VIDEO | Coming Soon | McLaren Artura Spider: Specs, Price & Release Info

McLaren has unveiled…or ‘unleashed’, it seems fairer to say… the Artura Spider. On a basic level it's simply a convertible version of the McLaren Artura. But McLaren has done a little more than just chop off the roof. As well as getting a retractable hardtop, the Spider gets 20 horsepower more than the Coupe version - albeit the boost, which takes peak power to 690 horsepower, is available as a free upgrade for existing Artura owners too.
You can check out Rory’s McLaren Artura Spider video by clicking play above (or on our YouTube channel), but here are the highlights… • The McLaren Artura Spider is available now, priced at £221,500 before options • The Artura Coupe costs £191,000, meaning the drop-top commands a £30,500 premium • 3.0-litre V6 plug-in hybrid drivetrain produces 690 horsepower and 720Nm of torque • Those numbers mean 0-62mph in three seconds, and 0-124mph in 8.4 seconds • A 7.4kWh battery means it can do up to 19 miles on electric power alone • Chassis strengthening and roof motors mean it’s 62kg heavier than the Coupe (137lbs in old money) • It’s still the lightest car in the drop-top supercar class though, which includes the Ferrari 296 GTS

Supercars are supercars – there generally isn’t a diesel version for mpg-enthusiasts. So, your one Artura Spider option is a finely honed plug-in hybrid model that pairs a V6 twin-turbo petrol engine to a 94 horsepower electric motor, driving the rear wheels. The engine is mid-mounted, behind the front seats. Classic supercar stuff. The electronically-retractable one-piece hard top folds down into a section above the engine, and it takes just 11 seconds to do so, using eight little electric motors.
It took a lot of engineering to make it all work, not least to ensure that the engine stays cool with the roof down; when retracted, the roof is essentially like putting a pan lid on the engine. So, the ‘cooling chimney’ had to be moved rearwards, and additional vents were added to both sides of the tailgate to cool the engine and transmission, and to manage hot airflow out of the car. Clever stuff.

Interior and technology

The Artura is something of a technological masterpiece, even more so in Spider form. A huge amount of work has gone into making it just as thrilling to drive as the Coupe – more so, according to McLaren. The automatic gearbox has been tuned for faster shift times; the revised suspension responds to the road 90 percent faster than before, for improved grip and road feel; the brake cooling has been improved, so the brakes are more consistent even with prolonged aggressive use (on a track, basically).
No major changes to the interior (aside from more fresh air), so the cabin remains relatively simple and highly driver-focused, including a digital instrument panel and a vertical ‘floating’ infotainment display. Apple CarPlay is standard, although wireless phone charging is a cost option (sadly), and to get it you’ll have to bundle it with a couple of options packs that include things like parking sensors, heated door mirrors and an upgraded stereo – the sort of stuff you’d get in a mid-spec crossover

The 20 horsepower power hike over the Artura Coupe – which, again, will be available to existing Coupe owners – comes courtesy of a new engine management system and tweaks to the exhaust. McLaren calls the acceleration “ferocious” and the numbers back that up. From standstill it passes 62mph in three seconds, 124mph in 8.4 seconds, and 186mph in 21.6 seconds. The 94 horsepower electric motor means that electric-only performance isn’t quite as ferocious, but it provides 225Nm of torque in an instant, which works in tandem with the 3.0-litre engine to make the Artura hugely responsive on the accelerator. It’s a bonus that if you keep your Artura’s battery topped up, the 19-mile range means you can feasibly run your daily errands in it without using any fuel.

Available to order now from £221,500, the first Spiders will hit the road around May 2024. Again, consider that the starting price though. You’ll comfortably be able to add five figures worth of options once you’ve painted it a nice colour and asked McLaren to stitch the logo into the centre armrest, and so on. Supercar options lists exist in their own little universe; the Ferrari 296 GTB we featured in our one-million YouTube subscriber special video had more than £100,000 of options on top of its £250,000 list price. Yep.

McLaren unveiled the GTS at the back end of 2023 to replace the GT, also available to order now. An updated version of the 720S, now called the 750S, came at around the same time. A successor to the P1 hypercar is expected within the next few years too, and no doubt there’ll be plenty of updates to the McLaren lineup in the meantime.

The Ferrari 296 GTS and the Aston Martin DB12 Volante (which was released at the end of 2023) are the most natural rivals to the Artura Spyder, both of them in the same price and performance ballpark. Lamborghini will likely release a convertible version of the Revuelto at some stage, too.