The McLaren 720S has been one of the fastest production cars built in recent years and earlier this year, the British automaker decided to take the GT3 racing variant and turn things up a notch. McLaren’s 720S GT3X is essentially a GT3 race car that doesn’t need to comply with any racing regulations. As such, it continues to feature a 4.0-liter twin-turbocharged V8 but whereas balance of performance regulations mean the GT3 is normally capped at 510 hp, the engine has now been uncorked to deliver the same 710 hp as the road car. A ‘push to pass’ button is also featured that adds an extra 30 hp.
Various aerodynamics upgrades have also
been made to the car. These include the installation of a larger rear wing, new
front dive planes, an extended front splitter, and a large rear diffuser. The
car may look comparatively tame to the outlandish Senna but it is faster around
a racetrack and as Steve Sutcliffe recently discovered while testing out the
car, this thing is not to be messed with.
Any track-focused supercar with in excess
of 700 hp is bound to be fast and the 720S GT3X is just that. It accelerates
with brutal ferocity in a straight-line, brakes incredibly well, and can be
hustled through corners at frightening speeds.
McLaren intends on building 15 examples of
the 720S GT3X and according to Evo, it has sold half of them. This comes
despite the fact that the car costs £ 720,000 (US$ 983,000) and isn’t eligible for
any race series. Its price tag also sits £ 250,000 (US$ 341,000) above a regular
720S GT3 racer, a serious price hike when you consider it is “essentially a GT3
720S without a restrictor.
