VIVIAN ASHER

Let me squash my own incredulity. Ignoring the alternate-reality pace of the regular 720S, the 2021 McLaren 765LT was a foregone conclusion from the minute the 500-unit run of the 2015-16 McLaren 675LT sold out mere weeks after the car hit the Geneva auto show floor, followed soon after by a full deposit list for the drop-top Spider variant. The later and very sold-out 600LT and 600LT Spider proved the LT moniker was here to stay, making the 765LT the third "Long Tail" McLaren variant—or fifth, if you include the aforementioned LT Spiders. 

Like both prior LTs, the 765LT's ethos is that of bloodlust. Think of the 765LT to the 720S as the Ferrari 488 Pista is to the regular 488, or the Porsche GT3 RS is to the GT3: The overall weight drops, but power, grip, downforce, stiffness, and price all increase. In this regard, McLaren's familiar 4.0-liter, twin-turbo V-8 improves from the 720S' 710 hp and 568 lb-ft to 755 hp and 590 lb-ft through the use of a high-capacity fuel pump, forged aluminum pistons, and a new lightweight and hi-flow titanium-exhaust system whose screams exeunt through a wicked-looking quad-pipe cluster in the center of the rear fascia.

Oh, there's also a triple-layer head gasket yoinked from the McLaren Senna. In fact, there's more than just a little Senna in the 2021 McLaren 765LT's stew; the Senna's chiropractor-friendly brake calipers are copy-pasted to the 765LT, and if you want to transform into Droopy Dog during panic stops, the Senna's carbon ceramic-rotors are available at extra cost, increasing thermal conductivity by a wicked 400 percent compared to the "standard" 765LT's carbon ceramics. The braking performance folds the concrete with a 124-to-0 screech in just short of 360 feet.

With 176 pounds stripped from the S, now down to a relatively featherweight 2,952-pound curb weight if you spec yours in the hardest of hardcore setups. (In other words, delete infotainment and air conditioning to save an extra 25.3 pounds.) Expect the majority of American LT buyers to conveniently leave those removal boxes unticked on their order form.

If you wuss out and keep your music and cold air, there's still plenty of shaved edges. Carbon-fiber seats cut 39.7 pounds—and an extra 26.5 pounds if you spring for buckets pulled from the Senna—while the new wheels drop 48.5 pounds. As there really isn't much to de-content on a 720S, engineers had to go a bit whacko, using lightweight glazing and polycarbonate "glass" on some panels and windows to save 13.2 pounds, and switching to a lightweight battery to save another impressive 13.2 pounds.

The 765LT rides low and lithe on a revised suspension, now incorporating lightweight main springs with secondary "helper" springs that ditch 3.3-pounds from the whole system, and that work in tandem with uprated dampers for a 0.2-inch ride-height reduction and improved handling and stiffness. Hyper-sticky Pirelli Trofeo R semi-slicks are standard, though the 235/35 R-19 front and 305/30 R-20 rear sizing is unchanged compared to the S.

• A faster, more aggressive evolution of the McLaren 720S

• Key word is "faster"

• Accelerates like few cars can

• One of the all-time best-driving supercars

• Already sold out, so wait for the inevitable Spider variant