BY NOW, any car nut that knows their salt will be able to tell you that the monstrous McLaren 720S has 537kW up its sleeve, can crack the benchmark 100km/h in 2.9 seconds and won’t stop until the speedo needle is hovering over 341km/h.
So here are 7.2 fast facts to keep under your hat, should you need to silence the resident car geek this weekend.
1- If an Audi A5 2.0 TDI gave it full beans in a drag race with a 720S, the Audi would crack 100km/h as the McLaren speedo was flicking over to 200km/h.
2- With 390mm carbon-ceramic brake discs at the front and 380mm versions on the rear axle, combined with air-braking aerodynamics, the 720S can scrub 100km/h to zero a tenth of a second faster than the time it took to get there. By the time a Mini John Cooper Works has dashed from standstill to 100km/h, the McLaren has been there and back again.
3- For the price of one McLaren 720S, you could also be the proud owner of 37 Suzuki Celerios. Now that might not sound very appealing but if you could somehow combine the Suzuki powertrains you would have a handy 1850kW on your hands – more than three times the McLaren output.
4- Who says supercars are impractical? The 720S combined capacity of 150-litre front luggage compartment and 210-litre boot is the same as a BMW 1 Series.
5- At maximum speed, the McLaren would cover 5.7 kilometres every minute and its rear wheels would be spinning at more than 2500rpm.
6- It may have the latest carbonfibre construction and the company’s Monocage II at its core, but with a kerb weight of 1419kg, the 720S can’t match the father of all road-going McLarens: the 1138kg McLaren F1. Sure, the 720S has truck loads more power but it can’t equal the F1’s 408km/h top speed.
7.2 When it was finally revealed, the 720S name had been one of McLaren’s worst kept secrets, but the car maker claimed it had deliberately buried a clue in its publicity campaign in the build-up. In each of the six hype releases there was a numerical reference from one to six. 1 x 2 x 3 x 4 x 5 x 6 equals 720. Yeah right McLaren. As if anyone got that.
