The first thing people want to know about are the numbers. “How much does it cost?” typically starts things off. Tell them the ungodly figure. They usually compute that dollar amount into terms they can reason with. What kind of house could they buy with that money? Or how many “normal” cars could be purchased for that sum?
The next query is generally “How fast is it?” Again, the answer here is hard for most people to relate to. You tell them it’s a 200-mph (321-km/h) car that can do the quarter-mile in 10 seconds flat. Taking in this information, they usually pause for a bit, looking at the McLaren with all its carbon-fiber ducts and wings as if they half-expect it to take flight right there in the grocery-store parking lot.
Then it’s always the same final question: “Is it worth the money?”
The McLaren 750S is something of a purist’s supercar—one of very few left on offer. Lamborghini and Ferrari have gone hybrid on their top offerings. Heck, even McLaren itself has gotten into the hybrid game with its Artura. It feels odd to call a twin-turbo carbon-fibre supercar with a dual-clutch transmission “old-school,” but in some ways, it is. The 750S generates its horsepower via gasoline alone. And it sends that power solely to the rear wheels. You don’t get that often these days.
The 750S is the range-topping model among McLaren’s series-production cars. Anything above it is a limited-series item, like the Elva, Senna, or Speedtail. The marque also sells the aforementioned V6-hybrid Artura; and the comfy GTS, which is aimed at people who want to drive and use their supercar every day.
The 750S debuted in 2023, and is an evolution of the 720S that debuted in 2017. The changes from 720 to 750 are not radical, but McLaren claims 30% of the components in the 750 are different or revised from those used in the 720. There are some neat details – the integration of Apple CarPlay, and windshield glass that is 1.6 kg lighter – in addition to more substantial changes. The 750S receives a 30-hp boost over the 720, but more meaningfully, the final drive ratio has been shortened by 15%. This makes it a thrill ride like hardly anything else.
“Fast” is relative. A BMW M3 will feel fast until you’ve driven a Dodge Hellcat. A Hellcat feels fast until you’ve driven a Porsche 911 Turbo. And a 911 Turbo will feel positively sluggish after a go in a 750S. The numbers are just plain nutty. The 4.0L twin-turbo V8 (which can trace its lineage back to a 1980s Nissan Le Mans engine) generates 740 horsepower and 590 lb-ft of torque. We live in an insane world where a 740-hp engine is no longer all that shocking, but there are two things you need to know about McLaren power.
First, McLaren cars have a funny habit of making damn-near their rated flywheel horsepower at the wheels. And secondly, McLaren chronically and consistently sandbags its own performance numbers. (This was especially well-documented on the 750’s predecessor, the 720S.) The other thing to consider is that the 750S makes 100 hp more than a 911 Turbo S, but weighs 266 kg (587 pounds) less. Oh, and it has half the driven wheels. This car is bonkers.
If you’re feeling brave, press that beautifully milled aluminum throttle pedal to the floor and the 750S simply sucks the horizon under the wheels. From 5,000 to 8,000 rpm, the V8 absolutely slams you back in the seat. The incredible thrust is broken only by the sharp staccato upshifts of the seven-speed dual-clutch transmission, punctuated by its occasionally shooting purple flames from the exhaust. Pull the paddle once the V8 nears red-line and you begin the sequence anew; repeat until you run out of open road or fortitude.
That engine laughs in the face of traction control. The TCS icon flashes helplessly through the first two and sometimes three gears as the huge rear tires try to put 740 turbocharged V8 horsepower to the ground. It is one of the last truly venomous cars left on sale today. Fail to treat it with respect, and it will bite you. This isn’t a car you want to explore the handling limits of unless you have a closed course and a lot of space.
McLarens don’t drive like any other big-power supercar. You can really feel the added rigidity that the carbon-tub design affords over other supercars with aluminum-monocoque construction. That stiff chassis and the lack of driven front wheels makes the nose end feel extra lively. And McLaren’s hybrid hydro-electric power steering system delivers the best feel in the business. I’ll make some people angry by saying it has better steering feel than most Porsche sports cars, but it’s true.
