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McLaren 570S Design Editions add $10k but still make financial sense

The McLaren 570S' five new Design Edition models add just over $10,000 to the car's starting price but promise some clever packaging of styling and design features. McLaren turned to its own designers to pick out colors, trims, wheels, and other details for each Design Edition, delivering what it calls packages that make "financial sense." Now, stop laughing about a $10,000 package for a six-figure sports car making financial sense and keep reading, because we're going to explain why McLaren's right. Let's start with Design Edition 1, which is that red beauty up top. Edition 1 pairs Vermillion Red paint with diamond-cut, five-spoke alloys, a black – or "Stealth" if you insist on McLaren's silly nomenclature – exhaust finish, and red calipers, while the cabin is a mix of black Alcantara and red Nappa leather with Slate Grey contrast stitching. McLaren says that while you could get a car finished the same way, a customer would need to pick each option individually, leading to a premium of far more than the Design Edition's $10,320. In other words, think of the five Design Editions as a value package, bringing you a lot of new style at a lower price. And since McLaren doesn't call these cars a limited or special edition, the move could let the company leverage some economy of scale – building broadly similar versions of a car is, after all, cheaper than going bespoke on each new vehicle – so it's good for all parties. In addition to Vermillion Red, it's offering its Design Edition models in Onyx Black, Storm Grey, Ventura Orange, and Silica White. Dealers are accepting orders, with deliveries slated for 2017. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

McLaren gets on track with 570S GT4 and 570S Sprint

McLaren may be producing road-going sports cars these days, but it hasn't forgotten its racing roots. So it should come as little surprise that each of its model lines has found its way from the road to the track: the Super Series with the 650S GT3, the Ultimate Series with the P1 GTR, and soon the Sports Series with the announcement of not one, but two new variants of the 570S. First up is the 570S GT4, a racing model developed jointly by the McLaren GT competition division and independent motorsport firm CRS GT Limited to comply with the lowest of the FIA's sports racing categories. It's based on the road-going model, but features a number of upgrades. The powertrain carries over unchanged, but bodywork has been redone to accommodate the wider track. It rolls on Pirelli racing slicks with center-lock magnesium alloys. The suspension has adjustable dampers and coil-over springs with an on-board air jack. The aerodynamics are more aggressive with a large rear wing, front splitter, and underfloor, a larger radiator up front, and more ducts to keep it all cool. The 570S GT4 is set to debut at the British GT Championship race at Brands Hatch next month before it's made available to privateer teams. With it, McLaren Automotive has hired Ansar Ali (formerly of Caterham and Lotus and founder of Zenos) to serve as its Motorsport Director, separate from the GT and F1 racing divisions in Woking. McLaren is also planning a 570S Sprint. It'll be similar to the GT4 model, but instead of having to fit under any specific racing regulations, the Sprint is being designed for private track enthusiasts – just like the 650S Sprint and the P1 GTR. That ought to make it a hoot to drive, and we're looking forward to its arrival as well "in the coming weeks." Related Video: THE McLAREN SPORTS SERIES EXPANDS TRACK APPEAL WITH 570S GT4 AND 570S SPRINT · Track-only 570S GT4 and 570S Sprint models to be added to the McLaren Sports Series · Ansar Ali joins McLaren Automotive as Motorsport Director · 570S GT4 to enter a season-long competitive development program in British championship with Black Bull Ecurie Ecosse Woking, UK (March 15, 2016) – McLaren Automotive has confirmed two new track-only models of the recently-launched Sports Series with the introduction of the 570S GT4 and the 570S Sprint, developed in conjunction with the motorsport division of the Woking brand, McLaren GT and GT racing specialists, CRS GT.

Alonso and Button try out Honda's Uni-Cub mobility scooter

As two of the best racing drivers in the world, Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button have some pretty serious wheels at their disposal. They'll both be driving the latest McLaren-Honda MP4-30 on the track this year, will likely have access to supercars like the new Acura NSX or McLaren 650S for toying around with when they're not working, and probably each have an enviable motor pool of their own at home. This, then, must have been quite a change of pace for them both. As you can see from this video tweeted by McLaren, the two highly accomplished F1 drivers hopped on a very different set of wheels recently: namely, Honda's Uni-Cub "personal mobility device." The experimental electric motorized bar stool is controlled by shifting your weight to and fro (like a Segway), but stands just two feet tall and tops out at less than four miles per hour. At that rate, it would take them almost an hour to take one lap around the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, TX, where the 2015 United States Grand Prix will be held in October. In that same time span, for perspective's sake, they'd be lapped more than 30 times by their rivals... so they'd better stick to the racing machinery once the championship gets under way. What happened when @alo_oficial and @JensonButton got hold of a UNI-CUBAcA?A¦ https://t.co/YP8r9z1OsG - McLaren (@McLarenF1) February 10, 2015