McLaren has taken a track monster and made it even better. The McLaren 570S Track Pack is available now. If you have the cash, I think it’s a great investment (or however you need to justify such purchases).
You might be wondering what inspired the powers-that-be at McLaren to create something like the 570S Track Pack. Was it the desire for a dominant Nurburgring? The craving for more power? A way to fleece shoppers?
Probably none of the above were a factor, unless you’re really cynical. According to McLaren, the Track Pack is all about heritage.
The British automaker apparently was looking for a way to celebrate its storied motorsports history. That’s understandable, because what’s better than rubbing your opponents’ faces in the fact you beat them?
For the official press release, McLaren especially highlights its recent victories in GT3 and GT4 races. It then draws a parallel with the 675LT, hinting that the 570S with the Track Pack is on the same plane of existence. That’s pretty bold, and something that should get your attention.
From there, McLaren claims that out of the entire Sports Series family, the 570S Track Pack is the best for track performance. The reason? It’s all about added downforce and lightweighting. That makes sense, because if you make your car really light, something needs to keep it from flying off the ground at high speeds.
One of the biggest additions to the 570S through the Track Pack has to do with exterior enhancements. That means more aggressive aero, so the McLaren is grounded to the ground.
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You might glance at the McLaren 570S Track Pack and see no real difference. It’s not like a Viper ACR with a rear wing and front splitter you could use for Thanksgiving dinner. Instead, the rear wing is a mere 12 millimeters higher than on the regular 570S. That doesn’t sound like much, but it’s enough to boost downforce by 29 kg at 150 mph.
This fine tweak is made to shave seconds, even milliseconds off track times. It’s not something you get to impress people while dragging main in your town. The Track Pack is something for hardcore track enthusiasts.
Not all the exterior changes are about performance. The roof is a Dark Palladium, which is a color used only by McLaren Special Operations, signaling immediately this isn’t just any 570S. Around back, the Sports exhaust has a Stealth finish, adding another sinister detail.
For the Track Pack, McLaren puts the 570S on a serious diet. It’s not like the car was exactly heavy to begin with, so shedding 25 kg of curb weight is pretty impressive.
Instead of going for difficult lightweight techniques, like in some vehicles, McLaren was smart and aimed for the low-hanging fruit. The car has Alcantara, not leather upolstery. The stock seats were swapped for carbon-fiber racing seats, which is an easy way to dump a lot of weight from any vehicle.
I haven’t sat in the interior, so I can’t say how that sea of Alcantara affects the comfort level, let alone the new seats. McLaren seems to think the changes are least maintain the status quo, but who knows?
McLaren also targeted unsprung weight, namely the wheels. It’s another easy fix. The Track Pack swaps out the stock wheels for super-lightweight alloy wheels. While that does help with acceleration, it also improves braking and handling performance, which is always a great idea. Oh, and they have the Stealth finish, you know, to add that special effect.
So the Track Pack doesn’t slap some obnoxious turbo or supercharger on the 570S’ engine. Really, it doesn’t add a single horsepower to the car. Instead, it improves aerodynamics and drops a fair amount of weight.
What kind of performance boost do those changes provide? How about 0 to 124 mph in just 9.4 seconds, plus a top speed of 204 mph.
That’s not all the Track Pack adds to the 570S. Since the car likely will be living at racetracks, the automaker decided to include the McLaren Track Telemetry system. This same technology has been included in the P1TM and 675LT.
Drivers can access real-time performance info, so they can learn from mistakes on the track. Among the options are lap times, driver standings and sector splits. After a session or race, owners can download the info and dig deeper into the data. They can create graphical plots of different factors like lap-time deltas, vehicle speed and other completely nerdy things non-car people just don’t understand.
The whole point is the McLaren 570S Track Pack is for automotive enthusiasts only. It’s not a car for the casual collector, or someone who just wants to look cool and show off. It takes and already impressive performance machine, and makes it even more purpose-built for track runs, not cruising around town.
This just reinforces why I like McLaren so much. Instead of just going for stupid flashiness, the Brits decided to shoot for real substance only enthusiasts will appreciate.
The Track Pack option runs an additional $20,000 USD.
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