Yahoo Finance What’s it like to drive the £1.4m McLaren Elva - the latest crazy roofless roadster
Judging by reader comments after my stories on the new Aston Martin Speedster and Rolls-Royce Boat Tail, opinion is divided as to whether such cars are anything other than pointless playthings.
McLaren, then, is probably on a hiding to nothing with the Elva. Named after the French phrase ‘elle va’, meaning ‘she goes’, this outrageous two-seater has no roof or windscreen to keep the weather out.
The fifth model in McLaren’s Ultimate Series, Elva is the most powerful, non-hybrid McLaren ever and at 1.148 kg, the lightest since the iconic F1 of the 1990s. At £1.4 million, it’s almost twice the cost of the Aston Martin Speedster, which in comparison is powered by a relatively chunky V12 engine and weighs 600 kg more.
Elva’s startling performance is derived from a monstrous 804bhp twin-turbo V8, first seen in the track-focussed Senna model four years ago. Blisteringly quick, the coupe was stripped out for track day fun and paid homage to the late Ayrton Senna.
So it’s not hard to imagine how ridiculously fast the Elva is, untroubled by the weight of a roof and windscreen, as it catapults to 124 mph in 6.7 seconds. What is difficult to explain is the actual experience.
Driving the McLaren across the Cotswolds, the closest comparison I can offer is riding a motorcycle at high speed without a helmet. The carbon fibre Elva has truly explosive power – enough to wrench off sunglasses and leave my woolly hat trailing on the tarmac.
McLaren offers carbon fibre helmets and sunglasses to match - they really should be mandatory. And while the glasses are stored in purpose-built door compartments, the helmets fit in a bag that attaches to the passenger seat but in truth will just be tossed into the footwell. In the Aston, they stash snugly in twin humps behind the headrests.
McLaren claims the wind factor has been nullified by a neat piece of kit called the Active Air management System (AAMS) which, when activated by a well-hidden button on the dashboard, raises a rather ugly wind brake halfway up the bonnet.
It’s not pretty but the idea is that the buffer directs air up and over the passenger compartment, taking the sting out of incoming bees and other flying objects determined to make eyes water. AAMS works to a certain extent but even at 60 mph, the Elva leaves passengers breathless.
That is partly because of the seating position. In the Aston Martin Speedster, the driver sits low in the cockpit, with the cocooning bodywork at neck height. In the McLaren, everything from the chest up is fully exposed.
Inside the cockpit there’s a new system that operates the engine management system, complemented by some familiar McLaren switchgear. The weightless doors are fixed to gas struts that glide skyward to make entry easy, while even a car with no roof needs air conditioning.
AAMS on or off, with or without helmet, driving the Elva is for hardcore enthusiasts only. The wind-deflector certainly takes some of the punch out of the experience but not much.
Equipped with staggeringly effective brakes and a quad exhaust system that has been tuned to perfection, the lightweight Elva is still just about the most fun you can legally have on the road. Just 149 are being built - a guaranteed future classic for well-heeled collectors.
And if you really don’t fancy teasing bugs from your teeth, McLaren has just announced it will build you an Elva with a windscreen, windscreen wipers and useful sun visors too.
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