[Auto/Moto] The McLaren Artura Spider Makes the Coupe Irrelevant

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McLaren's convertibles have always been a bit special. They look like they were part of the design plan from the beginning—often more stylish than their hardtop siblings. They also rarely suffer a performance penalty despite the extra weight a retractable roof adds. The 12C, 570S, 650S, 720S, and latest 750S Spiders (and their respective LTs) all look bang on, and you can hardly say they’re lacking in grunt. Now it's the Artura's turn. McLaren's first full-production hybrid gets the Spider treatment. Not only that, but it comes alongside a raft of changes for the whole Artura lineup, including more power.The star of the Spider show is undoubtedly its folding hardtop, A single-piece carbon composite panel or fancy electrochromic glass panel that does its thing in just eleven seconds.McLaren, to give as much rearward visibility as possible, has made the Artura’s flying buttresses see-through here as well. They look better than the solid ones on the coupe and are actually useful in traffic. If you, like McLaren, are worried about weight, the roof and its associated gubbins add 136 pounds, bringing the Spider’s total weight to 3,439 pounds. Roof aside, the Artura Spider’s biggest trick is its new power output: 690 horsepower and 531 pound-feet of torque. It’s a pleasing bump from the original car’s 671 hp, and if you’ve already got an Artura on the way, McLaren will gladly give it the extra juice. If it seems odd that McLaren unlocked more power so soon after the car’s initial launch, remember that the 12C got the same treatment.Existing Artura customers may be jazzed with more power, but they might be a touch irked when they hear about the other upgrades. The 2025 Artura has stiffer engine mounts, quicker Proactive Damping Control, a 25% quicker eight-speed gearbox, new brake cooling ducts to keep your stoppers fresher longer, a more tuneful exhaust, and it comes with a ‘Spinning Wheel Pull-Away’ mode. That’s British for ‘Burnout all the things.’ Oh, and the stop/start button is now papaya orange, not red.

https://www.motor1.com/reviews/723406/2025-mclaren-artura-spider-first-drive-review/