It's day one of the 2014 Geneva Motor Show, and the world's first glimpse at the open-topped version of McLaren's mighty new 650S. It's called the 650S Spider and it goes on sale at the same time as the new coupé, with more or less the same performance figures, but of course a price premium.
Exterior
No major surprises here; the Spider retains the styling that differentiates the 650S from the McLaren 12C, including a P1-inspired nose and carbon splitter. The two-piece roof can be raised at speeds of up to 30km/h in a claimed 17 seconds and the Spider is only 40kg heavier than the coupé at 1,370kg ('dry' weight). The heated glass rear window can be raised and lowered separately, when the roof is up or down.
Interior
As in the coupé, the 650S Spider's cabin isn't the stripped bare place some might expect. Alcantara trims the interior as standard and niceties such as satnav, Bluetooth, DAB digital radio and voice control are all included in the price. Naturally, buyers will have plenty of scope for customisation. The roof stows behind those dramatic buttresses, a space that's available for luggage when the roof is up.
Mechanicals
No change here, but it's worth repeating. As the name suggests, the 650S is endowed with 650hp. That's produced by a development of the McLaren 12C's twin-turbo V8 engine at a speed of 7,250rpm. Peak torque is 678Nm at 6,000rpm. This is all channelled via the seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox to the rear wheels. Top speed is 329km/h and 0-100km/h takes 3.0 seconds exactly. Perhaps the 0-200km/h time of 8.6 seconds is even more impressive. Nobody cares, but the 650S Spider returns 24.2mpg and emits 275g/km of CO2.
Anything else?
McLaren says that no additional strengthening or reinforcement was necessary for its carbon fibre 'MonoCell' chassis, hence the relatively low weight increase.