The McLaren 570GT is about as unique as any McLaren that’s out on the market today. It’s classified under the company’s Sports Series, but really, it has the credentials of a supercar. It was prepared to be a performance daily driver in the vein of the Porsche 911, and yet it can flex its power in a heartbeat. The 570GT’s varied characteristics is a big part of its appeal, and for all it’s worth, it’s also a big reason why aftermarket tuners have taken a fancy to it. One of these tuners is Novitec and it’s got a dandy new program for the 570GT that helps improve its output numbers to reach levels that essentially puts it in the league of McLaren’s higher-echelon Super Series.

If you have ever followed Novitec’s work, you might remember the tuner has already worked on the McLaren 570S, introducing its program for that car back in December 2016. The blueprint of both kits is pretty similar in a such a way that the scope of Novitec’s modifications falls along the same sections. There are aerodynamic kits, a new set of wheels, suspension upgrades, and of course, engine tweaks that put the 570GT’s output in the vicinity of 650 horsepower, right smack where the 650S resides. It’s not the most encompassing program you’ll ever see, but for a car like the 570GT that can already shine on its own without any assistance, Novitec’s new program is simply all about making a good thing even better.

Continue after the jump to read more about the McLaren 570GT by Novitec

Exterior

True to its form and character, Novitec’s exterior upgrade program for the McLaren 570GT features a good diet of aerodynamic components, all of which are made from carbon fiber. Up front, there’s a new spoiler that not only gives the McLaren a unique aesthetic profile, but the unique shape of the front spoiler helps cut down on the section’s front axle lift. It’s not a sexy improvement by any means, but it will prove to be very useful should the 570GT find itself in high-speed circumstances. Ditto for the rear airfoil at the back, which also improves the sports car’s handling credentials at high speeds.

The kit also features rocker panels on the sides, similar to the ones the tuner offered for the 570S some months ago. The air intakes on both sides of the car also received carbon fiber covers, adding more aerodynamic improvements to the overall profile of the car, providing the engine with more access to cool air. Then there’s the rear spoiler, arguably the most useful tool in the whole aero kit for its ability to enhance the car’s downforce on the rear, helping it remain firmly on the ground when it's traveling at high speeds. Last but certainly not least is the new set of 20- and 21-inch MC1 forged wheels. The same wheels are wrapped in 20-inch 235/30 tires in the front and 21-inch 305/30 tires at the back.

Compares favorably to MSO’s offering

The only other tuner with an advertised program for the McLaren 570GT is Wheelsandmore. Unfortunately, we know this tuner to be averse to building exterior upgrades for its programs, opting only to focus on its specialty of adding its own set of wheels on the sports car. The good news is that where Wheelsandmore (and most other tuners) is lacking, McLaren’s Special Operations (MSO) is here to save the day.

Over the course of the 570GT’s life, MSO has provided enough options for 570GT owners, not the least of which is this beauty of an offering featuring an Elite Pearl White paint finish with an accompanying Black Piano package made up of deep-gloss black side skirts, front and rear bumper inserts, door inserts, and wheels. Full-length sill panels made from gloss carbon-fiber serve as nice complements to the package. More to that, MSO’s work on the 570GT also previews a nifty new feature that’s only available to McLaren’s personalization division. It’s called the Electro-Chromic roof, which adds an electro-chromic interlayer into the 570GT’s standard-fit glass roof. This feature allows the roof to be adjusted through five defined points, ranging from clear to dark tints across the whole section of the roof.

Interior

Note: standard McLaren 570GT interior shown here.

No specific details were given on what the interior upgrades for the McLaren 570GT are, but the tuner is offering plenty of premium materials for the sports car. Among the options the tuner is offering include fine leather and Alcantara that owners can dress up in a color of their choice.

MSO has options too

The choices that Novitec is offering may be limited relative to some people’s expectations. The good news is that owners of the 570GT can dress up the interior of their sports cars through other channels, most notably from MSO itself. At this point, it’s become clear that if a customer wants work done in this section of the car, MSO is the place to go. Even tuners seem to have resigned themselves to the fact that such is the case now. That’s likely a big reason why most of them don’t offer upgrades in this section of the car anymore.

For its part, MSO has filled in rather impressively, thanks to the vast number of customization options that are available for its entire lineup of models, including the 570GT. Be it materials like Nappa leather, Alcantara, carbon fiber, or even wood and aluminum trims, there are literally plenty of options to choose from. Tech items like the bespoke Bowers & Wilkins 12-Speaker Premium Audio System with 1,280-Watt surround sound are also available should a customer want to get them.

