Few car companies have quite the same cachet as McLaren Automotive (just ask Apple). Some of that stems from the halos of the mighty McLaren F1, still in effect almost two decades after it ceased production, and the P1 hybrid hypercar. But the total number of those models in existence is still under 500. For the past few years, the company's bread and butter—if one can refer to handmade carbon fiber supercars as such—has been the Super Series. First we got the MP4-12C (which quickly dropped the MP4- bit), then the 650S and 675LT.

The 650S impressed us more than almost any other car we drove in 2015, but McLaren wants to sell between 4,000 and 5,000 cars a year by 2022. That's hard to do when vehicles cost $300,000 a pop. Enter the Sports Series, AKA the 570S. This, you see, is the entry-level McLaren—but entry level in this case means the base price starts at $184,900. It's built in the same space-age fantasy production center in Woking, UK, as the rest of the McLaren range, and the 570S shares much of the same core technology.

Slimmed down supercar?

As with its more expensive siblings, the core of the 570S is a carbon fiber tub—or MonoCell—with aluminum front and rear subframes. It's made from the same resin transfer molding process, a much faster process than the hand-laid prepreg carbon fiber accents that adorned our test car. But the 570S' tub is an evolution of the original MonoCell (now called MonoCell II), which has been reshaped. The sills are narrower and cut down at the front, making entry and egress a little easier. But it's also a little heavier to compensate—176lbs (80kg) vs the 165lb (75kg) MonoCell I. (Yes, the observant among you will notice I get that wrong in the video above.)

Specs at a glance: 2016 McLaren 570S Coupe Body type 2-door coupe Layout Mid-engine, rear-wheel drive Powerplant 3.8L twin-turbocharged V8 Transmission Seven-speed Seamless Shift Gearbox Dual Clutch Automatic Horsepower 562 bhp @ 7400 rpm Torque 443 lb-ft @ 5000-6500 rpm Steering Variable-ratio electrohydraulic power steering Double wishbones front and rear, adaptive dampers. Tires Pirelli P Zero Corsa

Front: 225/35 R19

Rear: 285/30 R20 Top speed 204mph/329km/h Fuel economy (City/highway/combined) 16 mpg/23 mpg/19 mpg Weight (DIN) 3,175 lb (1,440 kg) Wheelbase 105.1 in (2,670 mm) Dimensions 178.3 in (4,530 mm) x 82.5 in (2,095 mm) x 47.3 in (1,202 mm) (LWH) Base price $184,900 Price as tested $221,850 Options added Ventura Orange paint, Bowers and Wilkins 12-speaker sound system, carbon ceramic brakes—McLaren Orange calipers, Carbon fiber interior components, carbon fiber exterior upgrade pack 2, electric and heated seats, nappa sport interior trim, vehicle lift, sports exhaust, stealth exhaust finish, 5-spoke lightweight forged wheels.

But a $100,000-cheaper base price necessitates some degree of cost-cutting. Some of that is barely evident; without actually touching the spectacular Ventura Orange-painted body panels, would we know they were aluminum rather than carbon fiber? But other omissions are more evident. Gone is the active aerodynamic rear wing, which doubles as an air brake. Also missing is the Proactive Chassis Control (PCC), McLaren's F1-inspired interconnected front and rear suspension.

Instead of that clever connected setup, McLaren has fitted each corner with individual adaptive dampers. There are now front and rear anti-roll bars, something the company had eschewed on previous cars thanks to PCC. But don't go looking for a mechanical differential between the rear wheels, because the company continues to use what it calls Brake Steer (you may also know it as an e-diff) to help it turn, braking an inside rear wheel during cornering.

Behind the MonoCell II, you'll find a 3.8L twin-turbo V8, again closely related to the engines in both the 650S and P1. McLaren evidently believes in getting the most out of its investment. Its power output gives the car its name, generating 570 metric horsepower (562hp/419kW) at 7400rpm. (That's about 12 percent less than the 650S.) Torque is also somewhat lower—443 lb-ft/600Nm—in this case, making those numbers from 5000rpm all the way to 6500rpm. McLaren wants the 570S to be more of an everyday car, and tweaks like these are meant to accomplish that.

The gearbox is a seven-speed, dual-clutch affair, recalibrated for this application. McLaren tells us that it's capable of faster gear changes than earlier models. And for the first time in a McLaren, there's a start-stop system to help with those pesky emissions and fuel efficiency regulations.

Despite McLaren's intent that we think of the 570S as a mere sports car (rather than a supercar), it's certainly attention-getting. The dihedral doors, so beloved by Silicon Valley's Russ Hanneman, give it a sense of occasion that's absent from similarly priced rivals like the Audi R8 or Porsche 911 Turbo.

Elle Cayabyab Gitlin

Elle Cayabyab Gitlin

Jonathan Gitlin

McLaren Automotive

Elle Cayabyab Gitlin

McLaren Automotive

Jonathan Gitlin

Elle Cayabyab Gitlin

As ever, a car's styling is going to be subjective, a matter of personal taste. Although the car is ever so slightly bigger than the 650S, it manages to look a little more compact. Rob Melville (the head designer) was aiming for a "shrink wrapped" effect, and we think he achieved that goal. At the front, the arrow-shaped nose splits the air above, below, and to either side of the car, channeling it to radiators and harnessing its flow to stick the car to the road.

Personally I'm not completely in love with the shape, particularly head-on. Maybe it was because our time with the car coincided with the launch of Nintendo's latest craze, but the relationship between prow and headlights kept calling to mind an angry Pokemon, perhaps an evolved form of Krookodile? Other angles worked better for me, particularly the side view and its visual references to the McLaren F1 of the 1990s. But to my eyes, the best-looking 21st century McLaren remains the original 12C. Perhaps the biggest shame is how McLaren has hidden the heart of the car underneath a mesh grill. The only access it gives you is a pop-up flap for adding water and oil; anything more complicated requires a trip to the service center to start removing body panels.

Listing image by Elle Cayabyab Gitlin