Testing the Phantom 4 quadcopter when I captured this shot. Originally a 12MP DNG from the Phantom’s camera. 

I recently took out this S63 AMG Coupe for a photo shoot. Below is my short video review discussing the smooth driving characteristics and powerful BiTurbo V8. 

The car is beautiful on the outside and very elegant with a simple interior. 

A car that’s easy to fall in love with. 

Scroll down for the written review. View the video here: https://youtu.be/Oo0rEfeqoBc. On mobile? Click here for easier reading.

This morning I woke up at 5 am to head to McLaren San Francisco (actually in Palo Alto, CA) to meet with my friend Colleen and a VERY green (pre-production) McLaren 570S.

The plan was to get to Fort Mason in San Francisco for a sunrise photo shoot. Along the way, I experienced a lot of the car and wanted to share some of my thoughts. *Disclaimer, I did NOT drive the 570S*

I’m seriously impressed with how practical it can be, the fuel efficiency was better than my ’95 1.8 liter Miata and the power output was more than enough to have a blast while still being smooth. In the past three years, I’ve experienced many exotic cars and always look for issues with them. The McLaren 570S and Ferrari 458 Italia are the only two cars in this realm that I have a hard time finding cons about.

I’ll start this review from the inside out. This 570S is fully spec’d, I didn’t get to see the window sticker but from what I understand it has every package available.

Interior

The first thing I noticed was the lowered door sill. Getting into this is much less of a show than with a 12C or 650S. The sport design seats are really comfortable but could feel small for someone larger than me (for reference I’m 5’ 8”, 140lbs). We drove from Palo Alto to San Francisco and it was comfortable the whole time, plenty of leg room and the seats were very inviting but not too tight. No back pain at all, unlike some other exotics.

The Bower and Wilkins sound system is a 12 speaker, 1,280-watt setup and it sounds incredibly clean. To test it out I played Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen, Beethoven’s 5 Secrets, Faded by Zhu, and The Fear by Ben Howard. All of them sounded beautiful and the equalizer adjustments in the IRIS entertainment system are very responsive. The subs can be felt in the rear of the doors, and even at high volume didn’t sound distorted. You can hear how clean the acoustics sound in this part of the video.

Speaking of which, the IRIS infotainment system that controls all of the systems including A/C, nav, and GPS is responsive and easy to use. Much quicker than the original system in the MP4-12C. The only thing that bugged me was how small the backup camera display screen is due to the vertical orientation of the IRIS display, but it’s better than nothing. There’s a shortcut key to climate controls, but I would prefer having physical fan up/down buttons.

Inside the cabin above the center of the two seats is a wide-angle camera, part of the Track Telemetry package which records lap times, data, and video from three cameras (front – on the top of the lip, driver view from that ceiling mounted camera, and the backup camera). The roof leaves an abundance of headroom. Not only does that make getting in and out more comfortable, but it also helps during track days as you won’t be hitting your helmet on the ceiling.

Behind the seats, is a decent sized shelf for storing bags, a jacket, or anything else that isn’t too stiff. Although during hard braking, items could definitely fly forward and hit the driver or passenger or the back of the seats. I’d put a jacket back there, but not my laptop bag or grocieres. Compared to the 12C/650S this is a huge amount of cabin storage room.

The frunk has plenty of space for groceries or a weekend getaway. We fit 3 backpacks and a few shopping bags in today. There is no longer a latch, so you just pop the frunk and pull up with your hand, no need to awkwardly feel for and unlock a latch. Without the fire extinguisher, you could fit another two of your favorite baguettes on a grocery run!

I’m a huge fan of Alcantara and loved it on the dash and steering wheel. The matching lime green stitching is a nice touch. Everything in this car (although it’s pre-production) felt solid. The doors moved with ease, buttons on the IRIS were tactile and the carbon fiber paddles on the wheel aren’t too small, yet not obnoxiously big. The window switches don’t feel flimsy, that’s when you know a manufacturer cares about the details. (Just ask a Ferrari owner) 

Driving feel

As with the rest of the McLarens, the 570S features several driving modes. We had it on Sport for handling and powertrain most of the day. The exhaust note (equipped with the Sports exhaust) changes dramatically between the two and the throttle response does as well. Visibility is great with a large windshield, decent sized rear glass, and large windows thanks to the huge doors.

