The 570S->ke4924 is what McLaren->ke284 describes as a high-end sports car->ke506 and not an actual supercar.->ke177 That might boil down as semantics to a lot of people, but the company still wants to make it a point to differentiate which segment it belongs to -- largely because the McLaren 570S was developed to compete against the likes of the Audi R8 V10 and the Porsche 911 Turbo instead of the bonafide exotics like the Lamborghini Huracan and the Ferrari 488. Whatever McLaren’s intentions are for this car, one thing appears certain about the 570S: it’s not your typical McLaren.

Automotive journalist extraordinaire Chris Harris found that out recently when he was afforded the opportunity to spin the wheels of the 570S in both road and track settings. Off the bat, Harris highlights how the 570S makes no apologies for what it is and what it isn’t. Essentially, it’s the first car McLaren has built that doesn’t live and die by lap times and top speed numbers. Granted, it can still sprint from 0 to 60 mph in 3.1 seconds and hit a top speed of 204 mph, but as Harris points out, those items are nothing but extra cherries on top of this beautiful sundae.

McLaren prides itself on calling the 570S a road car that owners can fully enjoy without worrying about what it can do on a race track. That’s not to say that it’s completely out of place in a circuit because Harris took it to one and seemed to enjoy using every available inch of road on the track. The absence of a locking differential on the 570S does make it seem like it’s going to be a handful to drive on a track, but again, this isn’t a car that was built to set lap records. The 570S is a car that McLaren built to be enjoyed by owners who want to experience the power and speed of a supercar without having to pay for one.

McLaren 570S

Read more about the McLaren 570S here.