The steering is great, but the real McLaren magic is in the suspension. McLaren doesn’t use your typical metal anti-roll bar. Instead, it uses four-wheel independent hydraulic valving to control body motion. This basically allows the marque to run the suspension “open” in low-speed bumpy scenarios; and then almost instantly firm up whatever wheels necessary to enter a high-G scenario.
‘Fast’ is relative. A BMW M3 will feel fast until you’ve driven a Dodge Hellcat. A Hellcat feels fast until you’ve driven a Porsche 911 Turbo. And a 911 Turbo will feel positively sluggish after a go in a McLaren 750S.
The Comfort, Sport, and Track suspension modes do manage to actually feel different from each other. Comfort mode is supple enough for daily driving; and Track mode really locks it down if you have access to a perfectly-smooth race course. The powertrain is also configurable within the same three settings, and your preferred combination of handling and power settings can be saved and recalled by pressing a small button emblazoned with a stylized running Kiwi bird icon.
For my driving, I liked to keep the powertrain in Sport mode, which kept engine response peppy but also didn’t hold onto gears into the high revs in normal driving, like Track mode did. Even on the smooth, pothole-free roads of Montgomery, Texas, I preferred Comfort suspension for all my driving. The magic suspension did such a great job of mitigating body movement that I never felt the need to make the car stiffer, and it did a great job keeping the car controllable at high speeds over all road surfaces.
It’s also worth noting the absolutely superb carbon-ceramic brakes in the 750S. With all that horsepower on tap, you’ll be asking a lot of the brakes, but they are up to the task again and again. Beyond their incredible stopping power, they don’t squeak or squeal in normal driving, and the pedal feel is divine. Seriously, this may be the best brake pedal I have ever used. It’s perfectly firm, but communicates the threshold of ABS directly through my toes. Here I am waxing poetic about a brake pedal.
You may have assumed this, but the 750S doesn’t drive much differently than the 720S it replaces. The 750S is nominally lighter, but not noticeably so. The largest change in the driving experience comes from the shorter gearing. Shortening the gearing means there are now more gears and more shifts between you and the end of the on-ramp. It also means those shifts occur at shorter intervals at full throttle.
The increase in acceleration may be marginal, but the increase in exhilaration is huge. On most sports cars and supercars, the gears are too long and widely spaced to enjoy. But in the 750S, you can really make use of those pretty aluminum shift paddles on a deserted forest road.
A lot of people asked me “Where can you even use a car with that much power?” The question should be not “where?” but “when?” The answer is 6:00 a.m. At 6:00 a.m., just after sunrise in the Sam Houston National Forest, you can use a car with 740 horsepower. Commuting through the suburban streets before dawn means you can make it to the outskirts of the expansive forest roads just as the morning mist has settled low in the valleys. Beyond the realm of traffic lights, drive-thrus, and cul-de-sacs, the mighty McLaren is finally able to stretch its legs.
In those early morning hours, you can achieve something close to the feeling of flight, lighting off that afterburner of a V8 on the straights and using the active air-brake-like flaps on re-entry as you brake for the next corner. The pops of the occasionally-flame-spitting upshifts reverberate against rows of endless pine as their perforated shadows flit across the dashboard. All is well.
Can any car this expensive be truly “worth it?” What should a car like this do? I could point to the performance numbers, the exotic materials, or the advanced engineering as reasons why the McLaren is “worth it.” But in the end, it’s worth it if it makes you feel good, if this mere car can elevate your mood and make you feel special. Precious few of us will get to experience a car like this in the right conditions, but for those that do, it’ll be worth it.
Sign up for our newsletter Blind-Spot Monitor and follow our social channels on X, Tiktok and LinkedIn to stay up to date on the latest automotive news, reviews, car culture, and vehicle shopping advice.