In automatic mode, cruising is smooth and once you put your foot down, the car is more than happy to drop a few gears and blast off. The power delivery is very fluid and there seems to be an endless supply of power.

The turning radius is pretty good, U-turns were still 2 point U-turns which surprised me for the small size but it’s to be expected with a sport setup. Maybe I’m just used to the Miata which is tiny, definitely not a con of the 570S.

Auto start-stop comes standard, it works well and startup is quick but it may become a headache.  We turned it off after hitting several lights that turned green right after we stopped and the engine shutoff. The startup sounds fantastic, but not great enough to listen to every 40 seconds.

We started with a full tank of gas and used less than a third of a tank, which shocked me. McLaren states combined MPG to be 26.6 and I believe it.

 You can see the fuel gauge in the bottom right of the dash display. Above that is the oil and engine temperature, and on the left, trip info. (When the car is on, the center becomes a large tach and speedo as expected).

With smooth power delivery, tons of visibility, a great automatic transmission with quick shifts, high-end audio system, and comfortable doorway/seats this is a very livable car. Summer daily driver for sure, although it’s totally fine in the rain (as we experienced on the way back from San Mateo today on the 101).

Exterior

Ordering a 570S? Do NOT uncheck the nose lift option. This car is a street sweeper and you’ll pay more replacing the lip in the first few months than you will for the lift system. It’s quick to lift the front, and adds a lot of peace of mind.

The front has a very happy look (which I love, as I’m a Miata man) and the two-tone look with the MSO Carbon Fiber adds some aggression. As you can see in the middle of the lip, there’s that front camera from the track package. The parking sensors are on the green upper portion of the bumper under the frunk and on the edges of the lip under the headlights.

Most coupes have pretty large doors, the 570S doors appear to be GIANT. They’re still extremely light/easy to open and the big space makes getting in and out easy. The bottoms of the doors don’t go too far out from the car, so opening them in a parking lot isn’t an issue.  When the doors are up the two-tone really pops and pulls the car together.

Heading over to the rear you see a beautiful diffuser, the edge exhausts, and the pop-up “hood” which gives you access to oil and coolant. There are also two allen screws under there which are removed to pull the whole carbon fiber sheet off to give technicians access to the engine.

My favorite part of the rear are the tail-lights, they wrap around the sides and down which gives it a very distinct look.

The only thing I’d like to see added is a small wing similar to that of the Jaguar F-Type, it’d be a nice touch.

A few first world problem “complaints”

• The windshield wipers aren’t the most effective, they were either too slow or too fast, 1 more speed option, please.

• Cupholders should be able to hold water bottles. The cupholder closest to the transmission control seems flimsy and couldn’t hold a regular size water bottle, it would fall over all the time. Holding an 8oz water bottle would be fine, try with anything bigger and it’s toast.

•Settings to change how long it takes before the auto start-stop shuts the engine off.

• Faster unlocking time for the door when the handle is pressed on the outside. Currently it’s click, wait a second, then open the door. *This may be due to the soft-close package on this car. Which I would recommend, otherwise you’ll have to slam your door every time like this.

• Less time required holding down the trunk button to open it. From both the key and the center console, it seemed to take awhile to open the frunk. Total first world problem.

• Please add an option for some sort of netting or “wall” on that rear shelf. I’d be worried about my stuff flying everywhere, there’s even a sticker that says no briefcase although it would fit easily.

Overall

McLaren did a great job with the 570S. It’s more than capable of being a very exciting car to drive and it’s nimble enough to daily. It’ll turn heads regardless of color (Lime Green definitely helps) and make getting groceries a blast. I wouldn’t be surprised if someone did a Costco run with the 570S, the trunk and rear shelf are surprisingly spacious. If you’re on the fence about ordering a 570S, go test drive it. If you have any questions or would like your car photographed, feel free to contact me on Facebook.

Almost everything I wrote about can be seen/heard in this video: