McLaren 720S Spider review

The trouble with convertible supercars is that they sacrifice dynamic appeal for their ability to let in the sunshine, right?

Well, it’s certainly true that a lot of them do, because taking tin clippers to their roofs compromises structural rigidity. And while some of this can be restored by reinforcing them elsewhere, that adds weight which hurts agility and performance. However, the McLaren 720S Spider is a bit different.

Unlike many of its rivals, you see, the 720S has a carbonfibre (rather than metal) structure, with this not only making it very light, but also extremely stiff. In fact, the open-top Spider version weighs just 49kg more than the coupé – and strength isn’t lost.

The Spider also uses the same 4.0-litre twin-turbocharged V8 as the 720S coupé, with this sending a whopping 720 metric horsepower (hence the name) or 710 of the Queen’s brake horsepower (bhp) to the rear wheels via a seven-speed automatic gearbox that can be manually controlled via steering wheel-mounted paddles.

All of this means the 720S spider can accelerate from 0-62mph in 2.9sec and reach a top speed of 212mph (202mph with the roof down). Yes, the coupé accelerates even faster, but only by 0.1sec, while its top speed is the same.

In this review, we’ll tell you everything else you want to know about the McLaren 720S Spider. And while we won’t be able to get you a discount on one at the end of it, be sure to check out the deals available through our New Car Buying service if you’re next car is going to be a little more mainstream, because we could potentially save you thousands without the hassle of haggling.