The Best McLaren V8 Hypercars, Ranked
The beating heart of most of McLaren’s road car lineup? The powerhouse M840T engine. Propelling seven current (and past) McLaren models, this 4.0-liter, twin-turbo V-8 can produce anywhere from 612 horsepower—in the sedately-tuned McLaren GT—to 824 horsepower when howling inside the Sabre. With range like that, expect to see the M840T continue in production cars, even as McLaren moves toward hybridization.
To paint some context, let’s take a trip down memory lane. The M840T is the successor to the M838T, a 3.8-liter twin-turbo V-8. That itinerant powered McLaren’s first road-going salvo, including the MP4-12C, the 650S, the 570S, and 570GT, even the P1 (with the addition of an electric motor).
The M838T is derived from the VRH35 engine, developed by Nissan for the GT1 Le Mans car back in the late 90s. McLaren bought the rights from Tom Walkinshaw Racing, who had planned to use the mill in IndyCar but never did. McLaren then partnered with Ricardo, British engineering specialists, to get the engine road-car ready, which was accomplished in 18 months.
When it came time to evolve, for the M840T, McLaren again tapped Ricardo. For the build, about 40 percent of the engine carried over—the general block design, mount points, bore and stroke measurements—but the remaining 60 percent was redesigned. This includes things like larger turbos, new cylinder heads with more efficient cooling, stronger internal components, new engine control software, and more. The resulting engine is more powerful, more efficient, more responsive, and more conducive to hybridization.
Debuting in the 720S, the M840T has shocked and awed ever since. Its adaptability means the engine easily can meet the purpose and ethos of the car, something we see time and again in the below models. While we’re curious about where McLaren will take the M840T in the future (perhaps in its forthcoming SUV?), for now, let’s dive into our ranking of existing McLarens that use the engine.
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7. McLaren GT (2019–)
Image Credit: McLaren The baby McLaren, this serene canyon carving grand tourer has the most comfortable settings—along with ample room for a set of golf clubs in the trunk. Since the 612-horsepower GT emphasizes plush over push, the engine’s tuned accordingly. It features a less aggressive cooling system, a calmer valvetrain that opts for smoothness over max-rev oomph, and uses an oil lubrication system that focuses on long-distance optimization of oil pressure, as opposed to high-G cornering. Despite the tweaks toward tame, it’s still emblazoned with the McLaren swoosh logo; it gets up and goes when commanded.
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6. McLaren 720S (2017–2023)
Image Credit: Patrick Gosling/Beadyeye The closest you come to driving a rocket ship on the ground. This benchmarking supercar is revolutionary for a number of reasons: its lithe, carbon Monocage II chassis, the active aero, and, of course, a barking and fire-spitting M840T. In this tune, it’s good for 710 ponies and 568 lb-ft of twist, helping the 3,139-pound coupe to 60 mph in an eye-watering 2.8 seconds. We have long loved the 720S, either in fixed top or spider guise, and this remains an indelible car for anyone lucky enough to have piloted one.
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5. McLaren 765LT (2020–2023)
Image Credit: McLaren Lengthen and lighten a 720S, to make it more track-focused, and you get the 755-horsepower 765LT (those appended letters represent “Long Tail”). The M840T gets a solid upgrade for top track performance, too. The engine mounts are lighter, the walls of the components thinner, and titanium and Inconcel parts are used, all a bid to shave pounds and ounces. A higher-capacity dry-sump oil system keeps lube flowing, even under extreme cornering. The 765 receives larger intercoolers, and improved cooling ducts to keep the engine breathing easier. (Upfitted camshafts and valves also help the engine when high into the revs.) The titanium exhaust gets a light tweak, helping the 765’s aggressive note match its performance. It’s nimble, visceral, and ungodly fast—like a cheetah that simply needs to run fast, per our first drive review—a combination we love.
