2020 McLaren 600LT Spider

It used to be easy to buy a McLaren — at least from the decision-making perspective. In the early years of McLaren Automotive's car production, you simply purchased the one model being made that year. Supercar shoppers in 2011 who wanted a McLaren bought the McLaren 12C or nothing. In 2012, they could get the 12C Spider, a convertible version of the previous year's car. But then McLaren started to shake things up.

The U.K.-based company has big plans for world domination of the supercar market. And it has been steadily increasing its stable to the point that a McLaren shopper today has multiple options across three tiers of price and performance. You can walk into a dealership and choose from the Sports Series cars, including the 540C (not available in the U.S.), the 570 variants and the 600LT, or move up in price and technology to the Super Series 720S hardtop or convertible. If you're looking for more of a rocket ship than a road car, there's always the Ultimate Series, with limited-edition cars such as the Speedtail, Senna and P1.

McLaren has been introducing new cars and new technology so quickly that its "entry-level" Sports Series cars can outperform the Super Series of just a few years ago. And that brings us to the 2020 McLaren 600LT Spider. It's a Sports Series car, but it's so advanced that it's quicker than the previous Super Series 675LT. In every mentor story, there comes a time when the student surpasses the teacher in skill. Now, we're not saying the 2020 McLaren 600LT Spider comes from the dark side, but you could easily imagine it turning to the 675LT and saying, "When I left you, I was but the learner; now I am the master."

Less Is More

With a claimed 0-60 mph time of 2.8 seconds and the ability to cover a quarter-mile in 10.5 seconds, the 600LT Spider is not only quicker than the 675LT, it's only a split-second slower than its hardtop sister. Making the open-top car an equal performer was a major focus of the 600LT engineering team. The resulting folding hardtop version is only about 110 pounds heavier than the coupe for a total dry weight of only 2,859 pounds. (Curb weight, which includes engine fluids and the like, will undoubtedly be a little more.) McLaren achieves the eye-watering acceleration and feather-lightness through use of composite materials for the chassis and bodywork. Basically, the driver and drivetrain are encapsulated in a cell of light, stiff carbon fiber.

Every wing and spat on the car is also made from carbon fiber, from the front splitter and hollowed door air intakes to the fixed rear wing, lengthened rear bumper and straked diffuser. Inside, the only softness is in the faux suede around the cabin and on the flat-bottomed steering wheel. There's but a thin layer of padding over the carbon-fiber racing seats — the same track-ready buckets from the P1. Those come in a slightly wider Touring version for the 600LT and a more hardcore (emphasis on the "hard") racing version borrowed from the top-of-the-line Senna. Even the windshield and rear glass are thinner to save weight. The goal of the 600LT is clearly track use, although it's possible to option in — at no cost — such civilized items as air conditioning, navigation and stereo.

Fire-Breathing Performance

Adding a stereo seems pointless since there can't be a song prettier than the howl of the 600LT's twin-turbo 3.8-liter V8 through top-mounted exhaust pipes exiting directly behind the driver. If the normal driving mode isn't enough snap and pop at your back, switch it over to Sport mode and watch the exhaust spit flames in your rear view. Yep, it's supposed to do that. The rear wing is even coated with a thermal barrier to prevent the fireworks from melting it off.

Along with shooting fire, the engine makes 592 horsepower and 457 pound-feet of torque. Sure, these aren't eye-popping numbers. But in the lightweight and nimble 600LT, 592 feels more like 1,000 mighty steeds doing your bidding. Nail the gas and, whooosh, you're gone. Smell ya later, suckers.

Sorry for the attitude. It's just that all these performance numbers and technical details don't give you the feel of the car. It's not just a cold-blooded science experiment, it's a base jump on wheels. It's raw and impressive and bound to mess up your hair, but you'll like it. The 600LT Spider may be sophisticated on paper, but it's a car designed for the driver who wants to feel not just the wind in his face, but the road curves through the steering wheel and the track curbing in his tailbone.

I Have Nothing More to Teach You

As a street car, the 600LT is far more useful than the previous paragraphs would lead you to believe. We won't go so far as to call it a comfortable grand-touring car, but that's what the 570S and the 720S are for. By expanding its model lineup, McLaren is able to pinpoint cars for specific markets, and the 600LT is a Cupid's arrow straight to the heart of a would-be track rat. It's wider and lower than the other Sports Series cars, with stiffer spring rates and beefier stabilizer bars.

Our two-hour mountain drive ended at the gates of Arizona Motorsports Park, a 2.3-mile road course with 16 turns and multiple straightaways long enough to see triple-digit speeds even with casual throttle application. On the street, the 600LT is grumbly but willing. On the track, it's an eager co-conspirator, devilishly encouraging you to go faster with the engine yowling and the seven-speed dual-clutch transmission snapping off shifts faster than you can say "redline."

In the Karate Kid, Mr. Miyagi told Daniel: "First learn stand, then learn fly." Well, the 600LT can fly. "We got this," it says, and on the rare occasion where you don't got it, carbon-ceramic brakes put the whoa on the sticky Pirelli P Zero Trofeo R tires and bring you a stop before there's even enough time to panic.

The 600LT Spider joins an elite club. It's intended to be even lighter, faster and more track-focused than non-LT McLarens, which are already light, fast and track-focused. With a starting price of $256,500, the entry-level McLaren isn't cheap, but if you're shopping for a life-changing experience, it's a top contender.

As Gandalf tells Frodo in The Lord of the Rings: "All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us." If you decide to spend your time on track in a McLaren 600LT Spider, it will be time well-spent.