Currently reading: McLaren 570S Spider confirmed for 2017
Open-top version of McLaren's 570S will get a folding hard-top roof, but a similar 540C Spider has been ruled out

An open-top Spider variant of the McLaren 570S will be launched this year, the company has confirmed.

Read the first drive of the 2017 McLaren 570S Spider

The new open-top 570S is set to keep the coupé’s twin-turbocharged 3.8-litre V8 engine and should come with the same 562bhp and 443lb ft of torque.

However, boss Mike Flewitt revealed that a similar 540C Spider is not on the cards because it doesn't make sense for economies of scale.

"With the 540C, by the time you add options it can cost the same as a 570S, which is why we only offer it in certain markets," Flewitt said. "And because of that it doesn't make sense to do a 540C Spider. There will never be a 540 GT either."

Like the 650S Spider revealed at the 2014 Geneva motor show, the 570S Spider will have a folding hard-top roof. The 650S Spider weighs just 40kg more than the 650S Coupé, and if a similar weight difference can be achieved with the 570S, the drop-top  should have a kerb weight of around 1350kg.

Despite the car’s expected additional weight, McLaren has a track record of extracting almost identical performance figures for its spider and coupé equivalents. So the 570S Spider should be capable of getting close to or matching the coupé’s 0-62mph time of 3.2sec and its 205mph top speed.

The price gap between McLaren’s coupé and convertible models is typically about £20,000, which means a price of around £165,000 is likely for the 570S Spider. The coupé starts at £143,250.

Rachel Burgess and Darren Moss

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crudehope 12 May 2017

Spider

I have been waiting for a 570 Spider all my life & now it is almost here I am definitely buying one! Just got to wait for Sound Energy PLC to be sold & I will have more than enough dough! Can't wait!I had thought I would have to buy a used 650 Spider so this or the GT would be my preferred option. Was thinking of buying a Porsche 911 Turbo s but that would be so unpatriotic & in any case I only live down in Sussex so not far from Woking & to cap it all Bowers & Wilkins are actually made in my home town of Worthing - so it has to be some Mcalren variant with a B&W music system - perfect!
crudehope 12 May 2017

Spider

I have been waiting for a 570 Spider all my life & now it is almost here I am definitely buying one! Just got to wait for Sound Energy PLC to be sold & I will have more than enough dough! Can't wait!I had thought I would have to buy a used 650 Spider so this or the GT would be my preferred option. Was thinking of buying a Porsche 911 Turbo s but that would be so unpatriotic & in any case I only live down in Sussex so not far from Woking & to cap it all Bowers & Wilkins are actually made in my home town of Worthing - so it has to be some Mcalren variant with a B&W music system - perfect!
tuga 5 August 2015

570 GT

Much more interested in the GT than a Spider. Will it still seat 2, 2+2 or will it be a proper 4 seater? Will it turn out to be a serious Continental GT fighter? Will it loose those disgraceful black plastic add-ons on the side, or at least add a body coloured option?
Bullfinch 19 April 2017

All the others

This doesn't look anything like all the other McLarens. Nothing like them. Completely different engine too, I expect. Different underpinnings. Completely new. Hold the front page.