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McLaren 600LT First Drive Review | Longer, lighter and a lust for life

BUDAPEST, Hungary — There is no point when driving a McLaren 570S where you think, "Boy, this feels a bit soft, flabby and underpowered — what it really needs are some extra horses and a sharper setup." And yet that's exactly what McLaren has done for the 600LT, the brand's newest addition to the Sports Series and latest chapter in the "Longtail" story. Literally, this equates to nearly three inches of extra aero-enhanced bodywork and more power. Emotionally, it represents a lot more. Given that the previous installments were the F1 GTR and 675LT, you have some sense of where the 600LT sits, and the expectation it needs to live up to. Junior supercar or not, there's nothing babyish about this car's intent. My previous experience of McLaren Sports Series cars on track includes lapping Silverstone in the 570GT. On street-spec Pirelli P Zero tires and with steel brakes, this supposedly comfort-oriented model pulled 168 mph down Hangar Straight and is agile enough to shame supposedly track-focused supercars from a class above. Yet the 600LT has an extra 30 horsepower, carries significantly less weight, and wears semi-slick Trofeo R rubber on its spindly forged wheels. Figures include peak output of 592 horsepower, 0-60 mph in 2.8 seconds, 0-124 mph in 8.2 seconds and a top speed of 204 mph, and cornering speeds have increased compared to the more powerful and sophisticated 675LT. Just how sharp do they want to make this thing? The answer comes on another F1 track, this time the Hungaroring on the outskirts of Budapest. Before I'm allowed out in the LT, I get a handful of sighting laps in a 570S, until now the sharpest Sports Series in the range and already a formidably fast and agile car in its own right. Like any McLaren, it has a lovely combination of superb visibility, a driver-focused cockpit, pin-sharp controls and huge punch from the 3.8-liter, twin-turbocharged V8. Where others mask their forced induction, McLaren has always seemed proud to highlight the Millennium Falcon-style rush of boost, the trademark lack of curb weight offsetting any sense of low-rev lethargy. And sure enough, the 570S demands that its driver is on top of things. Greedy throttle applications require corrections at the wheel, while late braking from high speeds causes the rear axle to break loose, writhing about in marked contrast to the locked-down Super Series 650S or 720S. What can I expect to be different in the 600LT?

Alonso and Button try out Honda's Uni-Cub mobility scooter

As two of the best racing drivers in the world, Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button have some pretty serious wheels at their disposal. They'll both be driving the latest McLaren-Honda MP4-30 on the track this year, will likely have access to supercars like the new Acura NSX or McLaren 650S for toying around with when they're not working, and probably each have an enviable motor pool of their own at home. This, then, must have been quite a change of pace for them both. As you can see from this video tweeted by McLaren, the two highly accomplished F1 drivers hopped on a very different set of wheels recently: namely, Honda's Uni-Cub "personal mobility device." The experimental electric motorized bar stool is controlled by shifting your weight to and fro (like a Segway), but stands just two feet tall and tops out at less than four miles per hour. At that rate, it would take them almost an hour to take one lap around the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, TX, where the 2015 United States Grand Prix will be held in October. In that same time span, for perspective's sake, they'd be lapped more than 30 times by their rivals... so they'd better stick to the racing machinery once the championship gets under way. What happened when @alo_oficial and @JensonButton got hold of a UNI-CUBAcA?A¦ https://t.co/YP8r9z1OsG - McLaren (@McLarenF1) February 10, 2015

McLaren F1 GTR Longtail sells at Gooding for $5.28 million

Last month we reported on a very rare McLaren being put up for auction under the auspices of Gooding & Company. One of only 106 examples of the McLaren F1 ever made, one of only 28 made in GTR competition spec, and one of just ten longtail versions, chassis number 021R won FIA GT Championship races in Germany and Finland, making it one of the most successful F1 GTRs ever campaigned and earning its place in the pantheon of McLaren lore. With original livery in immaculate condition, this rare McLaren F1 GTR Longtail sold this weekend in Scottsdale, Arizona, for $5.28 million. Which may seem like a lot of money – and by any account, it surely is – but comes in at the low end of the pre-sale estimates that placed its value at between $5 and $7 million. To put that into proper McLaren perspective, consider that the same amount could buy you a full grid of ten 12C Can-Ams, five examples of the new McLaren P1, or probably get McLaren to build you your own custom creation like the X1. Check out the live images from the scene in the gallery above. Featured Gallery 1997 McLaren F1 GTR Longtail View 28 Photos Image Credit: Copyright 2014 Drew Phillips / AOL McLaren Auctions Coupe Racing Vehicles mclaren f1 gtr