The McLaren 720S, The ICE Car That Demolished The Tesla Model S P100D, Just Ran A 1/4 Mile In Under 10 Seconds

In what could probably be the greatest irony in supercar history, MacLaren, the makers of the death-defying P1, has managed to produce a reasonably-priced supercar that borders on hypercar performance. We’re talking about the McLaren 720S, the ICE vehicle that recently smoked the Tesla Model S P100D in a drag and rolling start quarter mile race. Just recently, the McLaren 720S managed to hit another milestone, as it ran a quarter mile from a complete stop in 9.98 seconds.

That’s very close to hypercar performance. The 2011 Bugatti Veyron Super Sport, for one, ran the same race at 9.7 seconds. That’s just 0.28 seconds faster than the McLaren, and it cost more than eight times as much as the 720S at $2,426,904.

The McLaren 720S, which ran a quarter mile in 9.98 seconds, is worth a far more affordable $288,845. Thus, for all intents and purposes, it appears like McLaren has managed to create a true borderline ICE hypercar that could actually command a reasonable price.

The video of the McLaren 720S breaking the 10-second barrier was posted by noted automotive YouTube channel DragTimes, which brought the European supercar to the drag strip. Interestingly, the conditions for the 720S’ quarter-mile run was actually not optimal, considering that the vehicle was equipped with road tires and the weather was not that great for drag racing.

Apart from this, the McLaren 720S is not really a car that was built for the drag strip, unlike the American-made Dodge Demon. It a rear-wheel-drive vehicle, after all, which prevents the car from reaching its maximum potential in the drag strip, according to a CarBuzz report.

Despite bad weather, road tires and the fact that it is completely stock, however, DragTimes‘ McLaren 720S managed to finish its quarter-mile run at 9.98 seconds while running at 141 mph. The results of the run were so impressive that in DragTimes‘ video, spectators could be heard cheering for the car when its results showed up.

Considering its recent performance at the drag strip, and the brutal way it demolished the Tesla Model S P100D in a previous quarter mile race, the McLaren 720S could very well be the auto industry’s newest production car champion on the road. With a reasonable price and performance that borders on the world’s most expensive hypercars, the McLaren 720S might go down in auto history as the smart man’s supercar.

[Featured Image by i viewfinder/Shutterstock]