McLaren GT review: Flash, brash and enough to tickle anyone’s fancy

Hang onto your hats, wigs and anything else you'd like not to lose – there are slower rollercoasters than this zippy motor

Some car manufacturers never stray too far from creating exactly the kind of vehicles one would expect from them.

Rolls-Royce won’t be producing a family runabout any time soon, a hot hatchback is not expected from Hummer in the near future and, from what we can gather, Volvo is not planning the imminent release of an 8-litre V12 monster truck.

You can add supercar manufacturer McLaren to this list of single-minded automotive firms, and you know what to expect when the company talks about its GT range.

The latest model is, unsurprisingly, a supercar tearaway, much like everything the company has produced in living memory.

Good job, too – there would have been astonishment and dismay all round if the GT had turned out to be a vehicle designed to rival the Nissan Sunny.

Though even by the brand's high standards, the new arrival is a spicy little number.

Hang onto your hats, spectacles, wigs and anything else likely to come loose if you put your foot to the floor in this one – the GT will hit 100kph from a standing start in a little over three seconds.

Frankly, there are slower rollercoasters.

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  The McLaren GT outside Dubai Autodrome. All photos: SWP

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  The GT's front wing could best be described as assertive

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  It's all quietly understated in the GT's cabin

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  Blink and you'll miss it

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  The GT can hit 100kph in 3.2 seconds

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  That is not an air intake from a town car

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  Ready to roll

It’s a fine vehicle at lower speeds as well, but this is another one of those rides where the engine is goading the driver to floor it whenever you try driving sedately.

When one resists, it can be a serene and quiet ride and, whatever speed I'm at, it makes me feel a teensy bit on the magnificent side.

The GT takes corners superbly, giving, at times, the sensation of being at the controls of a machine designed to emulate the most agile bird of prey.

A lot of supercars do this, but there's the distinct sensation of added classiness here.

For example, the McLaren doesn’t have the same pretty but preposterous dashboard set-up so beloved by some of its competitors, and it’s this kind of touch that makes one feel rather more Kingsman and less Hobbs and Shaw when zipping along.

All this aside though, the GT range is specifically made up of models designed to be more practical than McLaren’s other creations.

It's a supercar, says the manufacturer, but one that you can use for most of the things you'd use a normal vehicle for.

That said, the gullwing doors, for example, are things of beauty, but anyone tall may not find entering and exiting as simple as those closer to the ground.

Admittedly, it’s only what one might expect and it isn’t any different for the vast majority of supercars (the notable exception being the Lotus Eletre SUV, but that remains a bit of a one-off).

It means the GT could indeed be an everyday ride, one not needed to perform practical tasks.

One for the holidays then, when there’s just the two of you, without a lot of luggage.

Mind you, the way the GT feels as I rip around in it, it might do for a quick – and I mean proper quick – trip to the supermarket.

Just stick to the posh stuff though, broken eggs all over the interior is never a good look, and with the speed of the GT, that result is always possible.

The upgraded version, the GTS, will be available later this year.