Watch and read our epic twin test between McLaren's Artura and the Ferrari 296 GTB!
► Two plug-in hybrid supercars battle it outanniversary celebrations, split over three editions. Want to read more from those editions, as well as get access to more amazing content from CAR?Much like rain being the great leveller for talented drivers outshining rivals in quicker machinery, the Peak District’s autumnal murk is balancing the scales in this Ferrari 296 GTB and McLaren Artura head-to-head.
Earlier that morning I headed north from the East Midlands in the McLaren, creeping off silently at 6.30am with the battery fully charged like a cat burglar tip-toeing through a bedroom. So much is new here: not just the entire powertrain, but the MCLA carbonfibre tub designed to help package it , new electrical architecture, vastly improved new infotainment, and new powertrain and chassis controls grouped on two cheap-feeling pods hidden behind the steering wheel.
There’s a lot going on inside, and I’m not just talking about the baby blue seats. ‘There’s not enough lumbar support,’ notes JD, ‘even if the driving position is nice and low.’ Get comfortable and you must still get your head around the digital instruments, capacitive switches on the steering wheel for powertrain settings and a manettino irritatingly no longer labelled with drive modes.
This powertrain is phenomenal, fizzing with a kind of naturally aspirated-plus energy that responds to your right foot instantaneously, then morphs from a muscular mid-range to a soaring 8500rpm climax that’s both unbridled in its ferocity and carefully drip-fed in its linearity.
James Taylor has raced here, sees more than 150mph on both straights, reports feeling the aero work his neck through the quick stuff in a way the McLaren didn’t, marvels at the Ferrari’s extra lateral grip and notes that while the steering is very different to the Artura’s, he likes it no less. He also nails it when he says, ‘I’d prefer to drive the Ferrari here, but I’d take the McLaren if I were learning the place.
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