McLaren 720S

Lore & Background

McLaren's 720S arrived in 2017 as the successor to the 650S, carrying forward the brand's philosophy that a supercar should be defined by its structure rather than its badges. The MonoCage—a single-piece carbon-fiber tub that also serves as the primary safety cell—gives the car a torsional rigidity that rivals far heavier, more expensive machines. In the Forza Horizon 5 world, that translates to a car that feels almost impossibly planted through the tight switchbacks of the Sierra Madre while still launching from a standstill with a violence that belies its relatively modest kerb weight of roughly 1,283 kg.

Within the game's tuning ecosystem, the 720S occupies a fascinating niche. It is not the outright top-speed king of S2—that title belongs to a handful of hypercars with more extreme power-to-weight ratios—but its handling balance, throttle response, and the way its rear axle communicates grip through the steering wheel make it a favourite among players who chase lap times on the game's circuit-style events. The twin-turbo V8's torque curve is broad and linear, meaning the car pulls hard from the bottom of the rev range all the way to its redline without the lurch you get from a single-turbo or naturally aspirated unit.

Fans of the Forza series often cite the 720S as the car that made them appreciate how much a well-tuned mid-engine layout can outdrive a more powerful front- or all-wheel-drive rival. In the sun-baked, cactus-dotted landscapes of Mexico, watching a 720S rotate through a hairpin with its rear sliding just enough to keep the nose pointed down the exit is a moment the game's art direction and physics model seem to have been designed for.

In Their Own Story

The sun hangs low over the salt flats, painting the white expanse in shades of amber and rose. You've parked the 720S at the edge of the flat, engine ticking as the turbos spool down. The air is still, thick with heat shimmer. You drop the gear selector into first, feel the dual-clutch bite, and launch. The rear tyres scream, the carbon-fiber body flexes almost imperceptibly, and the twin-turbo V8 roars through the power band as the horizon stretches into a single vanishing line. For three seconds you are the only moving thing in the world. Then the flats give way to the scrubland, the road appears, and you are threading through mesquite and agave at two hundred and ten, the steering wheel a live wire in your hands, the engine singing its high, thin note above the wind. You do not look in the mirrors. There is nothing behind you that matters.

Reader's Guide

McLaren 720S, 2017, S2 class in Forza Horizon 5.

Stock, the 720S throws 720 PS from a 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 into roughly 1,283 kg of carbon-fiber-and-aluminium bodywork. Handling is rated in the top tier of S2: turn-in is immediate, the rear is alive but controllable, and the braking feel is progressive and deep. It is not the heaviest-hitting straight-liner in the class, but it is among the most composed cars you will steer through a technical section.

Tuning levers in Forza Horizon 5 let you swap the engine for a higher-output variant (gaining a few tens of horsepower but adding a small weight penalty), upgrade the transmission for a shorter or longer final drive, stiffen or soften the suspension, upgrade front and rear brakes, change tyre compounds for grip or rolling-resistance trade-offs, and add front and rear aero elements. The exhaust can be tuned for a few extra hp at the cost of a slight weight increase. Pushing the engine and aero to the max will close the top-speed gap with higher-class cars but will make the car more twitchy and less forgiving on loose gravel sections common in the Mexican map. Conversely, a lighter, more balanced build with mid-tier aero and a slightly softer suspension will feel more planted in corners and is often faster on winding routes.

Build philosophy: treat the 720S as a driver's car, not a drag-strip missile—prioritise chassis balance and tyre grip, let the engine's broad torque do the work, and save the top-end aero for the long straightaways where you can actually use it.

Did You Know?

• The '720' in the model name is a direct reference to its 720 PS (710 hp) output, a naming convention McLaren has used across several generations of supercars.
• The MonoCage carbon-fiber tub in the 720S is a single, continuous structure that also serves as the primary crash-survival cell, eliminating the need for a separate steel safety cage.
• In Forza Horizon 5, the 720S's mid-engine, rear-drive layout means its weight distribution is close to 43/57 front-to-rear, giving it a natural tendency to rotate that skilled players can exploit in tight corners.
• The M840T engine in the 720S was also used, in detuned form, in the McLaren GT3 race car, meaning the road car and the race car share the same fundamental block architecture.