The LongTail family of McLaren continues to grow with the new 600LT Spider

McLaren continues step by step to complete its Track25 programme, and this entails the arrival of a new model in the LongTail family, making it the fifth model with this name for the British brand. The last to do so was the McLaren 600LT Coupé, during the celebration of the last Goodwood Festival of Speed last summer, and now it will be the Spider version of the 600LT.

To develop this model, just as happened with its coupé counterpart, the 600LT Spider has taken the 570S Spider as its reference, and the engineers at McLaren have racked their brains to also remove around 100 kilograms from the 600LT Spider when compared with the 570S Spider. Furthermore, it only increases its weight by 50 kilograms compared with its coupé sibling, logically due to the electrical system they had to install for the retractable roof.

Despite being a convertible, the engineers at McLaren have also managed to ensure that the 600LT Spider retains the same structural rigidity as the 600LT Coupé, partly thanks to the great work carried out on the MonoCell II carbon-fibre chassis. But that is not all: the aerodynamic downforce remains exactly 100 kg at 250 km/h for both models, which shows the great work carried out on this model.

The overall styling of the 600LT Spider is broadly the same as that of the Coupé, except of course for its roof, which rises with just a button press whenever we are stationary or driving below 45 km/h, also providing 52 litres of capacity in the space it frees up. At the rear there is a wind deflector that can also be operated electronically and independently, for example if we need a little more ventilation inside the cabin or simply want to hear the roar of its engine better.

Mechanically, as you might imagine, under its bonnet we find the same 4.0-litre V8 engine delivering 600 CV together with 620 Nm of torque, paired with a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission, which also offers several driving modes with dedicated settings for each. Its acceleration to 100 km/h takes 2.9 seconds and it reaches 200 km/h in 8.4 seconds, which amounts to an imperceptible loss of 0.2 seconds compared with the Coupé version; while top speed is 324 km/h with the roof closed and 315 km/h with it lowered.

The McLaren 600LT Spider will also be produced in limited numbers, so if you are one of the fortunate few who can afford the around 230,000 euros it will cost on launch, you should hurry, as orders are already open.