McLaren has taken the wraps off its 540C Coupe at the Shanghai Motor Show. It's billed as the 'most attainable' McLaren to date (read: 'cheapest') and joins the 570S Coupe in the Sports Series. By any measure, there's nothing cheap or 'entry-level' about its specification, as you'll discover if you read on...
Exterior
Clearly, the new 540C is aesthetically related to the rest of the McLaren line-up and the ties go more than skin deep. Those are aluminium body panels, hung from the carbon fibre MonoCell II chassis, which has larger door openings than in the McLaren 650S, for example, to make the car a better everyday proposition.
Nonetheless, it's still low in weight, with a quoted 1,311kg, or, according to McLaren, 150kg lighter than its closest competitor. The Porsche 911 GT3 RS weighs 1,495kg. Just saying.
No major surprises on the styling front, as I mentioned. The 540C gets its own alloy wheel design (19-inch front, 20-inch rear - available in silver or 'stealth'), LED headlights and a mildly tweaked aerodynamic package. The dramatic dihedral doors are present and correct.
Interior
The 540C's cabin is, unsurprisingly, similar to that of the McLaren 570S. It's swathed in leather as standard - covering the lower doors, dashboard and seats. A high level of equipment is also included in the price, such as McLaren's portrait seven-inch IRIS touchscreen, satnav, DAB digital radio and Bluetooth. Although there's more focus on comfort and long distance usability, the 540C retains a two-seat layout.
Mechanicals
McLaren is making good use of its twin-turbocharged V8 engine and here, as ever, it's mounted in the middle of the car. As the 540C's name suggests, it puts 540hp to the rear wheels. That's produced at 7,500rpm and is complemented by 540Nm of torque between 3,500- and 6,500rpm. It even has stop-start fitted, helping return 25.5mpg (11.1 litres/100km) on the combined cycle, plus emissions of 258g/km. Of more interest to McLaren buyers is the 0-100km/h time of 3.5 seconds, 0-200km/h in 10.5 seconds and a top speed of 320km/h. The usual seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox is the only transmission offered.
Anything else?
While the McLaren 540C shares the 570S's new adaptive damping system and suspension components, the entry-level car's damping has been tuned to make it more comfortable. McLaren expects buyers of this car to use it all the time. Saying that, the damping system comes with Normal, Sport and Track modes too.
For obvious reasons, we don't have a McLaren dealership in Ireland, but based on the UK price of £126,000 it should work out at about €280,000 landed here. Bargain.