The 2020s heated up this week with revelations of two opposing supercars, one pushing the era of combustion to new heights and the other taking a bold step towards an electrified future. Incredibly, despite all the differences, they are still rivals
What a struggle we have in our hands. It is the old school against the new order in what promises to be a titanic scrap that will only happen in this era, now. In the blue corner there is the champion fighter, the known quantity and the hero of the established fan base, while in the red corner a new challenger presents himself, a little heavier and with an even stronger punch aided by intelligent technology. He’s the new kid and he has to prove himself, but he has all the tools to take the champion down.
The coincidence brought together the launches of the Porsche 911 GT3 from the 992 era and the McLaren Artura on the same day, but it is the exact opposite that created them so differently. Porsche is deliberately – after a good deal of tug-of-war from the board – staying true to the formula it has mastered: rear engine, rear-wheel drive and a mesmerizing six flat-six with a 9000 rpm roof. There is no breath of electric propulsion or eco-awareness, and your buyers like it that way.
On the other hand, McLaren threw its own rule book out the window, took a flamethrower from the shed and burned it to ash. Artura has a new chassis, a completely new engine, a new partially electric transmission system and accessories, a newer interior and, of course, a new model designation. Its starting price is almost £ 60,000 more than that of the GT3 and is much more complicated in some ways, but its customer base will still overlap that of Porsche to some extent.
This is not a normal period for the industry; it’s totally extraordinary. At no other time in history have you had a dichotomy as glorious as when one technology totally replaces another as electrical energy would do with internal combustion. Just as horses have become beasts of leisure, not work, internal combustion will be kept alive as a hobby by those with resources. When that happens, there will be a very different lens to see the 2020s, but now, as the market begins to spread its efforts to almost all its countless corners, we are getting some incredible contrasts.
Take the very simple mechanical and chassis adjustments of the 911 that extract a phenomenal 17 seconds from the 20.6 km Nurburgring lap compared to the old one. Switching to the front suspension with two motorsport-type arms, adding width and aerodynamic features inspired by the GTE made a significant difference without changing the formula so much appreciated by the press and customers. It must be a wonderful thing; furiously aggressive and powerfully electric, never needing to connect, and with a rich heritage dating back to the mid-20th century.
Artura’s new 120-degree V6, built to be as compact as possible when all the extra parts like turbos, transmission and exhaust are added, is the total opposite. Brand new, with an unusual and rarely built V-angle and a deliberate focus on hybridization, it’s a lot of things that the GT3 flat-six is not. Practically the only thing they share is the cylinder count. For its extra £ 60,000, however, McLaren offers a considerably more powerful combustion engine, despite offering a liter cubic capacity.
This is even before you consider electrical assistance. Suddenly, the champion of the people starts to look very unarmed at the sound of 168bhp and a big blow to the middleweight torque. In what looks like another small miracle operated by the Woking brand, Artura is also only 60 kg heavier than Porsche. Consider our gobs hitting that one.
The GT3 incorporates pure analog ICE adrenaline in a salable form. You can get it with a manual gearbox, it will rotate to 9,000 rpm over and over again without bursting, it will break laps of any circuit until the tires need to be replaced and, like previous GT3s, it will also be easy to get along if you are a suitable enthusiast and want to use it every day. It is the best manual super sports car that humans can safely build for the road at a price that sufficient people will pay.
Artura is an incredible way for McLaren to enter its new reality. More power than the frighteningly fast 650S of not too long ago, the ability to navigate 18 miles on electric power and a hybrid configuration designed for performance as much as emissions, is a miniaturized P1 for less than a fifth of the cost. That it was revealed on the same day that the 992 GT3 is remarkable; The fact that it exists at the same time in history to largely fulfill the same everyday goals as supercars is proof of the enormous state of flux the automotive industry is experiencing.
A hellish fight is coming between the GT3 and Artura, despite the obvious performance bias in favor of McLaren. In more ways than one, it is a fight that the GT3 cannot win, but nevertheless, we hope with every fiber in our beings that someone will eventually join them in the fight we all want to see. We suspect that it will depend on the tester which of these two legends in his own time will come out victorious, but when in 10 months we come to summarize the highlights of the CT of 2021, we will know that we will be talking about both.