What's all this about?

If you ever thought the mighty McLaren 720S needed a little more visual drama, then here's the car for you: it's the £237,000 720S Spider and it's available to order now, with deliveries commencing in March 2019.

Is it a lot heavier than the Coupe?

No, actually. Because the 720S's Monocage II-S super-stiff carbon structure, and the fact the Spider's retractable hard-top (RHT) is also made of carbon, means there's no need for hefty structural bracing down the sides of the car. Thus, the weight gain here is just 49kg over the Coupe. That means the 720hp/770Nm Spider, powered by the same twin-turbo V8 as its sibling, has a power-to-weight ratio of 540hp-per-tonne. Which, in turn, means the 720S Spider is bloody ferociously rapid. It'll run 0-62mph in 2.9 seconds, 0-124mph in just 7.9 seconds (a mere tenth down on the Coupe) and it has top speeds of 202- or 212mph.

Top speeds? What are you blathering on about now?

Lots of features on the 720S automatically detect if the roof is open or not, and then adjust themselves accordingly. You can therefore 'only' do 202mph flat out if you want to mess up your hair (or what remains of it), while you'll need the roof up for the 212mph maximum. Similarly, the active rear spoiler knows if the roof is down or not and adjusts the car's aero accordingly, while the dual-zone climate control does much the same job inside. In terms of it changes the cabin temperature depending on the roof's position, of course, not that it changes aerodynamics. Ahem.

Any other changes for the 720S Spider?

Yup, it gets its own design of ten-spoke forged alloys and there are two new body colours, which are Belize Blue and Aztec Gold. That RHT, by the way, can be raised or lowered in just 11 seconds, even while on the move at speeds of up to 31mph. Snazzy.

Matt Robinson - 12 Dec 2018