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4. McLaren Sabre (2020–2021)
Image Credit: McLaren Only 15 Sabres were produced, all for the U.S. market, during this hypercar’s very limited run, all commissioned by McLaren Special Operations bespoke division. Highly customizable by owners, these 824-hp track beasts are an evolution of the Senna, if it went on a diet and didn’t need to adhere to road regulations. The M840T is pushed to its absolute limit in this tune: 824 hp and 590 lb-ft of yank, the highest output without the addition of a hybrid system. It features an Inconel ultra lightweight exhaust, thinner internal titanium components, and the most aggressive ECU and throttle map tune to help with maximum track attack. We’d rate the Sabre higher, except it’s impossible to obtain and harder to find adequate places to uncork it.
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3. McLaren Speedtail (2019–2020)
For the 106 units of the McLaren Speedtail, the 1,055 horsepower comes from the inclusion of a hybrid system, an electric motor contributing an additional 312 hp. Capable of hitting 250 miles per hour, this three-seat homage to McLaren’s first road car, the F1, is its fastest production car. Helping in that achievement, the M840T system employs a smart instant torque fill from the electric motor, smoothing out the power delivery and a custom low-drag exhaust.
Nabbing a vehicle from the top of McLaren’s power podium isn’t cheap. Speedtails command millions, and those numbers continue to skyrocket when you add in things like the longest automotive paint job in the world: four months and more than $300,000. (That owner gets up before sunrise to drive his Speedtail, to avoid any traffic kicking up debris and chipping his paint.) Impressive, incredible, yet impractical for daily driving, which is why it slots third in our list.
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2. McLaren Senna (2018—2020)
Image Credit: Beadyeye The Senna, named for the late Aryton Senna, McLaren’s incomparable champion F1 driver, this 789-horsepower UItimate Series offering delivers gut-punching, rib-cage-jarring, other-worldly performance on a closed circuit, while affording you an acceptable enough (it will be bouncy) ride home from said track. In a supercar with a race-inspired chassis, performance is prioritized over comfort, so the M840T’s ECU receives the most aggressive throttle mapping of any application. It boasts modded camshafts for sustaining higher revs, and ample internals are lightened. A bona fide race car you can pilot to and from the track? Deserving of second place on our list.
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1. McLaren 750S (2023–)
Image Credit: McLaren There’s a reason we named the 740-horsepower 750S Spider our 2025 Robb Report Car of the Year. The successor to the 720S, turning the performance dial to 12 on a supercar that already felt like it was at 11 is mad, yet we love it. The M840T underwent months of rejiggering for the 750, including tweaks to the turbocharger pressure, improving the fuel pumps, upgrading the head gasket, and recalibrating the shift mapping.
On a recent lengthy road trip with the 750S Spider, we definitely felt that greater sense of urgency emerging from the powertrain. Aided by a shorter final drive—borrowed from the 765LT’s gearbox—and by upgraded engine mounts, you get punched in the back during gear shifts. This is ludicrously pleasing, and you find yourself clacking through the gears more often just to feel that satisfying sensation. Ignition cuts on downshifts, a new feature for the 750S, piece the air with loud cracks that make you wonder if the heavens are splitting.
The 750S rewards each of your senses, adding to the theater of your time manning the tiller. However your eyes are most awakened, especially during a hard launch. In this instance, the M840T generates max output, flinging the car from a dead stop to 60 in 2.7 seconds. Your eyes struggle to process how fast asphalt is oncoming through the low slung windshield. Harried, you blink rapidly, trying to recalibrate your brain, but the 750S’ speedo is now closing in on triple digits, and you wonder if you should lift off the gas. You won’t; this is simply too much fun.
And that’s the 750S: simply too much fun. It’s beyond capable (we’ve tracked it a few times; it leaves you wanting for nothing), it’s beyond fast, and it can deliver grand touring duties with ease. You can spend hours behind the wheel, have all the fun you wish, dancing around country carvers or mountain switchbacks, and then amble through cities and towns, arriving at your final destination without feeling like a truly shattered human being, a sensation to which owners of competing supercars are unfortunately accustomed. One of the many reasons this is represents the best of the M840T.
Authors
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Sean Evans
