Your observation seems to be opposite of mine and also from the AMS test. Normally you can't find out which cars are faster on public roads. You can find out who (driver) has more fear or more respect.
I have tested twice a 720s and the grip of this car is huge. Compared to the GT3 RS with much wider tires and engine above the axle it is incredible how much grip the 720s has.
Driving on Schwarzwald twisties the 720s feels much safer than GT3RS.
Google translate from German
We anchor briefly on the meta-level, so as not to be carried away by the crazy performance data. Let's ask ourselves: Can an advantage be a disadvantage at the same time? Here, at the 720S, it seems that way. With the exception of the P1, all McLaren are a further development of the 2011 MP4-12C. This has brought the mid-engine sports car to a level that shakes benchmarks and makes it a serious rival to the Porsche 911 GT2 RS. Like now and here in this test.
Now the downside: The concept of evolution makes the McLaren models look very similar. You have to deal intensively with the range to distinguish a 540C from a 720S, although over 75,000 euros between them.
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Evolution? That's the specialty of Porsche. There they are constantly shaping new variants from the 911, which are finding rapid sales, if only they are expensive and rare enough. This idiosyncratic logic follows the GT2 RS in full.
Nevertheless: The Extreme-911 is a sports car, which has worked its way up through meticulous factory tuning in the super-area. This has something of shirt-sleeving macho mentality and comes despite 700 PS just so popular.
In contrast, the McLaren was born as a super athlete and thus belongs to the elite, which is inexplicably under permanent suspicion. A 720S is already eyed maliciously at 25 km / h in the Tempo 30 zone, as if bringing corruption to the righteous.
The different descent is shown by Banalem. The Porsche opens its doors hardly unlike a VW Golf - you just get in, no insider knowledge needed. For the McLaren already: For him, first the door opener pad to be felt, which sticks upright in the side air duct. After pressure on the hinged door floats up.
Choreography of boarding
But how do you thread your body into the narrow tunnel between sill, center console, steering wheel and bucket seat? The left hand grips the door handle best, while the right is supported on the seat back. Then the gas foot pierces the footwell. Slowly let the trunk sink down and make up the left leg at an angle. Attention: Without exercise, this move lacks any hint of coolness.
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The 720S is really cool, as unfussy as it is. And currently the only really conceived mid-engine two-seater of the top trio, which still includes the Ferrari 488 GTB and the Lamborghini Huracán. But while both are made of metal, the McLaren derives its precision from a carbon fiber chassis. This allows his periphery even more dramatic leaps in development.
With its completely squeezed out 911 concept and the heavy engine in the rear of the GT2 RS should be pretty much at the end. It is no different to note that they have recently installed the engine in the 911 version of Porsche in front of the rear axle.
Racing version, is not that already the GT2 RS? One might think in the face of the missing rear seats, the purist door loops and the optionally available roll cage. In addition, the body decorates NACA air intakes, vents, flared fenders and an adjustable in the pitch rear wing, the exhaust regulations, er, exhausted.
The chassis can be changed by lane and fall in character. For record-breaking rides, like that of colleagues at sport auto, the wheels are allowed to stand x-legged with optimized curves and Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 ZB tires mounted. These look suspiciously like slicks in the outer area. The GT2 RS would not be standard anymore after the changes.
For our comparison test, the GT2 RS is in the slower road configuration, as they receive the customers. The nervous tail could be, among other things, calm down on the steeply adjusted wing, but that costs top speed. By the way, the Porsche at the Parabolica in Hockenheim already misses nine km / h on the McLaren.
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He comes without brimstone, without Chichi and without tuning appeal. What is the fact that the two-seater is already designed as a super athlete, wearing aerodynamics inside and the body is flowed through in helpful places.
Only with heavy braking does the otherwise inconspicuously flush-fitted rear wing lift up. However, if you drive in track mode, the so-called Airbrake is highly effective and the 720S sucks itself in courageous curves ground-effectively. Exactly where the GT2 RS is to be used with caution.
