Car Review
McLaren’s New Convertible Is the Exception to Racing’s Oldest Rule
Against all odds, the McLaren 600LT Spider acts like a coupe on the track.
McLaren 720S Spider and 600LT Spider on a test drive in Arizona.
Since the glory days of Ayrton Senna, racing’s gospel has held that coupes are for the track while convertibles, on the other hand, are what you take to town.
Part of this is because of basic engineering: A car with a roof is more aerodynamic than one without. A roof is also stronger and more rigid. From a physics perspective, taking a roof out of the equation turns a car heavy and wobbly.