The gearbox has no reverse gear. The Artura backs up by running its electric motor the other way, which let McLaren delete a set of gears from the eight-speed dual-clutch and keep it shorter and lighter than the seven-speed it replaced.

That logic runs through the car. The carbon monocoque is a new design, four years in development, 82 kg on its own and 130 kg with the battery and hybrid hardware carried in it. Dry weight is 1,395 kg, or 488 horsepower per ton.

The engine is a 3.0-liter twin-turbo V6 built for this car, the cylinder banks set 120 degrees apart so the turbochargers sit inside the V and the crankshaft can be shorter and stiffer. It makes 585 horsepower at 7,500 rpm and 585 Nm from 2,250 to 7,000 rpm. With the motor, the totals are 680 horsepower and 720 Nm: 0 to 100 km/h in 3.0 seconds, 0 to 200 km/h in 8.3 seconds, and 330 km/h.

The motor itself weighs 15.4 kg for 95 horsepower and 225 Nm, drawing on a 7.4 kWh battery that charges to 80 percent in about 2.5 hours and gives 30 km on electricity alone at up to 130 km/h.

Braking is carbon-ceramic, 390 mm front and 380 mm rear, with six-piston aluminum monobloc calipers at the front and four-piston at the rear: 31 meters from 100 km/h, 124 meters from 200 km/h. Tires are Pirelli P Zero, 235/35 R19 and 295/35 R20. The instrument binnacle is fixed to the steering column rather than the dash, so the dials hold their position relative to the driver's hands wherever the wheel is set.