3 Years with the McLaren 650S Spider

3 Years with the McLaren 650S Spider

The McLaren 650S Spider and I have been together for over 1000 days now. While 3 years may not seem like much, things can change rapidly. In 2015 the US had a President who was tethered at least loosely to the truth, affairs with actresses (mainstream and/or adult) were still the purview of the President of France, and David Cameron had just been re-elected UK Prime Minister with an expanded majority in the Commons. It’s a very different world today.

We picked up the McLaren 650S Spider the same day we collected the McLaren P1. Despite my best efforts at negotiation, it was far from buy one get one free. In fact, it was buy one and now you get to pay for the other. Initially I was a bit skeptical on trading in our 2014 12C for the 650S. It was one of the last 12Cs built and I thought it was a significant improvement on the earlier cars. However, after a week of driving around in the 650S, any regrets were long gone. It’s hard to put your finger on exactly why and where the 650S is better but it just is and across every dimension. Power delivery, handling, suspension, brakes, are all just a bit improved and when you add the whole package up, what you have is a much improved car. The changes in suspension are particularly noticeable as that “floaty” feeling you could get in the 12C has been eliminated but the ride quality has not been compromised. For a daily driver, this is key as the road here have a unique lunar quality to them that seems to be getting worse year on year. There is some logic as to why just about everyone in Texas drives around in either a giant SUV or pickup truck.

In terms of reliability, the McLaren 650S Spider has been perfect. The only trips to the mechanic have been for the three annual services which have run about $1,400-$1,800 each. The only other costs have been petrol, insurance, a refurbishment for one lightly scuffed wheel. Gas mileage is pretty average at under 20 mpg with traffic and driving style being major negative contributors. In three years I have not needed to add either oil or coolant once and the tire pressures just need topping up about once a quarter. I have yet to see the temperature gauge move above the mid-point, even while baking in summer traffic with the mercury above 100 F. When parked, I always keep it on the battery conditioner which I do believe has helped prevent any electrical issues.

As a daily driver, the McLaren 650S Spider has been outstanding. It is still a special experience every time I climb over the sill and drop into the driver’s seat. Driving it to and from the office is a great way to both start and finish the day with a guaranteed smile on your face. To be honest, the vast majority of the time the roof stays up. It is far too hot here to have it open in the summer. Ten minutes in the summer sun and you can feel your brain starting to boil. With my family history of melanoma, burnt head is not a risk worth taking. Open top commuting is more often done in winter with the seat heaters on. Put it in winter mode, and it handles frozen roads just fine. I have yet to have the back end step out on me.

The 650S gets used just like every other daily driver. It’s been to the supermarket, dry cleaners, drive thru etc. I long ago stopped noticing camera phones pointed my way but have had a few close calls where other drivers were paying far too much attention to the McLaren and not enough to where their car was wandering on the road. I always drive the 650S in manual mode using the paddles while leaving both the handling and gearbox settings on normal. Only on occasion will I rotate either over to sport. The ride quality is outstanding on normal, especially given the embarrassing conditions of the roads here, but it gets jarring quickly when the setting gets rotated to the right. Urban driving tends to be done with the front nose lift activated to keep the front splitter from scraping on speed bumps and driveway lips. In terms of driving style, there are a few things you do need to keep in mind. The 650S accelerates and brakes more quickly than just about everything else on the road, and depending on the situation, you tend to close on traffic in front of you a lot more quickly than they may expect.

As a daily driver, the must have options in my book are the Front Nose Lifter or you will be replacing the front splitter often, Electric Steering Column as it makes getting in and out of the car much easier, Electric and Heated Seats for open air winter driving along with easy of ingress, Meridian Surround Sound for sitting in traffic, Rear Parking Camera with Parking Sensors if you have to do any parallel parking, and the Sports Exhaust as it just sounds so much better than the stock. In fact, all of the above are now standard requests on any new McLaren we order.

Overall the McLaren 650S Spider has been a terrific, reliable daily driver. The fact that it is a supercar just makes this even more impressive. Originally, we had planned to replace the 650S with the 720S. However, given how great the 650S Spider has been I couldn’t let it go and so it continues on as my daily transport.

