A few weeks ahead of its planned debut at the Geneva Motor Show, the first pictures of the new McLaren super car, dubbed 650S, hit the web. It is now obvious that the McLaren 650S is a cross between the 12C and the P1 hyper car.

Actually, it is more 12C, as all the mechanical parts are reportedly borrowed from that car, including the engine. The twin-turbocharged V8 is tuned to make 650 horsepower in the new model, while the chassis and suspension are retuned, with a bit of help from McLaren’s F1 driver Jensen Button, to make the whole thing tauter and faster than the 12C.

What sets McLaren 650S apart from the 12C is the front-end styling, which comes with identical headlights to the P1, and that’s about it. The interior is pretty similar to the old car as well, except for a couple of little details such as the steering wheel and stitching.

The McLaren 650S, to all intents and purposes, is a half-assed job. They say it is a replacement for the 12C, which make a bit of a sense. But unless, they’ve worked some kind of magic with the chassis and made it a lot more engaging and fun than the 12C, it would be a pointless effort.

via Driving.co.uk