As the manufacturers of supercars continue to explore ways to satisfy shareholder expectations, phrases like “race derived technology” have started to drift into nebulous marketing territory, where they pertain more to concepts and emotions than the mechanicals found underneath the skin of a vehicle. McLaren is, first and foremost, a company that builds race cars. They are not part of a larger company that cranks out road-going vehicles by the thousands, so there isn’t a wealth of parts bin components from more common models to pilfer from in order to reduce development and build costs. So when we were handed the keys to this Volcano Yellow 650S Spider, we had a hunch it might be something genuinely special. A car that felt bespoke, made by a company whose primary objective has always been about building vehicles made to perform. Something truly compelling. The first time the all-aluminum 3.8-liter V8’s turbochargers spooled up, our suspicions were confirmed.