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The Corinthia Hotel London & the McLaren Ball

By Karen

Corinthia Hotel London
Whitehall Place
London SW1A 2BD
United Kingdom

Tel: +44 20 7930 8181
Email: london@corinthia.com

www.corinthia.com

Karenable Rating 🍾🍾🍾🍾🍾

SSO and I decided to accept the invitation to the 2017 McLaren Ball. We had heard the prior Balls were nothing short of spectacular and this year our schedules cooperated for once. Plus, it was an opportunity to go back to visit London pre-Christmas; we miss England having lived there for over a dozen years.

McLaren arranged for us to stay at the the Corinthia Hotel in London. Although we thought we knew London pretty well, we had actually never heard of this hotel. The website looked great, but we did think it was odd that McLaren was not having us stay at one of the better known hotels in Mayfair or Belgravia. As we love London, we decided to book a few extra nights at the Corinthia so we could go back to some of our favorite restaurants and shops, see some old friends and just enjoy the city.

SSO and I arrived at the Corinthia around 11am after a long trans Atlantic flight. The doorman were an impressive group with their bowler hats and black tails (just like Cliveden). They knew we had requested early check-in (the driver had called ahead with our ETA) so they directly escorted us to the reception. Our room wasn’t quite yet ready, so they offered us the complimentary choice of going to their Spa to relax or have coffee in their Crystal Moon Lounge. We opted for coffee. As we entered the lounge the sight of a massive Baccarat chandelier was spectacular and, in the background, a pianist playing beautiful melodies on a Steinway grand piano. Starched white linens, hand painted bone china, Baccarat crystal glasses and fresh flowers abound. Apart from this wonderful surrounding, the staff could not be more attentive. The bespoke collection of coffee was of course on-par. A highly memorable way to start the trip and, as our children would say, very Karenable.

Beyond the Crystal Moon Lounge, I noticed that there was an outdoor Garden Lounge. It was an exclusive outdoor space with a partial glass roof at one end and tables with large umbrellas and heaters at the other. There was even a humidor with an extensive cigar menu. It was open from 7am to 1am and offered everything from coffee, food to ‘night caps’. This was already turning into a great new discovery.

It wasn’t long before they came to take us to our room. The bags of course preceded us and were already placed in the room’s walk-in closet. The room was spectacular, large by normal London hotel standards at nearly 500 square feet. There was a small foyer as you entered with the Bathroom on the right and Bedroom with sitting area to the left. A large walk in closet sat at the end of the foyer.

The marble bathroom with under-floor heating felt great. It had a separate WC (bonus points on the Karenable ranking), an extra-long & wide bath tub overlooking the Garden Lounge below with a built-in Sony TV above the taps & the English ‘telephone’ style shower head, plus a separate shower with the world’s best rain-shower head. The double sinks had vast marble countertops to the left and right with drawers underneath for your personal things, finally plentiful ESPA toiletries and a pile of thick Egyptian towels to dry all that jet lag off.

The bedroom was thoughtfully laid out and very tastefully furnished. The king bed had a sumptuous HYPNOS mattress, there were nightside tables on each side, bookshelves, a circular desk/table with fresh-cut flowers and comfortable side chairs, an armchair in front of a non-working fireplace with another coffee table and plate of fruit & homemade biscuits to the side. The Nespresso machine on the bar came with a generous selection of pods and had a minibar refrigerator underneath. WIFI was complimentary and thoughtfully, there were both UK and US electrical plugs.
We showered and headed out to meet a friend of SSO’s who originally got him involved in writing for EVO Magazine many years ago. Corinthia’s central location was perfect, easy walking distance to St James & Mayfair, several great restaurants & bars very nearby, with key tourist sites right around the corner. After lunch, we met up with a former colleague of mine at a classic London bar near Trafalgar Square. It was great catching up with friends you have not seen in a while.

Over the 4 days, we ate our way through many of our favorite London restaurants:
1. Yauatcha Soho, it is more contemporary Chinese dining with expertly-crafted dim-sum
2. San Carlo Cicchetti: think Italian tapas (small seasonal small dishes)
3. Cambio de Tercio in Chelsea: modern & innovative Spanish cuisine
4. Le Boudon Blanc in the heart of Mayfair: Traditional French dishes in a cozy brasserie
5. The Mont Street Deli: great breakfast spot in one of my favorite shopping areas
6. Roka on Charlotte St: Contemporary Sushi and Japanese dishes
7. Princi Soho: Where we always go for pizza in London

