McLaren’s Artura Spider brings drop-top thrills and performance upgrades

McLaren has unveiled a new convertible version of its Artura hybrid supercar.

The new Artura Spider retains the same hybrid powertrain – which is centred around a 3.0-litre V6 engine – as the original but power has been boosted by just under 20bhp to reach 690bhp in total. McLaren has also made the electric portion of the system more efficient, which has increased the EV-only range to 21 miles, up from 19 miles on the original car.

McLaren has stated that it will be offering existing Artura owners the opportunity to upgrade the performance of their cars free of charge, too.

The Woking-based firm claims a 0-60mph time of 2.8 seconds for the Spider and it’ll carry onwards to a top speed of 205mph when given enough space. McLaren has also equipped the Artura Spider with new engine mounts which help to improve stiffness while revised dampers increase responsiveness. The gearbox calibration has been revised, too, bringing shift speeds which are 25 per cent quicker than before.

The new retractable hard top incorporates rear buttresses which feature a glazed section to help with rearward visibility, but this also doubles as a channel for airflow towards the engine bay. Made from carbon fibre and composite materials, the roof can also be fitted with electrochromatic glass which can be made transparent or opaque at the touch of a button. The roof is controlled by an overhead button, or via the key when the car is parked up.

As is the case with all McLaren models, the steering wheel is completely free of buttons while the driver display binnacle – which moves with the steering column when adjusted – allows whoever is behind the wheel to quickly and easily see key readouts and information.

The Artura Spider will go on sale from £221,500 in standard specification, though three extra interior specifications – Performance, TechLux and Vision – which each cost £5,050 and bring a different take on the materials and aesthetic used on the Artura Spider.