Words: thousands of them have been showered on the legend of brand McLaren. Automobile, racing and supercar followers know every bit about its racing credentials. But this TTN feature uses the lens of bespoke travel and travel experiences that comes with the ambition to go beyond the ordinary.
McLaren GT fits the occasion right away. Say the travel mandate is for a weekend trip to the Waldorf Astoria in Ras Al Khaimah or perhaps the newly coined Emirates Palace Mandarin Oriental in Abu Dhabi.
Enjoy the best of desert, sea and mountains of the UAE, paired with the best of hospitality experiences, and then the journey itself.
What can be done on the hour-long drive to RAK and back, how can the hairpin bends of Hajjar Mountains all the way to Jabal Hafeet be etched in memory forever? It has to be the drive, so consider McLaren GT.
The first look of the vehicle is designed to shock and awe. The tapered nose sitting elegantly a few inches above the tarmac is handsome and menacing. It turns heads whether you’re on Jumeirah Road, Dubai’s own Sunset Boulevard or on MBR Boulevard, where supercars roll in regularly to put up a show. It’s a GT and therefore comes with space for the head and your luggage, also plenty of legroom for lads and ladies. You know your weekend plans are on track when you can fit two bags of golfing equipment with considerable ease.
But the car can skim through long distances at ease, putting the riders in a space that makes the journey as exciting as (if not more than!) the destination. Consider the unmatched acceleration in its class, officially, 0-100kmp in 3.2 seconds, but with hands on wheels, the heart leaps much faster, you feel you’re in charge of a jet. A trip to share with that special someone.
Not enough can be said about the acceleration, powered by a 4.0-litre twin-turbocharged McLaren V8 engine that delivers 620PS and 630Nm of torque in a broad, flat curve to ensure seamless, relentless acceleration. In driver’s terms, it is taming a roaring beast from the cushy insides of a spacious cockpit. The pick-up is such, that racing hearts and minds may take days to normalise. A travel escapade will feel truly so, an escape from the ordinary.
Add to that a powerful 1,200 Watt Bowers & Wilkins premium audio system that can uplift any piece of music to the beats of a pulsating supercar on a mission to ring in comfort and luxury to the world of a surreptitiously speedy world of a supercar.
Before you take off with that special someone, young and old family members may definitely want a look in. Sitting alongside the driver, they will recount very different experiences. A thirteen-year-old confessed that it felt like an aeroplane taking off, a 75-year old veteran revealed that that was the most entertaining few seconds (the acceleration) in her life. But these may or may not be the travel companions you take on that long weekend drive. The special someone is most likely to say: keep driving - and we can second that.
On a gentle roll, McLaren GT’s ice sliver model stands out on the road getting admiring looks from pedestrians. Going at 100kmph on Dubai’s turning roads tests the cars composure - can speed and poise go together? A McLaren GT will answer that easily. The mind is at ease as the deft handling of turning tracks gives the riders the thrill in the comfy and stylish cabin, ours was a jet black luxe interior theme with jet black softgrain aniline leather seats featuring McLaren branding.
As exhilarating as the acceleration is, the braking feel of the car is equally assuring. There is a raw feel of strength when it comes to clamping down on speed and bringing the speeding demon to standstill, the transition from lightning blitz back to square earth feels within the grip of the driver, the driver will always feel in control. Credit to McLarens GT carbon fibre core that possesses exceptional strength and rigidity while being very light in weight. Hat tip to the suspension, steering and standard carbon ceramic brakes, these are all bespoke to the GT, offering maximum balance, responsiveness and precision, yet also tuned for a superior level of ride comfort designed for the road versus the track.
McLaren GT for a leisure drive is definitely on our cards for upcoming road trips. And we would recommend to travel planners to seriously consider is unmissable x-factor to unforgettable vacations.
The McLaren GT is available to book through select car hire companies in the UAE.