If all the cars from the current McLaren line up is a bit pricey and has too much power to your liking, worry not as McLaren has already found a solution for such issue. Making its global debut at the recent 2015 Shanghai Motor Show, this is the cheapest and least powerful car that McLaren can offer for the time being; the 540C.
Compared to the 675LT’s £ 260,000 (RM 1.412 million) or the 650S’ £ 195,000 (RM 1.059 million), the 540C only costs £ 126,000 (RM 684,730). And like its designation, the mid-mounted 3.8-liter twin turbocharged V8 engine produces 533bhp (or 540PS) and 398 lb-ft of torque. Mated to a seven-speed twin-clutch transmission that sends power to the rear wheels, zerotohundred is dealt in 3.5 seconds, 0-200 in 10.5 seconds and has a top speed of 320km/h.
The engine is not the only one retained from the previous McLarens as the ‘MonoCell’ carbon tub is the same as well. With the usage of aluminium body panels, McLaren was able to bring down the weight of the 540C down to 1,311kg – making it 2kg lighter than the 570S.
Since the 540C is aimed to be the entry-level car, it comes with adaptive damping which was revised from the 570S’ to make it more usable in daily situations. There are three settings to choose from: normal, sport and track. It also comes with front and rear anti-roll bars, the same brake-steer system as on the 570S, and a revised aero package.
