McLaren 675LT supercar revealed with Italian-crushing power

The McLaren 650S is a potent weapon, outgunning the acclaimed 12C it replaced. It lines up alongside Ferrari's 458 (or now the 488GTB), but there's one area the Prancing Horse has England's finest beat — with its 458 Speciale.

The 458 Speciale is the car you'd buy if you were born into royalty or had a father that was handy at throwing a ball. It's driving at its purest, and excels on both the road and on the racetrack. It also doesn't cost hypercar money, but until now, McLaren didn't have a dog to fight with.

This is the McLaren 675LT. With a 0-62 mph time of 2.9 seconds and a top speed of 205 mph, it's the McLaren we've all been waiting for. It's 220 lbs. lighter than the 650S at 2,711 lbs. The engine features 50 percent new components -- from the turbos to the cylinder heads to the camshafts to the connecting rods to the fuel pump. This pushes power from the 3.8-liter V-8 to 666 hp (compared to 597 hp in the Speciale) and torque to a staggering 516 lb.-ft. (the Speciale has "just" 398 lb.-ft.).

Alongside the 650S, the 675LT's rear wing, or as McLaren calls it the "Active Longtail Airbrake," is twice the size, resulting in a drastic jump in downforce. The twin titanium exhaust pipes protrude from the exposed bodywork below that wing, giving the car a far more aggressive look. All in, McLaren says the 675LT is around 30 percent new when compared to the 650S, and on paper, it should give the 458 Speciale a proper run for its denaro.

In all honesty, though, it's the feeling you get from behind the wheel that makes these cars so evocative, not how fast it looks on a spreadsheet. We'll find out soon enough whether the 675LT is McLaren's answer to the Italians, and we'll have pictures of it in the flesh next week at the Geneva auto show.