A VERY BRITISH DRAG RACE - THE MCLAREN 720S VS THE MCLAREN 750S.
McLaren’s 720S was the anticipated replacement for the 650S, and it was a massive jump in every aspect. The 720S was produced for just on six years and in that time it’s estimated that roughly 5,000 units ended up in the hands of hypercar owners making it a very popular car. In between that number, there were a few very special limited-edition models too. The 720S was stupendously fast with all the right lines and curves in all the right places, powering the car is a twin-turbocharged 4.0-litre V8 that was tuned to produce a very healthy 720 hp - hence the name - with an equally impressive 770 Nm of torque. All that power is sent to the rear wheels via a lightning-fast 7-speed dual-clutch transmission. The whole package tips the scales at 1,419 kg and that equates to a 0-100 km/h shunt in just 2.9 seconds, 0- 200 km/h in just 7.8 seconds and runs on to a top speed of an impressive 341 km/h. The last of them in 2023 were available for a whopping $336,000 (around R6,400,000). At the end of 2023, the 720S was taken off the production line and the replacement started being seen online - the 750S. If the McLaren naming structure was anything to go by, the new S car would have 750 hp on tap, and it has exactly that. The 750S sees fitment of the same twin-turbocharged 4.0-litre V8, but in this case, there’s been some manipulation of the tuning and boost along with a new twin fuel pump setup. This means power is up to a very healthy 552 kW (the aforementioned 750 hp) and the torque increased to a more powerful 800 Nm. This too is mated to a 7-speed transmission with revised gear ratios, and combined with the higher power output it results in some equally amazing performance. The McLaren 750S is capable of launching from a standstill to 100 km/h in just 2.8 seconds, and it can hit 200 km/h in just 7.2 seconds, but it has a lower top speed than the 720S, capping out at 332 km/h. It is lighter than the 720S though with a weight of 1,389 kg.
It is strange that the outgoing car has a higher top-end speed than its improved replacement. Still, in all honesty, there’s probably about 3% of McLarens that get taken to their absolute maximum top speed anyway. So on paper, the cars have incredibly close performance specs, the main difference being a set of thirties. In the power stakes there’s a 30 hp difference, in the torque stakes there’s a 30 Nm difference, and in the weight, there’s a 30 kg difference. Those 3s make a 9, and that’s the difference in claimed top speeds. Weird. Pricing on the car is a little better looking, although these things are never set in stone so depending on what the spec is, a well-optioned version will set you back just $324,195, give or take a few grand. While this here SXdrv scribe will likely never be in the position to have to try and decide between purchasing a McLaren 720S or a McLaren 750S, if I were, then luckily Matc Watson and the Carwow crew rounded up a pair of these British-built hypercars to pit them against each other in a couple of heads-up races over a few distances, along with some braking tests and a comparison of everything the cars are. They’re visually similar, so similar that only a complete McLaren fanboy would be able to tell which is which from a distance of 50 metres. They’re technically similar when it comes to all the underpinnings and onboard tech. They share very similar engine setups and transmissions and have performance so close that over a 400 m drag race, the difference comes down to the same timeframe it takes for someone to complete a proper sneeze. This real-world testing should clear things up if you’re even in the position to need to figure out which one you'd like to own.
Take a look at the YouTube video that shows you which of the two coolest McLarens you should buy when you win the lotto or clinch that government tender. The Carwow crew tested the now retired McLaren 720S against the replacement McLaren 750S - sure it's on a drag strip and only a straight line and these things need to be tested in a circuit too, but this gives a good idea of how the close stats end up in the real world: McLaren 750S v 720S: DRAG RACE | carwow
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