Hockenheim, GP course. Both catapult out of the hairpin - the Porsche explosive, unruly, the McLaren uniform, unspectacular. Its turbo lag is more pronounced than that of the GT2 RS. Despite the new twin-scroll loader, it takes a moment for the 180-degree crankshaft V8 to rocket, which sounds a bit like two four-cylinder racing cars. Then thrust follows with relentless tenacity until - peng - a train on the steering wheel paddle shoots the next gear in the drive train.
In the McLaren fast without fear sweat
Peng again. When the right bend approaches towards the Mercedes grandstand, over 200 km / h are on the clock. Brake for a short time. Inside a wall, outside spout - but not enough, as that he could play down a spin.
The McLaren aims at the inside, can be gently pushed out under light load - neutral, free of jerking and with a trusting feeling in the steering. Typical carbon fiber car: There is no facet hanging in any twist, as any information is passed directly from the chassis via chassis to the pilot. Bluntly.
720 hp and 770 Nm alone on the rear axle at not too high weight: In a mid-engined super sports car, the border region has traditionally adhered to a male-distinctive fragrance. In other words, respect can turn into fear here. But then you sit in the McLaren, driving fast, faster, even faster. Without heroic feelings, without fear sweat. And you pull the helmet - before the engineering, to equip a mid-engine car with so much modesty.
McLaren 720S, exterior photo: Achim Hartmann
Even in the precise 720S you can drift.
And the Porsche? He comes across as soon as you give in a bit too fast. At over 180 km / h. Adrenalin outbreak, counter-steering, embrace (!). Uff, no counter. Rescued. Mannomann: That was a touch too fast to continue grinning. That generates respect. And warm armpits.
Already in the left hook as approach to the Parabolica pulled the quiet 720S away - while the GT2 RS fought with his rear. Then, in the Parabolica, the sensors reported a dull Hab-Eight sensation. That is not pleasant over 250 km / h. Then, in turn seven, the high-speed crossbar.
You have to brace yourself to stay in range of the McLaren with the standard chassis and wing configuration. Must pinch body parts that should actually be loose to feel the grip of the tires. Without resounding success: At the end of all driving efforts and steering wheel acrobatics, the GT2 RS is still 0.9 seconds back in Hockenheim.
The McLaren is more stable
Here, the loose-fitting tail outside in the woods was almost a fun guarantor. There, where the radii are so narrow that country road speed really feels like speed. As the extreme-Elfer steers fleet-footed, the tail aligns itself virtually alone to the curve exit. Or a little bit beyond that, when the gas foot helps gently.
With the grippy steering wheel you hold the car in your hand loosely, prances with him up the mountain and back down - almost playful. Every turn feels like a personal best, and the 3.8-liter boxer engine mimics the good old sucker dialect from 3,500 rpm onwards. It's just adorable.
However, falls on enchanted streets, that the 720S is much more stable. That he surrounds the driver tighter. That he beats down bumps instead of jumping over them. That consequently his rear tires bite with integrity into the asphalt, instead of losing ground contact. That the steering complains even more sensitively every winter break - even if it sometimes beats easily.
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And that the seven-speed double coupler less driven downshifts - the four-liter therefore his enormous torque may play well. In the McLaren one is much faster fast than in the Porsche. Free exertion. But also less spectacular.
Then you rethink the whole thing again and wonders: Are mid-engine super sports not as critical in the border area and the 911 as good-natured? Here, in this test, a worldview turns around.
McLaren disrespects the voting champions from Weissach and beats them on their own terrain. The 720S accelerates to 200 km / h one second better. Stands from the same pace over ten feet earlier. Is faster on the circuit. And is even cheaper.
Victory. That should lift the mood - at least in England.
Conclusion
1. McLaren 720S
240 points
Quite impressive ... And we do not mean the power of more than 700 hp, but the handzahme vote of the 720S.
2. Porsche 911 GT2 RS
218 points
The GT2 RS is the wild dog that many would put a muzzle out of pure caution.