More carbon and more noise with the 620R R Pack

The R Pack is the latest from McLaren Special Ops and, as the pictures show, it enhances the 620R – the most powerful and most competition focused of all the Sports Series models – in all the right places while leaving performance and handing essentials well alone.

And that’s the really good news for when we tested the 620R recently we said it was an “astonishingly capable device that delivers fully on its promise of providing as close to a race car experience as is possible within a road legal format.”

So how does the 620 double-R differ? First up, you can only have it if you are buying one of the 225 620Rs to be made and are in Europe, the Middle East or Africa. So this is not a model for the US, Japan or Australia.

The R Pack comprises a basket of goodies that MSO has made its own and which few companies execute with such class: more visible carbon-fibre and the kind of titanium exhaust that makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up.

You also get that quintessential McLaren add-on: a roof scoop. It’s inspired by the same thing on the McLaren F1 Longtail and functions as both air intake and engine induction noise loudspeaker. Together with the sports exhaust, which is up to 5dB louder than the standard 620R exhaust, the 620R R Pack should justify what McLaren claims is a more immersive driving experience while ensuring that everyone will hear you coming.

The roof scoop is finished in gloss carbon-fibre and definitely looks the part; you can even opt to have a camera incorporated in it to record your track exploits. Front louvres are also finished in visual carbon while each R Pack car also gets a carbon-fibre interior makeover.

With its mechanical, aerodynamic and chassis components inherited from the its 570S GT4 racecar, the 620R claims authentic motorsport credentials. Its 3.8-litre twin-turbo V8 engine with 620PS (456kW) delivers 0-62mph in 2.9 seconds and 0-124mph in 8.1 seconds, with a top speed of 200mph. Plenty of downforce and carbon-ceramic brakes keep the scintillating pace in check.

Any 620R is rare and going to stay rare – 225 only are being built as a swansong to the current-generation Sports Series – and the 620R R Pack is inevitably going to be rarer still, making a machine already as popular with collectors as enthusiasts more appealing still.

So this could be a McLaren to put your money on, and the good news is that the R Pack adds only £25,000 – much less than the individual cost of all the options – to the price of the car. That just leaves the £250,000 to find then…