Car vs Road: Driving the McLaren Artura Spider Shibuya Spirit

It’s been one of those weeks and it’s only Tuesday.

Indeed, it’s already been one of those years and it’s only March. Last year has rolled into a new one with barely a breath to pause or reset. Dates are circled in red on my paper diary and a constant stream of bings remind me that the electronic calendar is even uglier. And yet, just beyond the keyboard, just ahead of the diary, sits a tonic.

In among the bedlam of the day, week and year, two inanimate objects hold so much promise. Both have sat patiently, within touching distance but almost desperately out of reach since the previous Thursday. Despite the dual calendars demanding attention, the allure cannot be suppressed by the drudgery of reality any longer. 

Those inanimate objects? To the left are the keys to a new Porsche 911 GT3 RS, to the right the rather more simple but alluring key fob to a McLaren Artura. While the 911 GT3 RS is a fantastic car, it’s become a rather common sight on our roads compared to that of a McLaren. Any McLaren, for that matter. Sadly the 911 GT3 RS has also taken on a bit of a fan-boy vibe, with owners more interested in talking about their optional carbon fibre wiper arms than experiencing the performance of their cars – indeed, many are scared to put kilometres on them. I’m not feeling at all common today and options list anoraks aren’t a crowd I identify with. Without a second thought, the McLaren key it is.

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A hurried out-of-office is put in place – meetings, you know, hard to contact and all of that. The key is snatched in the same motion as the laptop is slammed shut (with more force than I intended but a fitting exclamation mark on today’s office work). Normally said laptop would make the journey with me, in fact it goes wherever I go, but not today.

Once the decision is made, I’m not sure my feet touch the carpet as I ‘walk’ cartoon-style to the lift. Down the lift, into the garage, and in the subdued subterranean light, the McLaren Artura stops me cold. I don’t even notice the 911 GT3 RS sitting next to it. I’ve already seen the car, indeed already sat in it and already driven previous Arturas. The shape obviously says supercar, but the Shibuya Spirit paint finish is truly arresting. 

Available through McLaren Special Operations, the Shibuya Spirit paint is a mesmerising magenta finish that is now available on MY26 Artura models. Here, the stunning paint is complemented by the gloss black roof, exterior carbon fibre pack, carbon fibre louvres in the top of the front guards and carbon fibre exterior mirrors. The extrovert paint is offset by the stealth badge pack and stealth exhaust finisher.

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Speaking of the exhaust, this Artura Spider is also fitted with the optional sports exhaust to give a deeper bark to the hard-hitting twin-turbocharged V6 – more of which later. And to ensure that no one misses you, the Shibuya Spirit finish is juxtaposed against 10-spoke forged alloy wheels finished in soft gold (Orum in McLaren speak). The head-turning factor is off the charts.

Usually, I’d point the sleek nose west up over the Blue Mountains and into the interior of NSW. Or perhaps south through the Royal National Park and into the Southern Highlands. But time is genuinely tight, and while I’d love nothing more than a dozen hours behind the wheel, introducing the Artura’s fabulous paint work to as many bugs as I could find, I’ll settle for a run up to West Head and Palm Beach – Sydney’s most-northern suburb and no stranger to cars of this ilk. 

If you’re a sadist, you can slog all the way up the coast to Palm Beach but with a bit of thought and effort, you can link together some of the best roads within the Sydney metropolitan area. There’s no escaping some slogging, but it’s not the end of the world to catch the reflection of the Artura in the glass of the CBD or to cruise across the Sydney Harbour Bridge in an open-topped McLaren (opening the roof takes just 11 seconds and can be done at speeds of up to 50km/h). 

Even at low speed as I negotiate the first few kilometres from the central Sydney jumping off point, there’s a granular, organic nature to the Artura’s controls. It’s a feeling common to all modern-day McLarens (sadly I’ve never driven an F1 but I’m willing to bet that the lineage is obvious). It’s a quality that shines regardless of the conditions, road, traffic, throttle position or passenger. There’s an instant connection but one that encourages further, deeper exploration. 

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And that’s always been at the heart of a modern McLaren. It offers up something from nothing, but also hints that there’s more to discover if you’ve got the time and can put in the effort. I’ve been fortunate to have explored previous Arturas on the cauldron of a racetrack and this has given me insight into how much the chassis has in reserve. 

Despite its obvious dynamic focus, there’s a long-limbed subtlety with how the Artura parries the bumps and bruises of Sydney’s crumbling road infrastructure. The McLaren Carbon Fibre Lightweight Architecture (MCLA) forms such a stiff platform for the suspension – double wishbones up front and multi-links at the rear, and Proactive Damping Control – that the kinematics can work across an enormous breadth. North of the Harbour Bridge, never-ending road works, complete with evil-looking road plates, conspire to catch out the liquorice-strip sidewalls of the Pirelli P Zero tyres and firm damper rates, but the McLaren answers every question with a controlled breath or exhalation. 

