2025 McLaren Artura Spider First Drive Review: Time To Stop Calling This A Baby McLaren

McLaren has its freshest product lineup in not just years but, well, ever at its disposal after recently sprucing up the GT to become the GTS, launching the 750S, and lifting the lid off of the Artura to create the Artura Spider. But the latter was more than just a new body style that we always knew was in the pipeline, as it added more power and a slew of updates to not just the drop-top but the coupe as well, including giving existing Artura Coupe owners a free 19-horsepower bump through a dealer-distributed software upgrade. This, then, is the second coming of a car often referred to as the ‘baby McLaren,’ but we’re here to tell you that you’re so very wrong to label it that way. To get to grips with the newest addition to the McLaren family, we spent a day driving the Artura Spider through the south of France.

First Drive events provide our initial impressions of a vehicle in a restricted environment under certain time constraints. Keep an eye on DrivingOnRoad for our comprehensive Test Drive review which will follow soon.

Remind Me Where The Artura Fits Into McLaren’s Lineup Again

With multiple models now on offer and a mix of alphanumeric and more traditional names in the fray, it’s easy to lose track of what’s what, especially after McLaren ditched its original classifications of Sports Series, Super Series, and Ultimate Series. Technically, the Artura family is the successor to the 570S – which was part of the Sports Series. But this is not a sports car, and McLaren now labels this as a supercar that fits in beneath the 750S Spider. It’s no longer the baby McLaren, either, as on price alone, the GTS is more affordable. However, if you want a drop-top Mac, this is the cheapest way into that niche. This is now a full-blown supercar, and it’s got the performance chops to back it up. More on that in a moment.

How Does The Artura Spider Differ From The Coupe?

I’m glad you asked, because this isn’t just a case of McLaren adding a mechanically retractable roof that goes up and down in 11 seconds at speeds of up to 31 mph. The storage of the roof mechanism, which uses eight lightweight e-motors rather than a complex hydraulic setup or a single motor with a complex mechanism, had an impact on the cooling needs of the mid-engined supercar. This required some innovative thinking from McLaren, repositioning the heat extraction duct on the rear engine cover further back and shaping it so that the air it extracts is pulled upwards when the car is in motion, instead of dragging along the paint to damage it at the rear. Smart.

But the lion’s share of the bespoke changes pertain to the roof. Obviously, there’s a panel that can be there one moment and gone the next, but this can also be specified as an optional electrochromic glass panel, giving you a sense of airiness without actually getting your noggin burnt to a crisp. It works a treat, too, switching in seconds from clear to opaque and blocking out approximately 95% of all UV rays. As if that wasn’t enough glass, McLaren has swapped out the body-colored rear buttresses for glass ones, giving you an extra bit of visibility out the back and an extra dose of style for your fans to appreciate. Then there’s the windshield surround, which gets a “header gurney” – a specially molded kink at the top of the frame that kicks air up and over the cabin before it filters down the rear bodywork into various cooling and air-supply vents, including two neatly hidden underneath those glass buttresses in the new singe-piece carbon fiber tonneau cover.

There are more technical changes, too, as weight climbs a little and performance metrics are impacted just a smidge, but the impact is as minimal as being negligible, thanks to the carbon fiber monocoque at the heart of the Artura. This means no additional reinforcement of the chassis was necessary to turn this into a Spider. The only other mechanical change was a revision of the dampers to accommodate the slight bit of extra weight from a folded roof to ensure the coupe and convertible handle the same.

How Does It Drive?

In short, it’s great – but that’s like describing the taste profile of a three-Michelin-star meal as “delicious” and calling it a day. There’s much more to the Artura Spider than just speed, of which there’s plenty. The figures above prove it loses almost nothing to the coupe, and in the real world, it feels every bit as fast as those numbers suggest.

At the heart of the Artura is a 120-degree twin-turbo V6 displacing 3.0 liters and producing 596 hp and 431 lb-ft on its own. Between that and the eight-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission – which has a new ‘pre-fill’ function to hold the clutch on the next gear fractions of an inch from engaging to make shifts even faster – is an axial flux electric motor (94 hp/166-lb-ft). Yes, this supercar is a hybrid, but driving it, you wouldn’t say so from behind the wheel.

