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Debuted at the 2022 Goodwood Festival of Speed, the all-new Artura GT4 is McLaren's newest race-spec car based on the road-going McLaren Artura.

Over the years, an expansive global sport has grown around the automobile. Today we have many forms of auto racing, from open-wheel racing to stock car racing, sports car racing, and rally racing, each with a different classification. The FIA GT4 Series racing falls under sports car racing and is a pro/am championship with stricter modification regulations. McLaren has been competing with the 570S GT4 in this class, which is the British marquee’s lower-tier customer race car, below the 720S GT3 racing car.

The car is being retired after six years of racing success featuring over forty race wins and more than eight championships, including a memorable 1-2-3 finish in the two-hour British GT Championship season finale in 2018 to secure the Silver Cup championship. At the 2022 Goodwood Festival of Speed, McLaren debuted the all-new Artura GT4, their newest race-spec car based on the road-going McLaren Artura. Here’s what we just found out about the McLaren Artura GT4.

The Artura ushered in the new generation of entry-level hybrid McLaren cars, although it featured striking similarities with Sports Series cars with the nose and flying buttresses. It also came with the natural purity and athletic driving demeanor that we’ve come to love McLaren for. The British marquee stripped down the supercar to create the super-lightweight race car.

Tougher GT4 restrictions on modification mean that the race car retains plenty of the road-going car’s bodywork, so they look strikingly similar.

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McLaren’s brand-new V-6 is as bizarre as it is impressive with its advanced packaging, with the entry-level hybrid using an engine layout never featured on a production car. The 120-degree V-angle is an odd choice and is more of a wide flat-six. But chief engineer Geoff Grose claims the engine helps keep engine height and gravity low, and a flat-six could have been too wide for the Artura’s platform. A pair of large turbos assist breathing, and the beast is then paired with an electric motor integrated within the new dual-clutch gearbox to peak at a combined 671 hp 531l b-ft of torque.

Also, it features enhanced durability and overall serviceability. But, for the Artura GT4, they had to drop the hybrid system since the GT4 regulations don’t permit it.

The similarities are skin deep, seeing the Artura GT4 has significantly different underpinnings to the road-going sibling. It only keeps the 577 hp from the 2.9-liter V6 and loses the electric motor’s 95 hp, with the space occupied by the electric element repurposed with a 24-gallon fuel cell with motorsport-spec fuel pumps.

More motorsport upgrades see the Artura GT4 receive a bespoke 7-speed gearbox with improved ratios optimized for performance and a reverse gear since the road-going car uses the E-motor. Also, it gets a mechanical limited-slip differential and endurance braking system.

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McLaren didn’t disclose the actual output of the engine in the GT4 racer, but the final output will likely depend on the balance of performance calculations. The Bosch Motorsport ECU system controls the engine, and electronics are controlled using a modular motorsport wiring harness.

The Balance of Performance System will also limit the car’s maximum power output per racing regulations. But a BoP evaluation ahead of the 2023 GT4 season when the car makes its competitive debut is yet to be undertaken.

While the exterior look is largely similar, there are subtle differences on the outside that contribute to the car’s incredible downforce. The aerodynamic package includes a larger bespoke splitter, bonnet ducts, canards, and dive planes. It also comes with a high-efficiency wing featuring seven angle settings which can be adjusted depending on circuit condition. It helps the car generate more downforce than the outgoing 570S GT4.

The aggressive racing kit is clad in awesome livery, boasting a dual-tone paint scheme with racing-inspired graphics.

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The Artura GT4 is a highly technical race car. Still, McLaren has made a great effort to make it accessible for both novice and professional drivers to provide the ultimate driver engagement. And you can make it even more driver-friendly with the available optional features. It may be beautiful, but it is designed to be driven and raced.

Accessibility is increased with easier ingress and egress compared to the outgoing 570S GT4, thanks to the all-new McLaren Carbon Lightweight Architecture tub. it will help save time when changing drivers during races. Also, it has a fixed FIA 8862-spec seat with a sliding pedal box while working the 720s T3-derived steering wheel.

The Artura GT4 is heavily being compared to the outgoing 570S GT4, and rightly so since it is about to take over the racing mantle in the class. It is an improvement in all aspects. The new V6 engine is more compact, lighter, and more fuel-efficiency than the outgoing M838 3.8-liter V8 used in the 570S GT4. It is more powerful, has a better throttle response, and is lighter. Add the monocoque, and the new car is 200lbs lighter.

Suspension and handling are also enhanced, front-wheel width increased, and thanks to the new wider Pirelli tires, the car has more grip and less tire degradation. Also, damping and brake cooling efficiency have been improved.

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The McLaren Artura GT4 will be ready for the 2023 season, and prospective buyers can expect to shell out the $239,200 starting price. That’s before you start factoring in optional features like a passenger seat, tire-pressure monitoring system, additional lights for night racing, collision-avoidance radar system, and a drinks system which can take the price considerably higher. The cars will only be built to order, and McLaren has invited potential buyers to register their interests.

Hopefully, they will allow the car into the Pure McLaren GT series, the one-make series, and a true arrive-and-drive competition where they maintain your car in-house, and all you need to do is show up and race. But as far as rivals go, the Artura GT4 will be up against the newly launched 2023 BMW M4 GT4, Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport, and Mercedes-AMG GT4.

Bryan is a content marketer who works as a staff writer for HotCars.com where he covers a variety of topics, from the first Motorwagen to the latest Electric vehicles. A writer by day and a programmer by night. When he is not writing about cars, catch him tinkering with his old motorcycle.