McLaren announces MP4-12C Spider
Macca goes topless
By Shahzad Sheikh
Here are the official pictures of the McLaren MP4-12C Spider. It’s like the regular MP4-…. Actually let’s just call it the 12C now, because that’s what McLaren has done in its press release (a tacit admission then that the full name is too much like that of a fridge-freezer?).
So the 12C Spider then, is like the coupe but now with a gap where the roof was, when you so desire. It gets the same specs as the coupe (with the updated revisions including 616bhp) and features a retractable hard top, which can go up or down whilst on the move below 30kph.
The UK pricing has been revealed as GBP 195,500 which makes it about 15% more than the coupe, so we estimate prices here to be around $290k. It is available to order now and deliveries are expected to begin in November.
Performance doesn’t appear to be much affected by the folding top’s weight with a 0-100kph time identical to the coupe at 3.1seconds, although the Spider is fractionally slower to 200kph – 9secs versus 8.8. Same goes for the quarter mile (10.8 at 216kph versus 10.6 at 219kph). Top speed is slightly down at 329kph versus 333kph for the coupe.
I have to say, perhaps because of the striking Volcano Red colour of the cars in the press pictures (there’s also a Volcano Yellow) but it definitely seems to have enhanced the looks of the car, giving it extra visual excitement. You can try configuring your own version at Configure.McLaren.com.
Let us know if you think this is as sexy as the Ferrari 458 Spyder.
