The McLaren 620R Is Road-Legal GT4 Racing Car

With ever more elaborate and expensive track cars emerging, the question must cross many well-heeled petrolhead’s minds - why not just buy an actual racing car?

It seems McLaren - itself a builder of various track-focused supercars - gets this quandary. The British company has just revealed something called the 620R (not to be confused with a certain Cosworth-engined Caterham), and it’s billed by Woking as a road-legal version of the 570S GT4.

You get pretty much the same aero package as the as the GT4 car, with some key modifications. For instance, the giant adjustable rear wing incorporates a third brake light for road legality. The front splitter, bumper and bonnet meanwhile have all been slightly redesigned. All told, the aero package provides 185kg of downforce at 155mph. That’s 85kg more than the 600LT generates at the same speed.

It sits lower and wider than a 570S on two-way adjustable motorsport dampers lifted straight from the GT4 machine. If preferred, an adaptive setup with three driving modes is on the options menu.

When it comes to the tyres, again, it’s possible to choose how hardcore you want to go. Road-legal Pirelli P Zero Trofeo R semi-slicks are fitted as standard, but optionally, you can fit full slicks. The boots fit onto 19-inch wheels at the front and 20-inch rims at the back, all of which are centre-locking. Behind them, you’ll find 390mm/380mm carbon-ceramic rotors squeezed by six and four-piston calipers.

Much of the interior has been ditched in the name of reducing weight (you’re looking at a dry figure of 1282kg for the 620R), although it is possible to spec the sound system and the air conditioning back in at no additional cost. Both driver and passenger sit in carbonfibre racing seats complete with six-point harnesses.

Much like the track-only 570S Sprint revealed a few years ago, the 620R is actually more powerful than the racing version, since the M838TE 3.8-litre twin-turbo V8 is unshackled from FIA GT3 regulations. As such, it’s good for 610bhp (620hp) here. It’ll sound fruitier than the road car too, thanks to the fitting of a stainless steel exhaust.

McLaren will only be building 350, at a cost of £250,000 each. For any buyers in Europe or the US, this includes track-based tuition at a Pure McLaren Track Day. Production kicks off in January.