REVIEW: We've finally driven the McLaren Artura - is this hybrid supercar worth the weight?
The Artura will be a fine car, I expect, once its maker has finally and fully answered the challenges associated with its armoury of new technology, among which number a completely new carbonfibre chassis tub; a new electrical architecture; an all-new V6 combustion engine and eight-speed transmission; a new generation of infotainment system; and all of its plug-in hybrid componentry.
The packaging of the Artura’s engine bay was laid bare in a full-scale technical cutaway drawing for guests to see at the car’s Spanish press launch. Immediately behind the rear bulkhead and mounted flat against the car’s floor is a 7.4kWh lithium ion battery about the thickness of a briefcase but made up of five battery modules that run the full width of the car. Above that sits a 66-litre fuel tank and then, immediately behind both, a brand-new 3.
Elsewhere on the Artura, a new ethernet-based electrical architecture saves more weight. Superformed aluminium body panels achieve the same end. The car hasn’t been permitted to grow significantly in any dimension compared with a 570S: it’s only a few millimetres longer than its predecessor and actually narrower across the body.And so while that hybrid system adds some 130kg to the Artura’s all-up weight, more than half of that penalty has been offset.
Hit Sport powertrain mode and suddenly the Artura turns up the volume. That V6 engine starts and runs continuously, keeping the drive battery at a useful mid-level charge, topping it up by ‘dragging’ the engine but never with regenerative braking . The Artura is clearly a little more stiffly sprung than 570S owners may be expecting, but it still has a suppleness and fluency about it on the road. It doesn’t quite glide over most surfaces in Comfort mode but seldom fusses or fidgets.
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