The 720S Spider, revealed at McLaren’s annual Winter Ball, weighs just 49kg more than the McLaren 720S coupé.
The 720S Spider uses a retractable hard-top roof, which is a completely new design over the previous 650S Spider. It is a single piece of carbon fiber, aimed at preserving as much of the coupé’s style as possible. The electrically driven mechanism raises and lowers the roof in just 11sec, a 6sec improvement over the 650S Spider. It can be operated at speeds of up to 31mph.
As a result, performance is mostly un-affected versus the coupe, with 62mph taking just 2.9sec, 124mph in 7.9sec and a top speed of 212mph with the roof up, and 202mph with it down. The powertrain is also unchanged, comprised of the familiar 4-litre twin-turbo V8 engine producing 710bhp, with 568lb ft of torque.
The biggest gain therefore is not the additional 49kg, but the fact McLaren charges £580 for each of those kilos. Yep, while the coupe starts at £208,600, the base price for the Spider is £237,000.
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