EVERY day is a school day.
Despite living down the road, I’ve only just discovered that Sheffield is getting a Clean Air Zone from February 27.
I spotted the signs at what I thought was the worst time because I was driving a 680hp McLaren.
But then it occurred to me that it was a hybrid so I’d be exempt.
Then it got me thinking . . .
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If a McLaren Artura costs £189,200, how long would it take to pay for itself by dodging the £10 daily charge to enter the city centre?
The answer is just short of 52 years.
Better start now.
The car will be like Trigger’s broom at the end of it — and you’ll be very old — but you’d never get bored of driving it.
Or looking at it at night from your bedroom window.
Actually, it won’t take 52 years. It’ll be much less because the daily charge will only go up in future.
Right, let’s talk about the car.
The spine of the car
Not only is this the first McLaren with a conscience, it’ll do 19 miles in electric mode.
It is the first McLaren to use a carbon fibre monocoque — or “tub” — produced right here in Sheffield.
These super-light yet super-strong tubs are formed using 500 single pieces of carbon fibre, cut to shape with blades supplied by a Sheffield firm. Love that fact.
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Here’s another one for you.
It took 4,000 man hours to make a tub for a McLaren F1 in the Nineties.
They make one here every 45 minutes.
Each 2.5-metre long tub is so precise, the tolerances front to back are less than HALF A HUMAN HAIR.
That’s next-level engineering.
The lightness helps offset the weight of the hybrid power unit and the strength and stiffness of the chassis heighten the driving sensations.
Put simply, the tub is the spine of the car. Everything else bolts on to it.
As for its heart?
Well, that’s a 3-litre twin-turbo V6 paired with a 95hp e-motor, which is nestled in the bell housing of a new eight-speed gearbox.
Again, the weight and clever packaging of the e-motor is a celebration of the current state-of-the-art.
Just as you’d expect from a car firm with Formula 1 in its blood.
Also, the car is a lot smaller than you might think. You don’t sit in an Artura. You wear it. And it’s easy to drive fast or slow.
Artura always starts in e-mode, reverses in e-mode, and will glide along at up to 80mph in e-mode, as long as there’s enough juice in the battery.
Ballerina.
But make no mistake, this is a proper supercar when you hurry it, with razor-sharp throttle response and electric torque infill through the rev range.
We’re talking 0-62mph in three seconds flat, 0-124mph in 8.3, and it‘ll keep on pushing past 200mph.
Ballerina and beast.
The cabin is another masterpiece of design: Clinical, cool and fuss-free.
More oomph
The steering wheel isn’t overloaded with unnecessary controls, unlike a Ferrari. It has one simple job.
There are rocker switches either side of the driver’s cluster — handling on the left, powertrain on the right — which make total sense.
Also, the driver’s cluster is connected to the steering wheel column.
So if you bring the wheel closer, the cluster comes with it — and the rocker switches are always at your fingertips.
The upended iPad talks to your phone.
The Clubsport seats are surprisingly comfy. We even like the orange McLaren F1 piping.
The question is — would you go McLaren Artura or Ferrari 296 GTB?
Two breathtaking V6 hybrids with a plug. Hmmm.
The Ferrari does have a bit more oomph. But it costs £50k more.
I’d go Artura.
Sheffield born and tastier than a bag of Bassetts.
- FOOTNOTE: Sheffield’s Clean Air Zone applies to vans, trucks, buses and taxis. Private cars and motorbikes will not be charged . . . for now.
WE stopped at McLaren’s Sheffield factory to have a brew with staff.
Engineer Joe Jackson, 27, said: “It gives me goosebumps thinking about what we do here.
"The monocoque is such an integral part of an Artura.
"It’s what everything bolts on to, even the engine.
"What a beautiful car. I’m a bit jealous you got to drive one.”
Boss Wes Jacklin expects staff numbers at the composites plant to rise from 130 to 200 by the end of the year.
He said: “We’ve not had trouble finding good, confident people and training them to develop the skills required.”
