The McLaren 720S and I go way back. Throughout its production cycle I spent many weeks and drove countless miles in coupe and spider variants, and I was even fortunate enough to spend a week with the hardcore 765LT. The 720S in all its guises is one of my favourite supercars, and so when McLaren unveiled its replacement, the 750S, I was very happy to see that Woking hadn’t messed with the formula.

I’m aware of the fact that anti-McLaren corners of the internet took the chance to talk down the 750, claiming it was nothing more than a facelift of the 720, but anyone who has driven that car and the LT will be quick to tell you that the latter model represents a fair step on in terms of performance, dynamic ability, and overall edge. The line from Woking is that the 750S sits between the 720S it replaces, and their 765LT track day weapon, but a glance at the spec sheet tells us that it might offer a little more than that.

Sure, the new model doesn’t look all that different compared to before, but that’s no bad thing when you consider that it looks like a complete spaceship. What’s more important, and of real substance, are the changes beneath the skin. Now with 740bhp, the 750S will hit 62mph from rest in 2.8 seconds, 124mph in just 7.2 seconds, and top out at 206mph. That’s very fast indeed, and something I’ll be elaborating on shortly. Not only does it have around 30bhp more than the outgoing model, but it also weighs 30kg less than a 720 which doesn’t sound like much of a saving, but it actually brings the dry weight down to just 1,277kg, which is impressive for a car in this segment – its natural rival, the Ferrari 296, weighs a couple of hundred kilos more. Also aiding acceleration is a shorter final drive for the seven-speed gearbox, a feature which has been lifted straight from the 765LT.

Elsewhere, there are new springs and dampers which are now three per cent softer at the front and four per cent stiffer at the rear, which McLaren says benefits both ride refinement and dynamic precision. The electro-hydraulic steering has been sharpened to ensure even greater precision, and there are new, ultra-lightweight forged alloy wheels which also make the 750 feel sharper to drive than its predecessor. You can also option the brakes from the Senna hypercar if you intend to use your 750 for regular track work or just enjoy having your face ripped off. McLaren has also gone some way towards making the car sound more exciting, which is something the 720 always took some stick for. Not only does it boast a P1 inspired central exhaust, but is also has bespoke engine mount tuning.

Finally, the cabin has received an update and is more driver focussed than before, with new rocker switches for the handling and powertrain modes which are now mounted to the instrument binnacle, like in the Artura. McLaren claims that thirty per cent of the components in the 750S are new, and are aimed at providing the driver with a greater emotional connection to the car. So, is it a 720S turned up a notch, or a cut-price series production 765LT? Well, there’s only one way to find out…

For my reviewing pleasure, I had the full Silverstone GP circuit to help me evaluate the new 750S. With its long straights and high speed corners, it’s the perfect place to test a car with such a high level of performance. I once did some laps of the Hill Route at the Millbrook Proving Ground in a 720S, which gave some insight in to what it was capable of away from the confines of the public road, but in truth, it was too small and complex to really extract the potential from the car. Silverstone, however, is a place where you can really let a car off its leash, and I wasted no time in doing so.

I know it’s cliché when talking about McLaren road cars, but the first thing that struck me was the insane straight line performance. Big, open race tracks like Silverstone can make even some of the fasted cars feel slower than they actually are, but the 750S has so much grunt that it shrinks the straights. At the end of the Hangar, I was touching 170mph before getting on the brakes, and when I did hit the brake pedal, I had the carbon options from the Senna to help slow me down. The stopping potential was just as impressive as the acceleration. Not only could I brake stupidly late (to the point where the voice in my head was screaming at me to scrub speed on the approach to corners), but I could also trail the car in on the pedal.

Mid-corner grip was unshakeable, as was the traction on the exit of corners, all of which was achieved through a standard Pirelli P Zero road tyre – Corsa and Trofeo R tyres are an option. The entry to Maggotts required a stab of the brake, but you could keep the throttle pinned through Becketts before diving late on the brakes for Chapel, something which I’ll be honest, blew my mind a little. It also rode the kerbs beautifully, which shouldn’t be a surprise when you consider how well McLarens deal with imperfections on the public highway. In fact, many of the attributes that we praise on the road were present on the track, which gave me the confidence to bully the 750S round Silverstone, safe in the knowledge that it wouldn’t behave in an unpredictable or unpleasant manner. There were a couple of instances where I did push a touch too hard, one occasion through Village, but when it did begin to break away, it done so predictably and it was easy to gather up again. Overall, the balance of the car was neutral, there was barely any body roll through corners, and the front end was faithful to every input I made. The recalibrated steering has some extra heft to it compared to the 720S’ and the result was a beautiful linearity between my inputs and where the car was positioned on the race track. As for the gearbox, in Track mode, there isn’t a faster twin-clutch this side of a Ferrari’s.

What impressed me most about the 750S is how no area of the car was outshone by another. You expect the straight line speed to wow the most, but it was actually the combination of performance, braking power, grip, traction, balance, feel and response that came together in a package that you could actually hustle around a circuit without it throwing you any curve balls. It was so fast and so nailed down, that I got out the car with two main things on my mind. Firstly, my sore neck which took a battering from some of the cornering forces, and secondly, I questioned how McLaren are able to legally sell it with number plates. Yes, it is that fast and that outrageous to drive when you really begin to push against its limits. Driving it round Silverstone gave me a new found appreciation for what these cars are truly capable of – they genuinely rearrange your mind.

I still need to drive the 750S on the road, so you’re going to have to wait a little longer for my definitive opinion on the car, but as it stands, it feels harder edged than the 720S it replaces and not far off a 765LT in terms of acceleration or dynamic ability. McLaren says it should sit between the two, but my initial hunch that Woking might be underselling it, for now at least, feels justified. Stay tuned for the road test which will be even more telling.