McLaren Lightly Revised Its Best Car To Create The GTS
Meet the new boss, same as the old boss. McLaren this week unveiled the replacement for the GT model, a lightly facelifted version of that car now called GTS. The GTS gets a 14 horsepower bump from the old GT to 626 total, and drops 22 pounds to get down to just 3,351. Almost everything about this car is a carry over from the GT, though McLaren did add a couple of scoops and strakes to barely visually differentiate it. You probably won’t notice it in the “butt dyno” but the GTS is a bit quicker than the GT, as well. McLaren claims the GTS now sprints from 0-60 in 3.1 seconds, and 0-124 in 8.9 seconds, though Car and Driver got the GT from 0-60 in 2.8 seconds back in 2020, so you can bet the GTS is even quicker than that in the real world.
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Image: McLaren
That’s not to say it’s a bad thing that McLaren didn’t change much. The GT is perhaps the company’s best car, combining grand touring comfort and daily-driving practicality with power and poise. Perhaps the biggest difference is that the new GTS’ standard nose lift will raise the front of your car for a speed bump in half the time of the system found in the GT. That’s the kind of engineering you need in your quarter million dollar daily driver carbon monocoque supercar.
“The new McLaren GTS offers an unmatched blend of McLaren driving dynamics and performance, with refinement and practicality. When you want a true supercar driving experience, the GTS delivers that; when you want to relax on a longer journey or with luggage for a weekend away, the GTS is an ideal companion. This is a car that is true to McLaren’s racing DNA but with multiple layers of ability.” – Michael Leiters, CEO, McLaren Automotive
Image: McLaren
The GTS is still quite an elegant design, despite McLaren making it a bit more aggressive with deeper scoops and a bigger diffuser. Each side of the bumper features wider intake “blades” for more air to the radiators, and the rear quarter panels feature taller intake scoops. All of the exterior trim comes standard in gloss black, and you can tick an option box to get the badges in black as well (which I would). You can also option the splitter, side skirts, and diffuser in unpainted carbon fiber (which I also would.)
Image: McLaren
The GT has been my personal favorite McLaren since it launched in 2019, and the updated GTS is still probably the one I’d pick. I have to say, however, that I would have liked to have seen the GT move on to a new ethos in its third generation (if you count the 570GT, which I do). Making this next-generation GT a hybrid based on the Artura would have been my move.
This boring grey color, officially known as Lava Grey, is exclusive to the GTS. McLaren will pretty much let you paint your GTS any color you want, if you have enough money, but new options include Mantis Green, Tanzanite Blue, and Ice White. I bet the blue would look nice.
