McLaren's 720S Test Drivers Are Really Just Paid Hooligans

If McLaren is going to hop onto the Drift Mode bandwagon, they have to test it out somehow. Perhaps the most enviable man in the world is McLaren Automotive Chief Test Driver Chris Goodwin, who gets to use sweet sideways action to shake down McLaren's newest offerings, including the upcoming 720S.

"Drifting isn't just about showboating and having fun," Goodwin explains. "It actually teaches us quite a lot about the car and drives us in a direction that serves every driver in an everyday driving situation on the road."

It's also fun, though. Very fun. And fun to watch.

The new 720S is the latest in McLaren's Super Series of cars, which will be powered by a massive, all-new twin-turbo 4.0-liter V8 engine. It sounds just as lovely as you'd think it would in this video.

Goodwin credits the mid-engine layout, ultra-stiff, ultra-light MonoCage II carbon fiber chassis, trick suspension and tires for making the 720S a perfectly controllable rad little drift monster. Exceeding the limits of those new tires' grip is yet another way the team at McLaren can learn about the car's behavior.

The new car drops in full at the Geneva International Motor Show on March 7. In the meantime, I shall continue to be very jealous of Chris Goodwin.