While McLaren says that its 3.8-liter twin-turbocharged V8 differs greatly between the Sports Series, Super Series and Ultimate Series, the fact remains that the same basic engine powers the entry-level 570S as it does the P1 hypercar.
For those fortunate 375 owners who having a P1 sitting in their garage, that may be a bitter pill to swallow but for customers of the 570S, it’s like winning the lottery. With the right modifications, the 570S’ engine can be safely upgraded towards P1 levels of power but as it turns out, you don’t actually need a P1-spec 570S to rival the hypercar in a straight line.
In fact, the 570S featured below only has a few minor modifications, including an exhaust, ECU tune and cooling changes and delivers 624 hp at the wheels. That’s a bit less than the 727 hp offered up at the crank in the P1 but even still, this 570S can run a 9.9 second quarter mile, making it just a tenth of a second slower than the P1 despite having no hybrid assistance.
Even though sports cars like the 570S should live on canyon roads and racetracks and not the drag strip, it’s pretty cool to see how fast they can be with minimal changes.