Here's How We'd Spec the 2020 McLaren GT

McLaren has done it again. When it comes to redefining expectations, the British supercar brand stands as one of the best innovators in the entire industry, and with the arrival of the McLaren GT, it’s safe to say that McLaren’s reputation in this regard remains intact. The GT is, for all intents and purposes, a supercar wearing a grand tourer’s body. It’s more powerful than the McLaren 570GT, and it has more functional trunk space than an actual sedan. When’s the last time you saw a performance car with those credentials? As is often the case with debuts as important as this, McLaren is now offering us a chance to build our own GTs the way we want it to look through the model’s own online configurator. Obviously, we’re not going to let this opportunity pass us by, even if we’re not actually buying one. The real McLaren GT, after all, starts at $210,000. It’s hard to find that kind of scratch these days so we’ll settle for what we can actually work with.

The McLaren GT’s online configurator comes at you fast. I was tempted to go for the Luxe option, but I ultimately went with the Pioneer option because of its promise of a sportier-looking cabin. Mind you, the features detailed by McLaren comes with one small difference between the Pioneer and Luxe option: the material used on the headliner. It’s Alcantara in the Pioneer option and Softgrain Aniline leather in the Luxe option. You can go with either of these two, and you wouldn’t be wrong.

Now, let’s move to the paint, and there’s no shortage of choices you can make in this regard. There are 30 color options for the McLaren GT, including 14 choices from MSO Defined, McLaren’s resident personalization department. I had my eye set on the Papaya Stark color, but I’ve never had the urge to automatically go for flamboyant colors, especially when there are better choices available. Interestingly, this color looks like the same color McLaren used on all the glam and press photos of the GT. Nice conditioning trick there, McLaren, but I chose Burnished Copper because I liked how it embraces the GT’s identity as a grand tourer with supercar chops. The color doesn’t veer too far away from one identity at the expense of the other. There’s an aesthetic balance there that brings out the GT’s multi-layered personality. Sign me up there.

Next up are the wheels. There are two options available - seven-spoke cast alloys and 15-spoke forged alloys — that really are just matters of taste and preference. Personally, I like to have busy-looking wheels, so I chose the 15-spoke forged alloys with a gloss black diamond cut.

Since money is no object in this exercise, I’m loading up on the options that I think suit my virtual McLaren GT well. I’m locking this pack in because it gives me a carbon fiber front splitter, carbon fiber door mirror casings, and carbon fiber lower rear bumper and diffuser. I’m also getting the MSO Electrochromic Panoramic Roof because I want control over the light transmission levels of my roof. There are a total of five levels here, and in its darkest setting, a minuscule 0.6 percent of light travels to the interior. This option may sound irrelevant to some people, but given a choice between a panoramic tinted glass that has a set light transmission level of four percent, give me the one where choices are available.

As far as my GT’s exhaust goes, you can bet that I’m getting the sports exhaust option. There’s only a five-decibel increase, but I’ll take that over nothing. Besides, the sound quality remains the same, so I’m not getting the exhaust at the expense of destabilizing the sound quality coming from my GT’s 4.0-liter twin-turbo V-8 engine.

Now that I’m done dressing up the exterior of my McLaren GT, it’s time to do the same in the cabin. The latter caught my attention first because it looks so fancy. Unfortunately, it doesn’t go well with the Brushed Copper body of my GT, so I opted for the Jet Black theme. The good thing about either of these two themes is that McLaren spared no expense dressing up the GT’s interior according to the specific themes it’s offering. Opting for the Jet Black theme comes with seats covered in Jet Black Softgrain Aniline leather Jet Black Alcantara. Bartolo contrast stitching and double piping are also included in this treatment, but it’s something that I can live without. An option to change the color of the stitching to copper or even Jet Black would be great. Jet Black leather can also be found on the steering wheel while Jet Black Alcantara is present on the door inserts and the headlining. McLaren’s also offering Jet Black Softgrain Aniline leather on the rear quarter trim and the rear bulkhead. Even the GT’s luggage bay floor gets in on the fun with a Jet Black SuperFabric material.

At this point, I’ve established a black theme in the interior of my McLaren GT. The visual plays well with the Gloss Black Diamond Cut wheels and all the carbon fiber bits in the exterior that I chose earlier. It’s a small detail, but you can be sure that I’m opting for the MSO carbon fiber sill finishers, too. I’m not a big fan of the MSO branding that comes with these finishers, but it’s nothing I can’t live without. Just as important, at least for me, are the carbon fiber components in the interior that turn the chrome pieces in the steering wheel clasp, extended gear shift paddles, and infotainment surround into carbon versions of themselves. I’m all for adding more carbon fiber pieces wherever I can fit them. Pretty obvious at this point, right?

After all of this, we’re still not done. McLaren is also offering option packages in the form of the Practicality Pack and the Premium Pack. No surprises here because I’m getting the Premium Pack to add to my already loaded McLaren GT. The pack itself includes a Bowers & Wilkins 12-speaker audio system, a cabin air purification system with pollen filtration, and a tailgate that can open and close automatically. The air purifier, in particular, is an absolute necessity, especially in the spring and autumn seasons. No allergies, no problem! They’re subject to market availability, but I’m confident the U.S. market will have them on the table. Speaking of the U.S. market, the Premium packs that are available here also include most of the features included in the Practicality pack. How’s that for killing two birds with one stone? Avail of the Premium pack and your GTs will also receive a vehicle lift, electrically folding heated door mirrors, and a luggage bay privacy cover.

There are other minor options available for the McLaren GT — bits like car covers, ashtrays, and MSO body-colored keys — that I’m passing on because they’re not that important. I am throwing in the volumetric alarm upgrade and the vehicle tracking system for safety purposes. Can’t be too careful these days.

The last hurdle here involves choosing the kind of color I want for my GT Luggage collection. According to McLaren, the luggage set is handcrafted in Italy using the same Bridge of Weir leather and detailing found on the car. That’s great. All I know is I want the all-black set. The all-white set is the best-looking set, but how long’s it going to take before those get dirty. I’ll pass on the inconvenience. Give me the all-black GT Luggage collection.

And I’m done! It took a lot longer than I expected, partly because McLaren’s going to drown you with so many options, features, and bit accessories. But I stuck with a style and look that I liked the best, and I love how my virtual McLaren GT turned out. I’m not quite certain how much my virtual GT is going to cost if I bought a real one to the exact specifications that I chose. All I know is that it’s going to cost a lot more than the GT’s $210,000 price tag. Good thing, then, that I'm not actually buying one.

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Here's How We'd Spec the 2020 McLaren GT

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