This is a McLaren 720S as it runs flat-out for a single mile.
McLaren truly broke the mold when it came to the 720S. Perhaps no other car in the world has the same combination of extreme luxury and extreme speed as the 720S, and certainly no other car can make a near-200 mph run seem so effortless after just a single mile.
Once again, we return to sunny West Palm Beach, Florida where resides what might be the ideal place to test a car’s performance at the Johnny Bohmer Proving Grounds. This miles-long runway provides ample space to see what most cars can do when running at full steam, and only the most outrageous hypercars need more 3-and-a-half miles to reach their top ends.
The McLaren 720S doesn’t need even half that distance.
Under the hood is McLaren’s patented 4.0-L twin-turbo V8 producing 710 horsepower and 568 lb-ft of torque. Zero to sixty takes a mere 2.7 seconds on its way to a reported top speed of 212 mph. That might be what McLaren was able to do at their test grounds, but in West Palm Beach, where the temperatures are idyllic (in March at least) and where it’s about as close to sea level as you can get, we’ve seen the 720S go as fast as 215 mph.
When this particular 720S takes off, it’s without any drama. It simply accelerates from a standstill and almost immediately arrives at 125 mph. Then 180 mph arrives a blink or two later, with the car showing no signs of slowing down.
What’s really impressive about the 720S is how composed and quiet the car is during a flat-out run. Despite the driver having the accelerator all the way down to the stop, the 720S calmly keeps accelerating without protest or even a hint of vibration.
The speedometer reads 197 mph when the mile elapses, but the GPS tracker provides a time of 195.46 mph. That’s almost over 200 mph after just one mile.
One of these days we'll stop being impressed by the 720S, but until then, we'll just keep wishing they were found in every garage in the world.