There are plenty of other interior options available under the MSO umbrella so customers really aren’t lacking for choices in this regard. At the very least, personalization divisions like McLaren’s MSO have become the go-to source for interior upgrades and to their credit, these in-house firms have yet to disappoint.

Drivetrain

At the heart of Novitec’s tuning kit for the McLaren 570GT is an engine upgrade program that’s actually comprised of three different performance levels. If this sounds familiar, it’s because the German tuner made a similar offering to the 570S. In this instance, the tuner indicated that the most powerful performance stage available to the 570GT is one that nets an output of 646 horsepower and 510 pound-feet of torque. While it’s not really a big deal, it is important to remember that Novitec’s program for the 570S tops out at the same number. Put the pieces together and it’s fairly easy to assume that the two performance stages sitting below this one produces an output of 622 horsepower and 499 pound-feet of torque and 637 horsepower and 507 pound-feet of torque, respectively.

So how exactly did Novitec get to add as much as 76 horsepower and 68 pound-feet of twist to the 570GT’s 3.8-liter twin-turbo V-8 engine? The short answer is the tuner’s very own N-Tronic plug-and-play modules that engine specialists integrated into the engine’s ECU. The result of this include improvements in injection, ignition, and boost pressure control with new mapping. Throttle response also improves dramatically, creating a bigger performance curve across the car’s rev range. It’s all technical and mechanical wizardry and few tuners have proven to be as adept in this sort of business as Novitec. In fact, the tuner even has a high-performance exhaust system to accompany the software upgrades. The new exhausts are available in either stainless steel or Inconel, the same material used in Formula One cars.

Altogether, Novitec’s program for the McLaren 570GT helps the sports car improve its performance times, including a faster acceleration time from 0 to 60 mph in just 3.0 seconds and a new top speed of 208 mph. If the numbers from the tuner’s three-stage upgrade are accurate, here’s how they look like.

How does it compare to Wheelsandmore’s program?

The numbers are almost identical, but Novitec’s program for the McLaren 570GT has a little bit more on tap compared to Wheelsandmore’s program for the same sports car. That’s not to say that the latter falls out completely because it still has 638 horsepower and 507 pound-feet of torque on tap for the 570GT. That’s an increase of 76 horses and 64 pound-feet of twist over the standard output of the sports car. To get to that increase, Wheelsandmore opted to use its own software program that’s made up of a low-pressure exhaust system, sports catalytic converters, and the tuner’s own ECU tuning module. The result is a 570GT that can sprint from 0 to 60 mph in just 3.1 seconds on its way to a top speed of 204 mph.

Suspension

Novitec’s reputation as one of the most all-encompassing tuners in the business is well-founded. Not only does it offer upgrades on pretty much every relevant section of a car, it even tackles even the smallest of details. Granted, suspension upgrades don’t necessarily count as a “small detail,” but they’re by far the least heralded of them. Still, Novitec made sure they’re addressed by giving the 570GT its own set of sports springs, which in turn helps lower the sports car’s height by 1.2 inches across the board.

Pricing

No pricing was given for the program, but that’s typical of Novitec. Instead of lamenting the lack of information though, it’s better to go contact the tuner directly. In addition to being one of the best in the business at tuning performance cars, Novitec is also pretty accessible and easy to get a hold of.

Competition

McLaren 570GT by Wheelsandmore

Up to this point, Wheelsandmore counts as one of the only visible tuners to present a program for the 570GT. We’ve already discussed what it’s capable of from a power perspective, but it’s also important to remember that the tuner calls itself “Wheelsandmore” for a reason. As such, wheels are its specialty and its offering for the 570GT is as good as it gets. Those who opt for this program will receive a set of 20- and 21-inch 6 Sporz2 wheels wrapped in Continental Sportcontact 6 tires measuring 235/30/20 in the front and 295/30/21 in the back. Add these beauties to the car’s new output of 630 horsepower and 509 pound-feet of torque and you have a pretty convincing one-two tuning punch for the 570GT.

Read our full review on the McLaren 570GT by Wheelsandmore.

Conclusion

I don’t expect Novitec to sit on its own success, and for the most part, it didn’t with this program. Turning the McLaren 570GT into the 650S is a good achievement and the way Novitec went about getting to that status is nothing short of professional. But if I’m being a little honest, I did expect a little bit more from the tuner. It’s one thing to offer upgrade programs for the 570S, but even if the numbers are similar between the two “570” models, a little bit of differentiation would’ve probably been better for both models.