Wanting to compete with Ferrari in the sports car field requires a lot of resources.
McLaren learned this the hard way.
The Woking manufacturer almost went off the road.
The first year of Covid, production was divided by three, creating abysmal losses.
Since then, he has slowly been climbing the slope.
Last year, when production exceeded 2,500 units - while Ferrari delivered 13,663 examples - yet another recapitalization of the company was approved.
This should allow the English sports car brand to continue to design models that rival the Italian legend of Maranello in terms of performance and exclusivity.
McLaren
Like all players in the sector, McLaren has been called upon to negotiate the shift towards ecological transition.
While waiting for a hypothetical electric model, Woking engineers have started electrification through a plug-in hybrid powertrain.
The first vehicle of this new type, the Artura Berlinette, is now available in a spider version.
This is one of the car's special features: the hard roof in carbon fiber and composite, which retracts electrically in 11 seconds while traveling at up to 50 km/h, has an electrochromic glass panel.
The driver's choice, by pressing a button, is to allow light to pass through or to filter the sun and thus maintain a moderate temperature in the passenger compartment.
Patrick Gosling / Beadyeye/Patrick Gosling
The Artura Spider certainly offers an unusual way to enjoy this two-in-one automobile: silent driving for 33 km and up to a speed of 130 km/h thanks to a 7.4 kWh battery.
This means that it will be spared from the upcoming traffic bans in the centers of large cities.
The accumulators power a 95-horsepower electric machine placed near the 8-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission.
This has seen its passage speeds improved by 25%, for the benefit of sensations and performance.
With the twin-turbo V6 preserving the 120-degree architecture and whose power has been increased to 605 hp, instead of 585 hp on the Berlinette, this new car claims a power of 700 hp.
If the performance level is that of a super sports car with a top speed of 330 km/h and less time to reach 200 km/h (8.4 seconds) than to bring water to the boil in a kettle, CO2 emissions are similar to those of a brave city car.
McLaren
The Artura Spider claims a standardized consumption of 4.8 l/100 km, which corresponds to carbon dioxide emissions of only 108 g/km.
This model thus escapes the ecological penalty.
With a weight of 1,560 kg, up 62 kg compared to the coupe, it is also not affected by weight taxes.
The electric motor thus offers a new lease of life to the sports car which has recently been disrupted by the tightening of depollution standards and the reduction of the carbon footprint.