Up until now, British luxury sports carmaker McLaren only produced performance-oriented models. With the McLaren GT, however, the folks from Woking, England, are venturing into a whole new type of market. A market where super-luxurious, super-fast and super-expensive grand tourers such as the Aston Martin DB11 and the Bentley Continental GT are placed. In other words, GT is the most sophisticated model that McLaren has ever produced.

Normally, we start unravelling a McLaren from its performance department, covering its engine, transmission, suspension and whatnot. For the McLaren GT, however, the priority is on the cultured stuff. Let’s start with the luggage space. The McLaren GT has two boots – one at the back with 420 litres of space and one at the front with 150 litres of room. Where’s the engine? That’s longitudinally positioned behind the seats.

Speaking of seats, they can be electrically adjusted and heated to one’s liking. McLaren is also adamant that GT’s interior is not only the most welcoming but also the comfiest. The centrally-located 7.0-inch touchscreen can be used to control stuff like navigation, Bluetooth telephony, media streaming and live traffic updates. Even the dual-zone automatic climate control can be adjusted from the same unit. McLaren has also thrown in an ambient lighting system and a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster. The options list, which is a lengthy one, includes a 12-speaker, Bowers & Wilkins sound system, an electrochromic glazed roof and leather upholstery.

Even will all that in the package, the GT still has typical McLaren traits. Thanks to a carbon fibre structure, it weighs 1,530kg. That means it is hundreds of kilograms lighter than the Bentley. The stiffness of engine mounts is half of what the McLaren 600LT possesses. The company also claims the suspension, steering and brakes on the GT have been tuned to deliver a balance between “responsiveness and precision yet better ride comfort than any other McLaren.”

Okay, now we can focus on the engine and its performance figures. The McLaren GT gets a new 4.0-litre, twin-turbo V8 engine that puts out 620PS/630Nm. Transmission duties are handled by a 7-speed automatic transmission. The setup is enough for a 0-100kmph time of 3.2 seconds, a 0-200kmph time of 9 seconds and a top speed of 326kmph.

McLaren has started taking orders for the GT. With UK prices starting at GBP 163,000 including taxes, deliveries are slated to begin towards the end of the year.