Tag: MP4-12C Spider

A week or so after McLaren released the first pictures of its MP4-12C Spider they’re back with a couple of promo videos. The first one starts off making the connection from F1 car to road car, before ending up in the mountains of Andalucía, Spain.

“We know 12C drivers love the Formula 1 technology DNA that runs throughout their cars,” said Antony Sheriff, McLaren Automotive Managing Director. “With the 12C Spider, owners will have an even greater opportunity to create their perfect driving experience.

“Top up or top down, the sports car with highest performance among the competition just became even more breathtaking. The exhilarating aspects of driving the 12C Spider are captured beautifully in this great new film.”

The second video illustrates the retractable hardtop roof opening. It takes 17 seconds to open the roof, which, for those keeping count, is five seconds longer than the new fabric roof on the Porsche Boxster.

“The 12C Spider delivers all the thrills characteristic of a high performance roadster, and yet transforms into a raucous track beast at the flick of a switch.”

They’re the words used to describe the new McLaren MP4-12C Spider from Antony Sheriff, McLaren Automotive Managing Director. It’s a bold comment too, when you consider the 12C hardtop has been criticised for being too anodyne.

So, is the 17 seconds it takes to open the retractable hardtop roof enough to inject the 12C some soul? Sheriff promises, “12C Spider owners will love the opportunity to lower the roof and hear the unhindered howl of a V8 twin turbo engine at full throttle. It undoubtedly enhances an already euphoric 12C driving experience.”

Certainly the designers have nailed the look. The 12C is very much a car that has more presence in the metal than it does in pictures and we think the Spider will look even better away from a computer screen.

Mechanically speaking the Spider is pretty much a carbon copy of the coupé. That means you get McLaren’s own 3.8 litre twin-turbo V8 and the plentiful 625PS/600Nm it brings. A 7-speed SSG dual-clutch gearbox ensures nothing is lost in translation as you take the car to 100km/h in just 3.1 seconds, 200km/h in 9 seconds flat and onto a top speed of 329km/h.

If the 12C Spider has piqued your interest take the jump for McLaren’s official press release and more pics. Or why not head over to their online configurator and have a play.

McLaren has announced it will be revealing full details for its MP4-12C Spider om 3 July. Based on the regular hardtop 12C, McLaren promises the Spider “will be more usable than any car this exciting has a right to be.”

For now they’ve given us the teaser image above and questionable video featuring Jenson Button (see below) telling us how nice it is to drive a hairdresser’s car.