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The McLaren 650S belongs on the racetrack and not the road

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June 7 I didn’t appreciate how loud the 650S could be – until I watched it disappear down the driveway.

Even with the roof open, or the rear screen lowered, you don’t get the full blast of the McLaren exhausts like those stood behind it.

No wonder I’ve attracted so much attention. It makes the acoustic exhaust systems of Porsche, Bentley and even Maserati sound weedy by comparison.

Obviously, I’ll miss the McLaren but I should say this. It’s such an outrageous spectacle that I wonder what place it has on our roads.

After driving the 650S for five days I realised there are very few places you can enjoy half the power and performance it has on tap.

For that reason, I think it belongs on the racetrack and not on a British A road…

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Warp factor 9 – the McLaren 650S just won’t stop accelerating

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It’s difficult trying to convey how fast the McLaren accelerates. I’ve driven the brilliant Nissan GT-R and all manner of exotica but the 650S is the first machine that leaves me in absolutely no doubt I could lose my driving license very quickly.

Because the windscreen is so large and the McLaren sits low on the road, it initially feels faster than the speedo read-out. Then I’ve become used to that and discovered guess what – the 650S is ridiculously fast.

At one stage yesterday, I actually had to double check the speedo wasn’t giving me a reading in kilometres. Nope, I really was still accelerating away at 95mph without fireworks from the engine.

Imagining travelling at light speed rather than mph. Other cars just become annoying blips on the radar – nothing stops the relentless surge of the 650S…

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So, could you really live with a McLaren 650S as a daily drive?

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So, could you really live with a McLaren 650S as a daily drive? I mean, you might like to think you could but really – seven days a week?

Provided you don’t get paranoid about people pointing an iPhone at you on every corner, then possibly yes.

It’s comfortable enough – although getting in isn’t pretty – and the 650S comes with a couple of bonus features.

The first is a proper-sized boot under that front bonnet. It’s huge and large enough to hide the body of the McLaren dealer you’ve just stolen it from.

It also has a stalk on the steering column that allows the suspension to raise the car for uneven ground and creeping over speed bumps.

Obviously there’s no glove box, it’s pretty noise in the cabin and that large windscreen makes the cockpit warm in bright sunlight.

But yes, where do I sign?

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The radio doesn’t work and it rattles but I still love the McLaren 650S Spider

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June 4 Well, apart from the radio packing up and the temperamental sat nav, this could be a one of the finest supercars I’ve driven.

There was also the sound of ‘something falling off’ when I encountered a small bump this morning – accompanied by a bit of a rattle from the front near-side suspension but let’s not split hairs.

Our test car tops £240k with all the extras it has fitted. I just wonder how I’d feel if I’d actually paid that price and not just a couple of tanks of high octane fuel. Possible a tad pissed off.

I know McLaren had reliability issues in the early days but I thought all that had been overcome by 2016?

At least I’m smiling. That’s the sign of a true love – when you can overlook the faults and just see the good stuff underneath.

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Why you should always fill a supercar McLaren with the right da do Ron Ron

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My last experience of trying to find premium 98 RON unleaded almost ended in tears – expensive tears.

I was driving a Ferrari 612 Scaglietti. Just like electric car owners looking for a plug in, there was suddenly none of the stuff for miles.

In desperation, I had to pump in a gallon of the cheaper fuel and the Scags didn’t like it one bit. Fortunately, the Ferrari kangarooed far enough to make a garage with a decent supply.

The McLaren has a similarly expensive drinking habit. I’m already wondering where I’m going to have to fill her up, as I surely will at some point.

Yet the 650S can average 32mph combined, which doesn’t seem quite bad. It’s also bloody great fun and seems to annoy every bloke in a Porsche.

Worth paying the extra for then…

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A Bentley is for going gently. Soaking up the atmosphere, listening to Test Match Special on the Naim radio

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June 2 It may be Bentley’s fastest motor but there’s still only one way to drive a GT Speed. S-l-o-w-l-y.

After a week steering this behemoth it feels almost rude to suggest anything as vulgar as performance. That’s for Porsche 911s and those nasty red Ferraris.

No, a Bentley is for going gently. Soaking up the atmosphere, listening to Test Match Special on the Naim radio and generally revelling in the warmth (stop laughing) of a balmy British June.

Indeed, if Andy Murray wins Wimbledon and England beat Pakistan at Lords next month, all I need is a GT Speed to make it the perfect summer.

Right I’m off to Woking collect another British slice of madness – the McLaren 650. More tomorrow…

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Cool Runnings – the Bentley GT Speed is silent even in convertible form

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Shifting a car weighing 2.5 tons means a seriously big engine – which in turn ensures the GT Speed convertible is capable of just over 200mph.

However, despite the fabric roof, the GT Speed is remarkably quiet at high speed. It’s easy to forget you are in an open top car at times.

There is some noise from the C-pillars which fooled me into thinking I had left a window open but otherwise the Bentley purrs along in silence. Until you slip it into Sport mode, of course.

As you would expect, there is not a rattle, squeak or judder anywhere. British engineering at its best – and at a great price!

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It doesn’t matter how you drive, the Bentley GT Speed guzzles fuel at an alarming rate

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A summer cold during the week of a Bentley convertible loan is not a good thing but it has saved me a small fortune.

Why? Well, the Speed’s 626bhp engine is massively thirsty, that’s why. Even when I try to drive at a sedate ‘Bentley-style’ pace the petrol gauge needle seems to be pulled relentlessly to the left.

Had I not been tucked up in bed with a box of tissues, I’m certain I could have burnt my way through a few hundred pounds keeping the Speed on the road. I’m averaging well under 20mpg.

And I know people who can afford £200K plus for a car aren’t bothered by fuel bills but I wonder if these big engined monsters are going to be consigned to the motoring history books before too long..

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Nobody is going to love you driving a Bentley – expect extended showers of road rage

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May 28 Fascinating how two fast and expensive British cars can polarise people. Last week’s Morgan Plus 8 is every bit as thirsty and environmentally unfriendly as today’s Bentley Speed.

Yet on the road, other drivers perceive the retro Morgan as a throwback to the glory days of motoring – when flat caps and goggles were the norm. They loved the old school shape and many waved as we passed.

The Bentley is the complete opposite. It may be manufactured in England too but drivers are induced into a road rage, serving up looks of contempt and pure loathing.

I suppose they automatically assume that I’m minted – and we all know how the Brits like to knock a success story. Of course, I’m not loaded but living with the GTC Speed would seriously hack me off if I had to deal with this every day.

The consolation for Bentley owners is that the Speed feel wonderful on the sumptuous inside, which is where it really counts I suppose.

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The Bentley GT Speed has no place in the future of personal transportation, sadly…

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I can’t help thinking that incredible supercars like the Bentley GT Speed will soon be a distant memory. When I’m talking nonsense in a nursing home in 50 years time, staff will laugh at my memories of a ‘personal transportation device’ averaging 19mpg, costing £200k and sounding like a spaceship on lift off.

By then we will all be moved from A to B in pods. Driving a vehicle will be something from the history – what families go to watch at Bank Holiday Weekend track events around Silverstone and Brands Hatch.

The roar of a 12-cylinder engine will probably frighten children and remind grandad of when everybody owned a car, locked in a little house next to their home that was called a garage.

There isn’t an awful lot of time left to enjoy incredible cars like the GT Speed. The price puts it was beyond reach of the average man in the street but we should at least marvel at vehicles like this while we have them.

Times are changing, probably for the better but fans o the combustion engine need to enjoy it while they can…