McLaren’s first new car in nearly two years sees them return to a winning formula.

The British sports car maker unveiled the 788HS on Thursday. It is the company’s most refined mid-engine V-8 supercar yet, and will also be hard to get, with the company only planning to build 200 examples at this point.

The 788HS is the first unveiling we’ve seen from the Woking, England-based automaker pulled back the curtain the boundary-pushing W1 in the fall of 2024. The company’s latest is the ultimate iteration of a V-8-powered supercar that debuted under the name of the 720S way back in 2017. The second Super Series model evolved to become the 765LT in 2020 and then the 750S in 2023.

The supercar is only the third McLaren to carry the HS, or High Sport, suffix. It more than lives up to the distinction. Like the three cars that came before it, the 788HS is powered by a 4.0-liter twin-turbocharged V-8. Thanks to some mechanical magic, the mill now makes 777 hp, or 37 hp more than the 750S, while torque sits at unchanged 590 ft lbs of torque. Thanks to all that oomph, the car can rocket from zero to 60 mph in 2.0 seconds and zero to 124 mph in 7.8 seconds. Top speed, meanwhile, is an extremely respectable 205 mph.

Other mechanical features include a refined suspension and carbon-ceramic brakes borrowed from the Senna. The new model is also lighter than its direct predecessor. The hard-top version tips the scales at just 2,789 pounds, giving it the best power-to-weight ratio in the series.

Although it’s clear that the 788HS and 720S are related, the newer car is significantly more aggressive looking. It sports a more sculpted shape that includes a new front splitter, an S-duct in the hood, and a redesigned rear diffuser. These changes mean that vehicle’s carbon-fiber aero package produces 10 percent more downforce than that of the 765LT. The cabin has been left relatively untouched, though it does feature a new center console made from carbon fiber, plenty of HS branding, and a numbered plaque. Each example will also be customized by the McLaren Special Operations team.

If the 788HS has caught your eye, time is of the essence. McLaren has said it will only build 200 examples of the vehicle, 100 of which will be coupes, while the other 100 will be open-top spyders. The automaker hasn’t said how much its latest V-8 will cost, but considering the performance bump, something over the 750S’s $365,100 starting price seems likely.

Click here to see more photos of the McLaren 788HS.

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  Bryan Hood

  Senior Staff Writer

  Bryan Hood is a digital staff writer at Robb Report. Before joining the magazine, he worked for the New York Post, Artinfo and New York magazine, where he covered everything from celebrity gossip to…

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