McLaren ushers in 2025
Happy next New Year! That seems to be the message from McLaren, which recently unveiled two 2025 models available for order now: the Artura Spider and the GTS coupe.
The 2025 McLaren Artura Spider is the automaker’s first open hybrid model, and the mechanical upgrades it introduces will be shared with the 2025 coupe version, too. If you’ve already acquired a current Artura coupe, you can get a free computer reflash to add the extra 19 horsepower that the 2025 models offer. Next, the McLaren GTS replaces the GT in the line. It’s more of an upgrade than a new model. Whichever new 2025 McLaren you’d prefer – or if you want both – just remember to write a 2024 date on your deposit check.
McLaren Artura Spider: Top-Down Hybrid Hijinks
If you’d been holding off getting a McLaren Artura hybrid, you might want to take a close look at the upcoming 2025 models, starting with the Spider. A power-retractable hardtop can deliver the sun and sky in just 11 seconds. An optional electrochroamatic glass roof panel can go from blocking 99-percent of sunlight to transparent by pushing a button.
As noted, there’s an extra 19 more horsepower (now 690), which should make up for the 136 pounds added over the current coupe. As a refresher, the Artura’s hybrid powertrain combines a 3.0-liter twin-turbo V6 gas engine with an electric motor. The electric motor’s 94-horsepower output remains the same as before, as does the 531 lb-ft. of total hybrid system torque. McLaren says the computer revision enhances torque delivery, meaning it should feel a bit punchier.
Smoky Burnouts At Your Fingertips
As before, the Artura’s hybrid powertrain teams with an eight-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission, but with a notable revision. A new “pre-fill” feature pressurizes the hydraulic fluid to reduce already lightning-like shifts by 25 percent. McLaren’s performance claims for the car remain about the same as before, with 0-200 km/h (124 mph) in 8.4 seconds for the new Spider versus 8.3 for the 2024 coupe. Trust us, you’d never feel the difference, especially with the top down to let nature blast by.
Another new feature, added purely for fun and to wear out rear tires quickly, has a name that only the British could invent: “Spinning Wheel Pull-Away.” It does what it says, allowing plenty of wheelspin under hot acceleration. That could be called “peel-out mode” to us Yanks.
“Crescendo of Sound”
Along with the added power and burnout fun, the 2025 McLaren Artura shows its responsible side with improved powertrain mounts and revised shock absorbers that McLaren says are up to 90-percent more responsive. For enhanced braking, carbon-ceramic rotors are standard.
And if all that isn’t enough, McLaren promises that a “crescendo of sound from the redesigned exhaust envelops driver, especially with the roof or rear window lowered.” Isn’t science wonderful?
The 2025 McLaren Artura Spider will start at around $281,000. The coupe shaves about $24,000 from that. And remember, if you have a current Artura model, see your McLaren dealer for that free 19-horsepower upgrade.
McLaren GTS: Another Letter, Another 14 Horsepower
For 2025, McLaren is replacing the GT, it’s most luxurious and practical “everyday” sports car, with the GTS. If you have a GT, though, don’t feel compelled to rush out and get the new GTS. Though McLaren calls it a “replacement,” it’s really an upgrade on the current car.
On the performance end, McLaren coaxed 14 more horses from the 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 with basically a tweak to the engine computer’s ignition timing. Output is now 626 horsepower, while peak torque remains the same at 465 lb-ft. McLaren also claims it cut 22 pounds from the GT, with a 3,351-pound weight now noted for the GTS.
McLaren claims 0-60 mph in 3.1 seconds for the GTS, though Car and Driver had already clocked 2.8 in the current GT, so we’d expect the new car to at least do the same. Top track speed is 203 mph, according to McLaren, because what “everyday” sports car shouldn’t be capable of exceeding 200, right?
More “Assertive”
The minor restyle over the GT gives the GTS a more “assertive” look, says McLaren, but we’d say it looks even more refined than before and remains the automaker’s most elegant design. Some changes are functional, including larger front and rear air intakes for the radiators. Impatient drivers will appreciate that the improved vehicle-lift feature for clearing driveway aprons now does its job in half the time.
Showing off the revised look, the GTS offers new Mantis Green, Tanzanite Blue, Ice White, and Lava Gray paint colors, plus new wheel styles. Inside, McLaren’s most luxurious model gets new upholstery choices. The GTS continues the GT’s practicality, so you still get the same 14.8 cu.-ft. rear trunk under a glass hatch, plus another 5.3 cu.-ft. of storage space in the front trunk.
The price for the GTS was not announced, but we’d naturally expect a hike over the GT’s approximately $210,000 start. This model also offers the optional electrochromic roof panel, and you’re going to want that, too.