For starters, there’s still turbo lag. Not a lot of it, but enough to find it if you’re looking for it, despite the claims that the peak torque is available over a broad spread between 2,250 and 7,000 rpm. McLaren hasn’t engineered this to feel like a naturally aspirated supercar with torque-fill completely altering the torque curve, but there’s enough punch from that e-motor to hurl you out of corners when you get on the gas before the V6’s full power is on tap at 7,500 rpm. And hurl you it does – the Artura Spider has no right to pull out of corners as quickly as it does, considering it sends all 690 hp to the rear axle. The rear e-diff does a superb job of apportioning the torque left and right, but the level of grip from the 295/35/ZR20 Pirelli P-Zero rear rubber is astounding, too.

Four Characters To Choose From

But the main thing is that the powertrain is remarkably tractable in every one of the four powertrain modes, selected via a toggle switch on the top-right of the instrument binnacle, which is easily operable using two fingers while keeping your hand on the wheel.

• Electric – Pure electric driving up to speeds of 80 mph with 11 miles of range.
• Comfort – A mix of electric and combustion driving, the exhaust in default mode, and smoother shifts.
• Sport – Sharper throttle mapping, exhaust flaps open for more noise, no electric-only cruising, more aggressive shifts, and more aggressive battery regeneration and deployment.
• Track – All-in on performance with maximum battery regen and power deployment, quickest possible shifts, and twitchiest throttle mapping.

Fun Fact: In addition to launch control, the Artura Spider has a new ‘Spinning Wheel Pull-Away’ function that let’s you do rolling burnouts at speeds of up to 70 mph.

Electric mode is pretty much what it says on the tin, and is great for going incognito early in the morning, late at night, or when you simply want to enjoy the irony of a supercar that looks like this being so silent. Comfort is ideal for most situations, though, switching between the e-motor and combustion engine as it needs to. With the exhaust in its quietest setting here, the V6 becomes almost entirely anonymous, but there’s still a natural throttle response, and the gearbox is remarkably intuitive.

In the upper two powertrain modes, though, that’s where you find the full-fat experience. The throttle response is no different, but sharper mapping and greater eagerness from the electric portion of the powertrain mean there’s plenty of pull to take you straight into jail-time speeds with just a stroke of the gas pedal. The differences between them aren’t all that massive, either, with Track hanging on to an even lower gear for as long as possible and then shifting gears quicker, but with less of a pre-programmed kick in the kidneys compared to Sport, which is arguably meant to be more theatrical than the clinical precision of Track mode. But it’s in both of these modes that we found our one complaint: how the Artura Spider sounds.

Like so many other McLarens, the Artura Spider punches above its weight category, but unlike the majority of modern performance machinery, you know you’re going fast; you just don’t know quite how fast until you look down at the speedo. Plant the throttle as you pull out for an overtake, and you’re catapulted into the distance, quick enough to draw cheers from school kids and expletives and divorce threats from your significant other.

The Chassis Is Where The Magic Happens

Like the powertrain, the chassis also has multiple modes to choose from, operated via a toggle on the left of the instrumentation that mirrors the one for the powertrain. The choice is between Comfort, Sport, and Track, with damper and stability control intervention characteristics altered in each.

The Artura Spider introduces revised damper valving, allowing the shocks to respond quicker to changing surfaces, but coupled with an update to the Domain Control Units (part of the ethernet architecture at the heart of the Artura platform), the chassis now responds up to 90% quicker than the Artura could up until this update. Along with this, new engine mounts limit the movement of the engine and gearbox in the chassis while still mitigating excess vibration and harshness. The latter is important, as it means the suspension can be fine-tuned better, not having to worry about the heave of the powertrain suddenly unsettling the car before it can settle on a final damper setting.

That’s the press spiel, but how does it come together in reality? First of all, the Artura Spider rides with a suppleness that belies its low ride height, carbon fiber architecture, and bonkers performance. Both Comfort and Sport chassis modes are good enough for use on most public roadways, filtering out the sharper lumps and bumps while still telegraphing all the important bits to the driver via their backside. Track mode is bearable but provides a little too much harshness for road driving, although at no point could the ride be described as crashy. Leave the Artura Spider in either of the other modes, though, and there’s better ride comfort than either of my Miatas, despite riding on 19-inch front and 20-inch rear wheels with low-profile tires.

The electrohydraulic steering is another highlight, with McLaren engineers telling us that until EPAS systems can match hydraulic for driver engagement, the British brand will stick with a hydraulic setup. Load up the front end on the way into a corner, and the wheel weights up organically, never feeling artificially light or heavy. It borders on blending into a background trait, the perfect piece of music to score a dramatic scene in your favorite movie, enhancing the emotion without stealing the show.

