McLaren 720S GT3X | evo REVIEW

The McLaren 720S GT3X is not your ordinary racing car

In fact, it's not a racing car at all. Neither can it ever be driven on the road

Instead, it's an experiment into the possible. A car that costs £720,000, that has 740 bhp, weighs just 1,210kg, and there will only ever be 15 examples built

So think of the GT3X as the ultimate version of what a GT3 racing car could be if there were no rules

We had a go in it recently around the fearsome Navarra circuit in northern Spain

to see just how far McLaren has pushed the boundaries. So we're talking about a seriously rare piece of kit here

One that I have promised McLaren that I would be very careful with

However, when they chuck in kits to something like this, and it's a beautiful sunny day in northern Spain

and there's not really anyone else around, what are you going to do

You can just feel the aero any corner above about 80 miles an hour Trail brake right into the heart of each corner

And it's got this multi-stage traction control as well. I've got it on a friendly-ish setting

It'll still turn itself round. Sorry, correction. I could still turn it round if I do a silly thing with the throttle at the wrong time into a corner

all the way out of the corner, more to the point. But this thing feels really friendly

It's phenomenally quick, of course it is. But honestly, anyone that knows roughly what they're doing

I don't think would be too terrified by this car. Takes a while to get you into the brakes

Surely the... Just the lack of room that you need in which to stop from such huge speeds

the engine in the gt3x is actually very similar to the one that you get in a gt3

except for the fact that in the gt3x there's no restrictor to breathe through and that's why

mclaren has managed to unlock so much more power and torque 740 bhp with the push to pass system

engaged about 710 720 ish they say in normal but you know as soon as you can press the push the pass button you do whereas the gt3 racer has i think they have less than 600 horsepower that how big the restrictor is and it does kind of put

a slightly big question mark next to the value of the gt3x beside the gt3 racer because the gt3 racer

costs about a quarter of a million quid less but there are many other differences between the gt3

racer and the gt3x and the aero is predominantly it the gearbox is a six-speed sequential while the

diff is a mechanical item but is electronically adjustable both engineered by x-track the traction

control and abs are also adjustable on the move as is the brake bias although the discs themselves

are made from steel not carbon at each corner sits a fat but not especially tall 18 inch

Pirelli racing slick and the aerodynamics are broadly in line with those of the GT3 racer

but with more liberal use of carbon fibre. Absolute downforce is around the 1000kg mark

says McLaren. I mean this just feels lovely. It rides the curves beautifully as well

And there I've just given it a little bit too much throttle too soon

The way it stops into that corner is just rude. And the downforce it has through here

Second Second and then up to third up to fourth Back down to first Short shift

And then this corner here is a... That's a kind of is it flat, is it not flat corner

And then you've got this huge, great big main straight. I'm sort of running out of revs in 6th gear there

and then these corners at the end that really come up really quickly

A cynic might say the GT3X is nothing more than a racing car that will never race

They might also accuse it of being a car without purpose. But in truth, it's a whole lot more than that

because if nothing else, it provides a mobile test bed for all sorts of good stuff

that McLaren's road cars will benefit from in the future. And even in the here and now, it's a mighty piece of kit

both to drive and just to get very excited about. So cheers for letting me have a go in it, McLaren

More of this in future, please