surprise that McLaren work wonders from a technical and engineering standpoint. If anything, they're always at the top of the league when it's a question of performance and handling (just look at the 720S for reference in comparison to Ferrari's 488 and others).
But where the guys at Woking have been hindered is reports of quality control issues and reliability woes over the past few years. It started in fact, with the sports series cars where customers started to have troubles.
Anything was reported from bad dealer experiences to bits falling off and even fires in the most extreme of cases. McLaren have since hinted that they were making efforts to iron out these issues and create quality products more comparable to the competition.
With the introduction of the Artura, this is hugely important as it is quite obviously the car most new customers will get into and gather a taste of how the brand operates. Impressions therefore need to be good otherwise they'll be back at square one and digging further into how things are operated.
The new V6 engine. Image: McLaren Newsroom
One of the easiest methods of rejuvenating a brand image is by simply replacing the entire range. That way, the new batch will be met with new expectations and reviews and in McLaren's case, hopefully new praise for product quality and reasonable reliability.
It would always be extremely difficult for a fairly new manufacturer with bespoke engines and technology to match someone like Porsche in terms of reliability and praise, but clearly the Artura is the start of McLaren's attempt to turn things around.
If the Artura is a hoot to drive, extremely fast around circuits, comfortable and usable to the point where you can even use it everyday, then they're onto an undeniable winner ready to take Porsche and Audi's crown and go mad with it.
Image: McLaren Media
The one drawback that can be observed is that the Artura starts from a stratospheric £185,000. That's a bonkers amount of money and when optioned, pretty much overlaps supercars in the league above such as McLaren's own 720S and the Ferrari F8 Tributo.
That price tag puts the Artura at a ridiculously large premium over the Porsche 911 Turbo and even the GT3. It's £30,000 more than even the 570S predecessor!
How McLaren are going to entice people into the new car without the worry of heavy depreciation, remains to be seen. But nevertheless, the best thing we can do is keep our fingers crossed and hope they got it right this time.
Image: McLaren Newsroom
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