That’s no insult to what McLaren has engineered here – its intuitiveness, precision, and perfect weighting means it does exactly what you want, blending into a subconscious detail rather than continually reminding you of what you’re doing. When you’re hustling down an alpine mountain pass at a rapid pace, you don’t want the car continually fighting you. You want to flow in unison, and the steering lets you do just that. Best of all, the Alcantara-clad wheel is devoid of all buttons and switchgear, focusing solely on the duty of steering the car; it’s a delightfully simplistic detail we wish more manufacturers would emulate instead of putting dozens of haptic, touch-sensitive controls all over their wheels.

At every turn, the Artura Spider is the picture of composure. Under heavy braking, the front end bites progressively and loads up the nose without unsettling the rear, and out of corners, the rear hooks up beautifully as you roll back onto the throttle. Clear sightlines and a small footprint complement the composed chassis and talkative steering, making it easy to place the Artura Spider on a narrow, sinewy mountain backroad. Simply put, driving the Artura Spider at pace feels natural and intuitive, while the mundane aspects like highway driving and crawling over speed bumps (thanks to a nose-lift function that takes just four seconds) aren’t taxing in the slightest. It’s the breadth of ability found in the Artura Spider that makes it so special: a blend of incredible capability and approachability that flatters novice drivers and rewards expert pilots.

Has McLaren Fixed The Interior Quality?

It’s been a long time since McLaren produced cars of truly questionable build quality, yet the stigma persists. We’re happy to report that in our test car, everything was solidly screwed together with all the panels in the right place, no electronic foibles, and no squeaks or rattles. The cabin is delightful in its simplicity, with the steering wheel doing one job and one job only, the touchscreen handling most of the secondary functionality, and easy-to-access buttons on the left of the steering wheel for ADAS features like lane departure warning, parking sensors, street sign recognition, adaptive cruise control, blind-spot monitoring, and the nose lift (if you turn off the ADAS systems, the car remembers your preferences).

The Clubsport seats fitted to the Artura Spider I drove (a $1,250 option in the US) were incredibly supportive but also relatively comfortable, although if your Artura isn’t to be used for regular mountain carving, we’d suggest the standard power-adjustable seats with heating and memory. Ingress and egress are tricky, with the dihedral doors, low-slung seating position, and firm bolstering of the Clubsport seats making getting in and out a contortional affair for my six-foot frame – but, lest we forget, this is a supercar, and there’s always going to be some compromise involved somewhere.

Central to the cabin is the MIS II infotainment touchscreen. This in-house-developed system has all your usual smartphone functionality but retains native navigation. New to the Artura Spider is a wireless charging setup with a slot that holds your phone in place instead of sliding around while you corner aggressively. It’s a small upgrade but worthy of mention, as wireless charging pads are seldom usable in cars of this ilk. As for the screen itself, it’s largely unobtrusive and behaves well, but inputs are met with small amounts of lag, and the layered nature of the apps can cause delays. Push the rotary volume knob on the right-hand side of the screen to get to the home menu, and you can see each app minimized one by one instead of just jumping to the home screen. That rotary knob is also a solitary low-quality and flimsy-feeling item in an otherwise well-appointed cabin adorned with leather, carbon, Alcantara, and aluminum – a pity since it’s one of the controls you’ll interact with most frequently.

Pricing & Verdict: Time To Stop Calling This A Baby Mac

At an MSRP of $273,800 for the 2025 model year (the Artura Coupe is priced from $249,100), the Artura Spider isn’t the cheapest McLaren, but nor should it be. This isn’t an entry-level car in the way it looks or drives and is now firmly entrenched in supercar territory for its visual drama and sheer performance credentials. But despite the supercar label, it’s nowhere near as intimidating as one might think. The focus on engagement is strongly apparent in the way the Artura Spider rewards drivers even at low speeds, and you don’t need to be a pro to get out after a long drive with a smile on your face. McLaren has realized that pure speed is now the realm of electric vehicles, and supercars now need a different USP: engagement. This is where the Artura delivers in spades, save for the exhaust note of the V6, which I wish were a little more musical to match the rest of its package.

If you can live with that – and it’s in no way unbearable, just in need of a little extra fruitiness – then the Artura Spider is what I’d call a damn fine junior supercar and a car that deserves the supercar title completely.

The Artura Coupe was an already brilliant car, but with the Artura Spider, McLaren has introduced a host of new updates the Coupe also receives, making this a dynamic duo hard to ignore. That McLaren is offering the 19 hp engine remap to existing Artura owners free of charge is something even more special, as it shows a commitment to continual improvement from the brand.