McLaren has taken the wraps off the 540C Coupe which joins the recently revealed 570S Coupe in McLaren’s Sports Series. The 540C Coupe was revealed at the Shanghai Motor Show and serves as the entry point to the brand and will be available worldwide.

McLaren 540C Coupe is no baby

Despite its entry point positioning, the McLaren 540C Coupe is a serious piece of machinery. With its race-inspired technology and carbon fibre chassis, the 540C Coupe comes fitted with a 3.8-litre twin turbocharged V8 engine that offers up a healthy 397 kW and 540 Nm of torque.

Transmission comes in the form of a seven-speed seamless shift gearbox (SSG) which enables the 540C Coupe to sprint to 100kph in 3.5 seconds and reach a top speed of 320kph. 0-200kph only takes 10.5 seconds.

The MonoCell II chassis has been designed to make the 540C Coupe more practical for everyday driving. Weighing only 1 311 kg, the 540C Coupe is some 150 kg lighter than its closest competitor.

Exterior Features

The McLaren 540C features aero blades below the front bumper and are flanked by large LED headlights. The rear diffuser is positioned between the twin exhausts while dihedral doors optimises airflow along the length of the car. An integrated rear spoiler provides much needed downforce when driving with purpose.

The 540C Coupe rides on 20-inch cast alloy wheels at the rear and 19-inch rims at the front in either silver or stealth finish. The newly-developed suspension system has been tuned for everyday driving and the adaptive dampers give the driver the choice between ‘Normal’, ‘Sport’ and ‘Track’ settings.

Interior Features

The interior has a clear focus on space and ergonomics and comes kitted out in leather upholstery for the seats, dashboard and lower doors. The ‘floating’ centre console comes fitted with a 7-inch IRIS touchscreen which takes care of infotainment but also houses the controls for the air conditioning, minimising switchgear in the cabin. Everything including the electronic owners manual, DAB digital radio, Bluetooth, satellite navigation, media streaming, voice activation and audio media player are controlled via the IRIS screen.