For me, no trip to London would be complete without spending a bit of time on Bond Street. Almost all of my favorite stores can be found in just a few blocks: Hermes, Lora Piani, Asprey, Breguet, Smythson, Ludwig Reiter, Bottega Veneta, & Issey Miyake. Sadly, the Donna Karan boutique that was a favorite for 10 years closed with Donna’s departure from the fashion world. As a shopper, I am very picky and tend to buy classics that remain part of my wardrobe for years. My favorite cashmere & silk black sweater set that I bought at Hermes in Hong Kong over a decade ago is still worn regularly. The Bottega Veneta Cabat bag I bought in Seoul, Korea back in 2001 has been back to the factory in Italy a few times for reconditioning. It is now so softly stunning from wear that I have gotten compliments from total strangers on the street. Hermes scarves are great as you can wear them as tops in the summer (which makes for a great road trip wardrobe as they take next to no space in the one duffle bag I am allowed to take). Issey Miyake pleats are every traveler’s friend as they don’t wrinkle, and you just roll them up and squeeze them into your bag, plus they look sensational, dressed up or casual with a T-shirt. Shopping with SSO is normally quite efficient and he has a pretty good sense of fashion. When picking things out, either get a quick ‘nope’ or “let me see it on” and then it is either a thumps up or down on the spot.

The McLaren Ball was simply spectacular despite what turned out to be a nearly 2-hour drive to the McLaren Technology Center from central London in heavy pre-Christmas traffic. The historic McLaren F1 cars lining the entrance way set the stage for the evening. Champagne was plentiful, the setting truly unique (and a petrolheads dream) and the food was quite good for one of these types of events. The introduction of the Senna was the highlight of the night. The last Senna to be built, number 500, was auctioned off to benefit the Senna Foundation. It went for £2millon after several rounds of highly competitive bidding!

The trip was such a great time that we immediately asked McLaren to reserve our places for the 2018 McLaren Ball. Our flights are already booked, and I am counting down the months.

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McLaren 650S Spider vs. 720S: A Bad Driver’s Insights

By SSO Jr. (Guest Contributor)

I’ve only had my license for about a year now, which can really only mean one thing at age 20: I’m not a good or particularly experienced driver. However, over this period, I’ve been fortunate enough to be exposed to a vast variety of high powered luxury supercars and have had the opportunity to drive a few of them. Recently, I had to opportunity to jump into my Dad’s garage, and take two of his favorites for a drive, the McLaren 650S Spider and McLaren 720S. While I may still be a bad driver, my Dad had enough confidence in my ability to be able to drive a decently luxurious car as my daily, an Audi A4 2.0T Quattro. While I love the Audi, jumping into the cockpit of a McLaren was a whole new world.

For today’s outing, my Dad started out driving the McLaren 720S as he said he wanted to get it properly warmed up and a bit of heat into the tires. Once warm, we found a pretty quiet street, and my Dad and I successfully executed a fire drill to trade seats. We drove around some of the neighborhoods, got on the highway to get some speed in, before returning home to switch it out for the 650S Spider. We took a slightly different route with the 650S Spider but made sure I was getting the same varied road experience with each.

It was slightly weird moving from a newer car to an older one. Just sitting in the drivers seat it was clear where McLaren had made improvements from one model to the next. All the controls were better placed and more intuitive to find. However, the biggest thing that stood out between the cars was visibility. In the 650S, I could not see a thing behind the seats. While the mirrors were a bit helpful, there was barely any visibility on the passenger side and back of the car. It seemed like there were constantly cars in my blind spot that I could not see at all. I didn’t seem to have this issue at all in the 720S, making it even more apparent when I hoped in the 650S. The next big difference was the power of each. It was strange to me because going into it, I knew that the 720S had more power (about 70 more bhp), and I could definitely feel it when driving, but the 650S felt more edgy. With the 650S it seemed like I was trying to hold back a dog trying to chase a squirrel, whereas the 720S couldn’t care less about the squirrel.

I could go into the differences in steering, braking, the gearbox, and suspension, but let’s face the facts, as an inexperienced, bad driver, I couldn’t notice a huge difference in the two cars. When I turned the wheel, the car moved where I wanted it to instantly. I just had to make sure not to oversteer because of how exact the steering is. It’s the same when it comes to the brakes. The way I like to describe them is sensitive with intent. The brakes understood what I was trying to do when I put my foot on the pedal. Whether I had slammed them to compensate for someone cutting me off, or simply gently slowing down for a stoplight, they never seemed to overcompensate or undercompensate, but knew exactly what I was thinking. When it comes to the gearbox, they are both super quick when you give the paddle a tug. The difference is almost indescribable, and any bad driver like myself wouldn’t be able to tell the difference. The same goes for suspension. Both cars were incredibly stable and despite the embarrassment that they call roads here, I never felt like I was getting thrown around in either car by the potholes.

