These are the first images of the open-top variant of the hardcore 675 LT, no less than four months ahead of its world debut that’s scheduled for the Geneva Auto Show.
The new addition to McLaren’s Super Series range will bear the moniker 675 RS – and though we don’t actually know what it stands for, “Racing Spider” sounds like a good guess.
Like its fixed-roof sibling, the RS is practically a more track-focused version of the standard 650S, only this time it’s based on the folding hard-top Spider.
No doubt it will be lighter than the stock car, thanks to the extensive use of carbon fiber on the bodywork, and it will also boast more power courtesy of a reworked engine.
Presumably, it will share the heavily redesigned twin-turbo 3.8-liter V8 of the Long Tail. This engine had 50 per cent of its parts changed and featured new, more efficient turbos, redesigned cylinder heads and exhaust manifolds, new camshaft and lightweight connecting rods, and a faster-flowing fuel pump and delivery system.
Its total output is 675 PS (666 hp) and 700 Nm (515 lb-ft) of torque and, due to the extensive changes, it even justified a new code (M838TL). The LT sprints from 0-100 km/h in 2.9 seconds and to 200 km/h (124 mph) in just 7.9 seconds, though we’ll have to wait and see if chopping off the roof necessitates any reinforcements that may add a tad more weight.
As is evident from the photos, it will also use a new aero package, which includes a carbon front splitter, larger air intakes on the sides and circular titanium exhausts right in the middle of the rear panel.
If McLaren’s strategy with the Long Tail, which was produced in just 500 units, is any indication, then the 675 RS will be a limited series model.
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