8 reasons to save up and buy McLaren's most affordable convertible

Woking-based McLaren says its new 570S Spider is a "convertible without compromise", a topless car which doesn't have increased weight or decreased rigidity as a result.

It is the the fourth variant of McLaren’s Sport Series range – alongside the 540C, 570S Coupe and 570GT – and goes from roof-up to roof-down in 15 seconds at speeds of up to 25mph.

Got a spare £164k lying around and trying to justify a splurge? We've got eight reasons to splash out.

For a supercar, it’s a bargain

The 570S Spider is the most affordable convertible McLaren has ever made – which, when it comes to supercars, is still a hair-raising amount.

For the price of the stripped-back basic model, you could comfortably buy a house in the north east (average price £122,000) with change to spare for a new kitchen.

But this is a beast of a sports car that’s been designed to be just as practical as a city runaround, too, which makes it – in sports car terms – a relative bargain.

The new Spider comes in three different colours

It feels like a massive, fun go-kart

I put the car through its paces on some of the most exhilarating roads in Europe - from Barcelona city centre up into the rolling hills nearby - and it didn’t put a foot wrong. It’s so well weighted, with a responsive hydraulic steering system, that it has the immediacy and enjoyment of driving a giant go-kart. This is a very good thing.

It's a comfortable drive, and surprisingly easy to hear your passenger, even at top speeds

It’s minimalist

If you’ve an eye for clean and aesthetically pleasing surfaces than the new McLaren may be the car for you. The interior of the car is pared down, with no buttons on the steering wheel and a super-simple Active Dynamics Panel. There are two sets of controls in the centre console – one for handling and one for powertrain. You can set them to normal, sport or track. Deceptively simple, because there's a combination for every road and mood.

A convoy of cars cut across the Spanish landscape

Your hair will look sensational

Most people step out of a convertible with hair resembling Worzel Gummidge, after having their bonce whipped like a pot of cream by swirling winds. But a small rectangular rear window acts as a wind deflector which, after about seven hours of driving, somehow managed to keep my hair in one place. And if you’d rather sacrifice the shape of your locks for the stunning sound of the engine, you can lower the window too.

You’ll draw a crowd

When I slumped into the curacao-blue model (it’s low, and I’m an off-balance oaf) parked outside the W Hotel in Barcelona, locals, tourists and even passing coppers are already crowding round and cooing. A roaring 3.8-litre twin-turbo V-8 engine means that even if people haven’t seen you, they’ll hear you. Fun when you take off from a standing start at traffic lights, for example.

It's rare for a car to manage to overshadow the architecture in a city like Barcelona

There’s enough storage space for a weekend away

Alright, so after decanting my iPhone from my pocket along with a handful of Euros, I was all out of in-car room. However, there is a total of 202 litres of boot space (up front under the hood, and just behind the two seats). That may pale into comparison with a middle-of-the-road family car, but it’s less than a fifth smaller than some smaller five-door cars on the market. More than enough for a weekend away in the country.

You can't lug a suitcase around, but there is enough boot space for a weekend away

It’s so fast that your face will become a circle of smiling fat on the headrest

You know when you overtake someone and have a quick check of your wing mirror to make sure you’re properly past them before pulling back in? I’d regularly do this with the McLaren 570S Spider only to see a faint speck in the rear distance. Oops. The car’s engine kicks out 562 horsepower and takes you from stationery to 60mph in just 3.1 seconds – and 124mph in 9.6 seconds. You’ll do a mile in 44 seconds. It’s insane.

The car launched from 0 to 60mph in just 3.1 seconds

You can hold a conversation in it

Even as the car sped across dam bridges like a brief sunbeam reflection from the water below, the noise level inside the car is fine. A conversation between my passenger and I continued without any needing raised voices. An engineer later told me this is a key consideration during the design phase, and they’ve nailed it.

Our test drive set off from the W Hotel in Barcelona