Power
Klibansky's new supercar
What other brands call GT3 RS or Pista, McLaren calls the LT. Those letters represent the very best the brand has to offer. Now a new LT is coming: the 765LT Spider. Joseph Klibansky will soon drive one of the 765 copies.
What other brands call GT3 RS or Pista, it is called McLaren LT. Those letters represent the very best that the brand has to offer. Now a new LT is coming: the 765LT Spider. Joseph Klibansky will soon be driving one of the 765 copies.Text: Perry Snijders
Online editorial: Noa Verseveldt
Image: McLarenBack to the spring of 2019. We drive the McLaren drive with a group of about twenty McLarens. Almost all models that the brand has built since 2011 are present during this rally organized by importer Louwman Exclusive. eleven we drive to Brescia, Italy in a 570S and the spectacular Senna are represented. Almost everyone seems to be having a good time during the ride, but one team really enjoys it: Joseph and Louis Klibansky, who drive a black 600LT Spider. At that time it was the most intense variant of the McLaren Sport Series, a model that has now been succeeded by the Artura. A few years have now passed and it is time for a new LT. This time the basis is not the brand new Artura, but the 720S, which came onto the market in 2017. This is how it works at all car manufacturers: the best versions of a model are released after it has been on the market for a few years, in order to keep the model in the news and to send the message that the model is still current. This is how BMW does it with the M2, this is how Porsche does it with the 911 GT3 and this is how Lamborghini does it with the Huracán STO. At McLaren, the party even consists of two phases: the 2020LT was introduced in the spring of 765, and the Spider will now follow. There is no need to choose, because the coupe has long been sold out. Even with the Spider, thinking for a long time is no longer an option, because just like the coupe, a limited edition of 765 copies is being built.
Ultra-light
If you ask us, it's an easy choice anyway. The 765LT Spider is 49 kilograms heavier than the coupe, but with a weight of 1.388 kilograms it is still lighter than the 720S coupe - thanks to a heavy weight-loss treatment. Most importantly, the 765LT Spider is lighter than all its competitors. What McLaren did to make the car lighter? The ten-spoke wheels are ultra-light, the exhaust is made of Titanium, the seats are made of carbon fiber, as are the center tunnel and floor. Lightweight Alcantra was used for the upholstery. Two weight-saving interventions will probably immediately dissuade any buyer: the LT comes standard without air conditioning and music system. For buyers who want that (we estimate: all), McLaren will add it at no extra cost, but it will of course add some extra kilos: 10 for the air conditioning, 1,5 for the sound system, to be precise. You can compensate for this by choosing some options that do have to be paid for. For example, you can opt for the Super-Lightweight racing seats, which weigh only 3,35 kilograms each. In the lightest configuration that McLaren delivers, the 765LT Spider weighs 1.288 kilograms.
Theatrical
And why the choice for a Spider is an easy one, as we said before? A sports car is not just about performance, but also about fun and experience. With the roof open you experience the speed sensation much more intensely than in a closed sports car. “By lowering the roof, the driver becomes even more involved,” says McLaren's product manager Ian Howshall. The coupe is already impressive, but when you lower the roof of the Spider, a change in character takes place before your eyes, almost a theatrical element, as if you were experiencing a live orchestra from a place right in front of the stage.” Even if it is too cold or too wet to open the Retractable Hard-Top, the Spider can be more spectacular than the coupe. You can choose to only open the rear window. Now you may think that opening a window is not really an experience, but that means you underestimate it. With this rear window you do not have the rattling and noise that you do when you open the side window of any car. But above all, after opening that rear window you hear the unfiltered sound of the V8, which sounds its mighty roar there, centimeters away from you. The latter was also possible with the 600LT Spider, still one of our favorite McLarens. We can't wait to drive the new 765LT Spider. And Joseph Klibansky? He is, if possible, even more curious than we are. His copy is already on order.
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