Deeper into the north of Sydney, I change lanes with a mirror check and a pretty relaxed over-the-shoulder glance. My eyes return to the McLaren badge on the steering wheel boss, and it snaps me out of my casual approach to driving a $600,000, 515kW supercar on a major Sydney arterial road. However, it’s just another indication of the duality of the Artura and how it plays both Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde with equal precision.

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Indeed, the duality of the drivetrain is on display throughout the early stages of the commute north. The axial flux e-motor provides up to 70kW and 225Nm, and boasts an EV-only range of 33km – more than enough to slink out of the city in silence. It also acts as the reverse gear, leaving the eight-speed dual-clutch gearbox to look after forward drive. The 120-degree wide-angle 3.0-litre V6 is perfect for a low centre of gravity and it’s fed by a pair of electrically-actuated turbos that are mounted low inside the vee. The V6 revs all the way to 8500rpm and the total system output is 515kW and 720Nm. 

Eventually, just before Mount Colah, my blinker indicates the beginning of the best roads within the Sydney basin. Ku-Ring-Gai Chase Road loops back around on itself to Bobbin Head, blends into Bobbin Head Road and returns to northern Sydney suburbia at North Turramurra. In that loop, and even within the constraints of speed limits, other road users and the occasional bush turkey, there’s an itch to be scratched along here. Especially if you’ve got a McLaren Artura Spider at your disposal. 

The road surface switches from race-track smooth to crumbling and pock-marked and back all within a few hundred metres. The Artura’s suspension reacts to each surface change and the uncorrupted steering tattoos the road surface on your palms and finger tips. Even at moderate speed, the entertainment is all encompassing. 

At the loop’s end, it’s a suburban schlep through St Ives and Terrey Hills, before another stretch of challenging tarmac is joined. McCarr’s Creek Road will take you all the way around to Church Point, but before I do that, there’s another diversion up to West Head Lookout. It’s a stunning part of Sydney, complete with tiny hidden beaches, and well worth the drive even if you don’t have a McLaren. Both the Artura and I pause, and after a few minutes taking in the view, including looking over the water to Palm Beach, I return to the McLaren as it’s getting papped by several mid-week tourists. Everyone is fascinating by the Shibuya Spirit paint and rapid-fire questions are asked about power, performance and of course, price.  

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The stars continue to align for me and I score mid-week movie-star parking at The Joey for a quick if not late lunch. No reservation, no problem when you’re driving a McLaren Artura Spider Shibuya Spirit. Over lunch, as I watch the water planes come and go, I reflect on my good fortune and that of those that have a car like the McLaren Artura in their garage. While it might sit on a trickle charger next to a more-often used and somewhat more sensible car (or three), a McLaren is a hell of a tonic to just about anything that’s not going your way. Today, it has reset and reinvigorated me for the week and months ahead. Supercars have always been about the snatched moments, and that remains true of the McLaren Artura.

However, its civility means that you could drive your Artura everyday if you so wished. The sun won’t soften for a few hours yet, but it’s already begun its arc towards the western horizon. It’s time to head back to reality. I decide to hug the coast for the return to the CBD and reality bites very quickly. I catch the tail of the school traffic that soon builds to proper peak hour, and crawl through roadworks from Bilgola. Mona Vale, Brookvale, The Spit, Mosman and the approach to the Harbour Bridge are all awash with brake lights. But I don’t care and nothing can burst today’s bubble.

Anyway, I’ve always liked driving fast cars slowly. There’s something about a serious performance car’s latent ability that entertains and enthrals even in the grind of bumper-to-bumper traffic. Hemmed in by gridlock, and with eyes and phones pointed my way, I’m aware that I’m the centre of attention. And while I’m not an extrovert, the stares don’t make me feel self-conscious – after all, it’s the car that’s the star and not me. My interactions with other drivers and passersby today have been overwhelmingly positive – not something that can always be said in the tall-poppy capital of the world and certainly not something you experience in an Italian supercar. 

Eventually the Artura’s V6 falls silent in the same parking spot it sat in this morning. The 911 GT3 looking on jealously at the handful of bugs that are smeared on its windscreen and paint. Nothing can dim the dazzling Shibuya Spirit Artura Spider. As I blip the car locked and bid it good night, my mind circles back to the start of the day.

The McLaren has treated me to some much needed time off. I made the right choice…

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Specs

This story first appeared in the April 2026 issue of Wheels magazine, now on sale. Subscribe here and gain access to 12 issues for $109 plus online access to every Wheels issue since 1953.