When it comes down to it, there are only two things that bad drivers like me would have noticed between two cars of this caliber: the visibility and the “exoticness” of the car. If you are a bad driver, you’re better off in the 720S because being able to see around you is probably more important than the sheer speed that you might feel in the 650S Spider. Either way, at my age, it was just a thrill to be able to drive either.

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Spec’ing the McLaren Senna

Spec’ing an Ultimate Series car at McLaren HQ is always an event. First you arrive at your allotted time, check in with security, and wait to be cleared. It all has a very secret service feel to it. Once cleared you drive up and around the “lake” to the visitor parking behind the McLaren Technology Center. Parking is always tight and a bit overcrowded, in fact this is the only place I have ever seen even slight chaos on the McLaren Campus. One time I made the mistake of bringing the Ferrari F40 and ended up having to execute a 30 point turn to get back out. That was exercise for the week. After parking it is a short walk back to the circular glass entrance of the MTC where you are immediately met by a member of the VIP client relations team and escorted into the glass enclosed waiting lounge. Wandering around the MTC on your own is viewed with the same openness as it would be at MI6’s HQ.

Once in the waiting area, you are immediately greeted by the one of the VIP or Bespoke Sales Managers. In my case it was a gentleman who has been my main contact at McLaren going back to when I originally ordered the P1. Over the years we have become friends, and a more expensive friend is hard to find. After the formalities are over, a touch on a hidden sensor embedded into a curved wall behind you noiselessly opens the first of several concealed doors you need to go through to get into the presentation theater. It all has a very exclusive and rarefied feel to it.

Upon entering the presentation theater, you are immediately greeted by the dark grey visual carbon fibre bodied Senna that was originally shown in Geneva. While the original bright orange launch car was a bit jarring under blue lights, this visual CF bodied Senna looked stunning. It would serve as our spec’ing mannequin for the better part of the next hour. Mrs. SSO and I had already gone through some rough ideas over the weekend. We had agreed on either black or dark blue for the exterior, orange for the accents, and to keep the interior simple. It turned out to not be quite so simple as a few more options had been added to the list since the last edition of the product guide that Mrs. SSO and I were using in our discussion.

Starting with the exterior, we decided to go a bit bolder than our usual daily driver metallic black with a dark blue this time. Orange, the other color we have spec’ed twice in the past, was ruled out as soon as the launch car rolled in at the Christmas Ball. While I am a fan of blue cars in general, it’s not a color I had seriously considered on a McLaren to date. At this point though, which blue is still in question as we are still looking at both Kyanos blue and a MSO blue. Orange for the brake calibers, aero blades, and fender inners was easy and had all been pre-agreed. Likewise, the choice of dark stealth for the wheels and exhaust shield. Based on the experience with both the P1 and 720S, choosing the gorilla glass option for the door uppers and panel inserts was simple as it adds a significant amount of light and feeling of space to the interior. We also added the glass rear bulkhead option as I do find seeing what’s behind you to be helpful on occasion although I not sure in a Senna it is that relevant. The final exterior options checked were the carbon fibre end plates for the rear wing and the still under debate 24 carat gold exhaust heat shield.

The interior was a bit more straight forward in the end. After looking at different alcantara and leather color options, we settled on the jet black leather with McLaren orange perforations. The door struts will also be McLaren orange and we are still debating whether to go with leather or alcantara on the steering wheel. The former will wear better but the alcantara provides for better grip on a track. The interior trim will be galvanic grey brushed aluminum in keeping with a general stealth theme. The boxes for the infotainment system, parking cameras, track telemetry, air conditioning, six-point harnesses in black, and push to drink system all got checked.

Reflecting back, we have tried to spec a McLaren Senna that is balanced between track and road usage. The six point harnesses can be fitted as needed and the push to drink system is not something that can be retro fitted so those were straight forward choices. Air conditioning and the infotainment system are mandatory in my mind for any car that will see plenty of time on the road. The rest of the spec really comes down to personal taste. As we don’t have to lock in our build spec for a few months, this inevitably will be played with a bit more. However right now, we are just waiting to hear from McLaren on what the wallet damage will be from this spec.

Tag: #mclaren