Top Gear

Hello and welcome to Top Gear.

On tonight's show, we've got big trucks, tiny tanks and a flying car.

That's right, you heard me, a flying car.

But first, let's talk about McLaren, OK?

They used to be really good at making F1 cars go really fast.

Nowadays, not so much.

Sorry, Fernando. But as Chris will explain,

all that victory champagne they haven't been drinking

has left them very clear-headed for thinking up supercars.

This is the McLaren 720S.

It costs over £200,000, which is proper supercar money.

And you have to admit, it looks like a proper supercar, too.

MOTOR REVS

Sculptured...

..theatrical,

everything a supercar should be.

But the first thing that hits you about the 720 is how unsupercar-y

it feels out on the road.

It's polite.

It's easy to drive.

That might sound weird because it costs 200 grand,

so it really ought to, right?

But most supercars aren't polite and they aren't easy to drive.

For starters, there's the visibility.

I mean, in most supercars, you feel like you've been kidnapped

in a particularly cramped postbox.

But not the 720.

In here, it's light and airy, glassy.

And as for the ride, well, that's not very supercar-y either.

Now, traditionally, to make a supercar go round

a track without ending up

on its roof on fire, it had to have super stiff suspension.

But that meant that driving it on a lumpy road like this was about

as comfortable as, I don't know,

mistaking your contact lens solution for chilli oil.

But the 720S is anything but traditional.

Its cross-linked hydraulic suspension

is the result of a five-year PhD project

at the University of Cambridge.

Seriously, doctors of suspension.

And those doctors clearly know their stuff because driving this thing

in its slackest mode, the ride is so good.

It's so comfortable, so supple.

It's like witchcraft!

Good Lord!

Fast!

There's more cutting-edge design in the pared back bodywork.

Those gaping headlights might look a bit Skeletor,

but they also act as air intakes.

Likewise, the doors, which are double-skinned,

creating hidden channels that draw cold air into the engine.

The result is a car that is twice as aerodynamically efficient

as the old 650S it replaces.

It's all very clever.

But cleverness doesn't make a supercar.

What makes a supercar is going really, really fast.

This is Portimao.

One of Europe's finest racetracks.

And one with a special place in my heart...

because back when I was still living on the internet,

I came here with the three fastest road cars ever made.

The Porsche 918 Spider.

The LaFerrari.

And the McLaren P1.

This, then, is the perfect place to test extreme speed.

Right, then, it's got 720 horsepower

from a twin turbo V8, back there,

and it weighs about 1,400kg,

which is the same as a Golf.

Should be quite rapid, then.

That is mighty fast!

Quicker than I'd expected.

McLaren claims 0-60 in 2.9 seconds.

Four seconds later, it's doing 120mph.

Top speed - 212!

And the handling, well, it's flat, it's grippy, it's accurate.

It really is very, very sharp.

Racing-car like.

It's animal. It's a proper animal.

Now, when you need a break from going really fast facing forward,

the 720S has something called variable drift control.

This lets you select your preferred drift angle,

and the car will take care of the rest.

The other, less sophisticated, method is to turn all of that...

..off.

Woohoo!

How good is that?!

HE CHUCKLES

I have to say, I've driven some pretty serious machinery

around this track, and this thing feels about as quick as any of them.

Which is why I've invited along a special guest.

You see, a few years ago when I got those three cars together,

it was that one that went fastest of all. The McLaren P1.

£800,000.

900 horsepower.

And quicker around this track than the LaFerrari and the 918 Spider.

So, the question is, just how close can the 720S get

to its big brother,

the reigning champion?

Well, to find out,

obviously I need to lap the P1 again.

I'm selfless like that.

So, same conditions for both cars,

one flying lap, here goes.

I'm all ends up. That's all the braking I've got.

Can I get it through?

Good Lord!

So much flatter and stiffer after the 720.

It's got power. It's completely addictive.

You can't believe that the new car can get anywhere near to it.

Whoa-ho-ho!

It's slammed onto the deck, 200 horsepower more than the 720S,

it's got everything more.

Just so violent.

Pin your ears back and feel that 900 horsepower!

Oh!

Yeah.

It doesn't get much better than that for me.

OK, the time for the P1

was 1:54.07.

1:54.07.

OK, so,

I think that is a good time,

and I struggle to see

how the 720 can get anywhere near it.

So, 1:54.07.

I mean, that's mighty fast around here.

Yes, hyper-car fast.

Make no mistake, to even get within sight of the P1,

the 720S has its work cut out.

I mean, it does feel faintly ridiculous to even think

that this relatively normal series production car

can get anywhere near it.

All right, let's start to push.

Brake hard into turn one.

Don't overcook it.

Get on the gas early, use all the kerb.

Get out of the corner.

Full power.

The P1 bludgeons it down the straights.

But this is closer than I expected.

God, that's lairy.

This is crucial now.

I'm flat now. I'm flat now. It feels wrong to be flat there.

Over the line.

You can do it. You can do it.

There we go. Right, let's have a look.

What's it done?

So, the P1 did 1:54.07.

I know it monsters this in a straight line,

but this feels so good.

So, can I have the lap time, please?

The 720 did it in a 1:55.20.

1:55.20, so half a second off.

So, it was half a second slower.

That's remarkable!

Do half a second on your stopwatch.

Get your watch and go bang, bang,

and look at how long half a second is.

Remember, the P1 is £600,000 more expensive than this car.

Imagine going to the bank manager and saying, "Can I borrow 600 grand,

"please, so I can go half a second quicker?"

I think I'd just save the cash.

The 720S is the next stage of supercar evolution,

a step forward so great that it's difficult to make sense of

in conventional terms.

Now, in the world of computers,

there's something called Moore's law which observes that every two years,

the power of a microchip doubles.

Moore's law is why your new smartphone

is so much better than your last one.

And the 720S, well, it's Moore's law for fast.

Now, I know £200,000 is an awful lot of money.

But look at it another way -

in just four years, the cost of going McLaren P1 fast has quartered.

That makes this 720S a complete bargain.

A brilliant British bargain.

- Well done. - What a car.

Incredible stuff. Incredible stuff.

Decent driving as well.

I'm sorry? Earlier, you said it was great driving.

Well, I don't want to give you too much of a big head.

Listen, this film raises a couple of big issues,

so we should start with the biggest. This.

What's going on here? You've got race gloves.

- Mm-hm. - Race helmet.

- Mm-hm. - T-shirt. - It was hot.

- It was hot? - It was hot. - I'm thinking safety.

If you have a big fiery crash,

your hands will be fine, but your arms will melt.

We'll have to attach your hands to your helmet.

Can we just get back to the point of the film, please, Rory?

Yeah, which was that the more powerful,

more expensive car was faster than the cheaper, less powerful car.

- Ground-breaking. - Come on.

It was only a tiny bit slower.

It really is stupidly quick.

OK, I've worked it out - at this rate of progress, OK,

in two years' time, a car this fast will be 100 grand.

OK? Four years after that, 25 grand.