The V6 Hybrid McLaren 570S Successor Has Been Spotted Wearing Its Own Body

The genetic makeup of modern McLaren supercars is well known by now. You take a carbon fibre tub, stick a twin-turbo V8 behind it, and drive power to the rear wheels. Soon, though, we’ll be seeing a new breed of vehicles from McLaren.

A few weeks back, McLaren revealed its all-new carbon fibre heart. It’ll be made at the £50 million McLaren Composites Technology Centre near Sheffield, and underpin a new generation of Sports Series cars that’ll shirk the V8s for V6s. And now, we can get our first proper look at the 570S-replacing beast that’ll be leading the downsized supercar charge.

Well, sort of. Although we have seen a test mule for the new McLaren, it was hiding under 570S bodywork. This one, on the other hand, has the proper panels on it, and although the camouflage is heavy, we can already see that the silhouette bears some resemblance to the GT. Like the 720S, meanwhile, its twin exhaust tailpipes exit between the rear light clusters.

As noted by the script on the side of the car, it’ll be a hybrid, with battery and motor assistance plugging the power deficit caused by ditching two cylinders, while also giving roughly 18 miles of electric-only range. Like the 3.8 and 4.0-litre V8s McLaren uses across its range currently, the new twin-turbo V6 will be built by Ricardo.

A fairly hefty battery pack will be necessary to give that kind of range and a meaningful electrical acceleration boost, and that means extra weight. This being mass-obsessed McLaren, however, we’d expect it to be far lighter than the average hybrid performance car.

We should hopefully be seeing the car in full early in 2021. After that, you know the drill - we can expect an expansive range including a drop-top Spider, a track-focused LT and many more besides.