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2016 McLaren 675LT Review

"It's so comfortable." That's always the first or second comment made by anyone who owns or has driven a McLaren. They say the coupe or spider in question is also a singular performer, but what really blows them away is the bug-in-a-rug coziness when they're not murdering the tires. A Southern California dealer commenting on the respective driving habits of Ferrari, Lamborghini, and McLaren purchasers said, "McLaren owners drive their cars too much," adding that it wasn't unusual for him to see examples clock 20,000 miles a year or go on long road trips – kind of like the one my colleague Steven Ewing did in a 650S Spider. We spent a week with a Napier Green 675LT coupe, the limited-edition, track-focused model in the Super Series line-up. It establishes a psychic connection with the McLaren F1 GTR Long Tail developed in 1996 to battle the Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR and Porsche 911 GT1. This is what you should know about the 675LT: it's really, really comfortable. Almost excessively so. Final output is 666 hp and 516 lb-ft of torque, an increase of 25 hp and 16 lb-ft over the 650S. At heart is the twin-turbo 3.8-liter V8 found in all McLaren models, but more than half of its components are new for this application. The camshaft is new, the block gets lightweight connecting rods, the fuel pump is upgraded, the twin turbos are the same size as those on the 650S' engine yet more efficient. Final output is 666 horsepower and 516 pound-feet of torque, an increase of 25 hp and 16 lb-ft over the 650S. More important is the weight loss. At 2,712 pounds the 675LT is 220 pounds lighter than a 650S through major overtures like carbon fiber body panels, less sound deadening, Alcantara in the cabin instead of carpet and leather, and a polycarbonate engine cover. You need a special tool – made of carbon fiber – to remove the polycarbonate cover because the struts and latches have been omitted to save weight. Then there are minute gestures, like the windshield being one millimeter thinner (saving 6.6 pounds), the rear bulkhead glass being half a millimeter thinner (saving 1.1 pounds), and the carbon fiber being satin-finished instead of gloss-finished (saving 50 grams). For all that precision, the 0-60 mile-per-hour time of 2.8 seconds is only one tenth under that of the 650S, and its top speed is 205 mph, compared to the 207-mph terminal velocity of the 650S. There is nothing riveting about the 675LT at road-legal speeds on straight roads.

Race recap: 2016 Bahrain Grand Prix was everything good and bad about F1

Nothing was as it seemed heading into Bahrain. We were told team bosses had nixed the qualifying experiment that flunked every test by every measure in Australia, but that didn't happen. The FIA didn't give the teams the option of a wholesale return to the old format, the governing body only held a vote on whether to revert back to the old format in Q3 but stick with elimination gimmicks in Q1 and Q2. McLaren and Red Bull dissented, denying the chance for hybrid rounds. We're surprised none of the smaller teams voted against since elimination qualifying is hardest on them. Given the chance to fix the system again in Bahrain, Formula 1 failed again. The FIA and Bernie Ecclestone don't want to go back to the old system – because the race promoters don't want to go back to the old system – so all we know for sure is that there will be more meetings. We also thought Fernando Alonso would race in Bahrain after being given medical clearance, but a follow-up scan by the FIA showed fractured ribs and a damaged lung, ruling him out. And we thought Ferrari might have the pace to conquer Mercedes-AMG Petronas this year – and they might yet, but not on Saturday. That's why the Bahrain race began with another Mercedes one-two, Lewis Hamilton ahead of Nico Rosberg, Ferrari drivers Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen behind. The Australian outback is plagued with rabbits, which must have something to do with how Daniel Ricciardo keeps pulling them out of his helmet; the Aussie got his Red Bull up to a surprising fifth on the grid. Williams drivers Valtteri Bottas in sixth and Felipe Massa in seventh would need to get him out of the way quickly to show what the car can do after an unsatisfying race in Australia. Nico Hulkenberg lined up in eighth for Sahara Force India. As proof the qualifying format failed again with its sophomore attempt, the last five minutes of Q2 were disappointing. Hulkenberg had the track completely to himself for his quali run, the only two cars on track after him were the Williams duo who weren't setting a time, but getting a set of soft tires ready to start the race on. As for Q1, the only reason for on-track action in the last three minutes was because Hamilton flubbed his first timed run. Romain Grosjean continued Haas F1's fruitful start to the season with ninth place, ahead of Max Verstappen in the Toro Rosso closing out the top ten. At the end of a long red light to start the race, Rosberg claimed his right to victory before Turn 1.

Red Bull F1 denied access to Honda engines

There are four engine manufacturers in Formula 1: Ferrari, Honda, Mercedes-Benz, and Renault. Infiniti Red Bull Racing ended its marriage to Renault, got to the altar with Mercedes and then Mercedes backed out, couldn't even agree on a pre-nup with Ferrari, and Honda flat-out said, "No." At the moment that has left the four-time World Champions without an engine for next year, owner Dieter Mateschitz threatening to take his two teams and four cars out of the sport, and F1 honcho Bernie Ecclestone threatening to sue Mateschitz if he does. The Japanese company had turned down the idea because after a first year with some poor performances and a few public sour notes, it wants to get McLaren's cars running properly before it expands its operation. Now it seems some behind-the-scenes action of late has opened up channels between Red Bull and Honda, and the two are at least talking. Honda, though, still says such a deal is highly unlikely at best, and Red Bull says it will have something to say when something is done. It appears that McLaren chief Ron Dennis, however, has vetoed the idea. Ecclestone says Honda made a deal with the FIA that would allow Honda to supply two teams in its second year, but Honda gave Dennis veto rights over who the second team would be. For the same reason that Mercedes backed out and Ferrari only wanted to sell Red Bull year-old engines, Ecclestone says Dennis might view Red Bull as a competitor and doesn't want to risk two more cars getting in front of his own. If that's the case and Red Bull is going to remain in the sport, it might need to hit the flower shop and book a trip to Renault headquarters. Soon. Related Video: