• Lower sill to hurdle over than other McLarens
• Luggage space boosted by rear boot
• No rear seats like Aston Martin DB11

Open the McLaren’s door, and you’ll certainly be thinking ‘supercar’ and not ‘grand tourer’. Like every McLaren the GT is fitted with lift-up dihedral doors. There’s only a modest sill to lift your leg over, but climbing aboard the GT is certainly nowhere near as easy, or dignified, as getting into a DB11.

There’s much less space inside, too, with a small cubby and a couple of shallow cupholders tucked away under the dash. You don’t get traditional door pockets (because everything would fall out when you opened the door) but there is a lidded recess that can take a bottle of water.

The GT’s party-piece is its luggage space. In addition to the 150-litre front boot you get in 570S, the GT has a huge 420-litre rear cargo bay over the top of the engine. That’s more than you get in a Golf and 200 litres roomier than the 570GT.

It is a less usable shape though- long, and relatively shallow, so you won’t be carting around any washing machines, it’s perfect for weekend luggage, skis and golf clubs.

An Aston Martin DB11 can only offer 270 litres of boot space, but then it does give you the option of using the diminutive rear seats for luggage: the McLaren has only two seats.

Unlike the 570GT, which featured a side-opening glass cover, the GT has a conventionally hinged tailgate and is much easier to load, if a little less dramatic in use. We did notice rain falling from the tailgate into the boot a few times when opening it in poor weather, however.

Safety

• Lack of adaptive driver aids
• Helpful traction and stability control
• No Euro NCAP rating

Given the fact this car has been designed with long journeys in mind you’d imagine it would come with a host of touring features like adaptive cruise control and active lane keep assist – but you’d be wrong.

There’s an analogue cruise function of course but otherwise it’s mostly down to the driver to keep this GT on the straight and narrow, and in some ways that’s not a bad thing. You are unapologetically at the heart of the driving experience.

Standard safety features include stability and traction control that nibbles away at your over-exuberant cornering efforts sooner than in other McLarens plus hill-hold assist and an electronic parking brake. And that’s about it.

Although not tested by Euro NCAP you have to consider the fact that this car is built around a super-tough carbonfibre tub, so should hold up well in a crash.